practice amounts for music?

[ang79]

If your child takes music lessons, on average how much time do they practice a day or a week?

DD1 is 10.5 yrs. and has been taking violin lessons since third grade (she just finished 4th grade). The first school year it was just small group lessons with her music teacher at school. That teacher recommended taking summer lessons from a private teacher, so we did that last summer (30 min. once a week) and then continued it through the school year because she likes the private teacher and does well with her. Also, because she advanced over the summer, she was at a high enough level to play with the 5th and 6th grade orchestra at school this past year, even though she was only in 4th grade. She was nervous about being able to play the music (she's a perfectionist), but her private teacher worked on it with her and she did well. Recently she says she doesn't want to continue violin, that its not fun anymore. Yet she was very excited about the 3 concerts she played in this past spring. Because she is a perfectionist, she tends to give up on things once they require her work at it. It is hard to get her to practice, and then she gives up and says the music is too hard (because she doesn't practice!). I thought making a practice schedule for her to use over the summer will help her out (she loves charts, schedules, etc.). But she asked how much time she should practice each day or each week and I'm not sure what to tell her. I don't want to make it too long that she gets overwhelmed, but I want to make it long enough that she is getting something out of it.

[AnnieW625]

20 minutes


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[icunurse]

I believe our school system wants 20 minutes per day in 5th/6th grade and 30 minutes per day in 7th grade, at least 5 days out of the week. I think 8th grade is also 30 minutes per day (DS is entering 8th grade in the Fall but I'm pretty sure they use the same time sheets).

DS plays above grade level, more like HS level (at least that's what his teacher tells me). So I try to get 30-45 minutes per day at least 5 days per week. But he is also in a separate orchestra through his school, sees a tutor weekly for 30 minutes and participates in a community youth orchestra (and a special orchestra camp during June). So he practices a lot overall. But, like your DD, he much prefers performances to practice. Unfortunately, they go hand in hand. So I try to keep practices interesting. I get him different music books other than what he is doing in all of his groups. Check amazon, lots of options. Easy pop songs, a big selection of rock songs, 2 cello stuff. He may work really hard to play a Led Zepplin song, but it's still practice. However, when performances get close, he has to mainly stick to that music.

[KpbS]

15 minutes a day--age 12

[ett]

DS2 is 10 and in the 4th grade. He took lessons in school last year and added private lessons this year. Both teachers lists what to practice and how often. It ends up being about 20 minutes to 30 minutes a day. We aim to practice 4 to 5 times a week. My DS2 is a perfectionist like your daughter. He also wants to give up on things if he can't do it well immediately. When this happens with practicing, we scale back and check in with our private teacher at the next lesson. He helps him work through the issues. I told DS2 that his teacher does not want practices to cause him anxiety, we work at his own pace, and playing the violin should be fun, not stressful. If it takes longer to learn something, that's okay. We have a really great private teacher who works very well with both of my boys. (DS1 takes lessons from him too.)

Why don't you ask the teacher how many times your daughter should work on each piece. Our teachers lists out exactly what and how many times to practice so DS2 knows exactly what to do.

[Indianamom2]

20-30 minutes a day for4-5 days a week. Ideally, do it all in one sitting or split the 30 min. Into two 15 min sessions. Much less time and you can't really accomplish much.

[basil]

My DS is 5. He practices about 15 minutes a day, but timers are not really motivating for him, at least at this age. So we go by number of songs played. We usually aim for 2 songs 3 times each, so 6 total. His songs obviously are very short.

When I was your DD's age, I practiced (clarinet) about half an hour per day. I would set a timer for 10 minutes, play until it went off, then take a break, get a drink of water, etc then get back to it and aim for 3 cycles. I still use this strategy to do things I don't really want to do, i.e. Fold laundry...

[trales]

DD is 10, she does 30 min per day 6 days per week. She likes to play so it is not a fight. I sit and listen and the engagement makes her happy.

[emily]

DD is 9 practices piano 20-30 minutes, 4-5 times a week. It's a battle. She's been taking lessons for about 2 years. Our hope is that she will continues for a few more years. We'll be adding private violin lessons in the fall when she starts to learn at school. I have no idea what/how we will do then with practice time.


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[ang79]

Thanks for the input. During the school year it was a fight to get her to practice because she had so many other after school activities and homework, but she would squeeze in running through her concert songs a few times a week. Now that summer has come and we have a more relaxed schedule she would just rather play with her sister or read instead of practice. We did talk this morning and I said I want her to practice at least 20 min. a day, 5 days a week, and she could pick the days she wants to do it. She just did today's practice and set a timer and did the whole time with minimal complaining. I hope that continues!

[maestramommy]

I agree, 20 minutes tops.