Practice Ideas

Sometimes you just need to add some spice to practicing.  Here is what some of my teacher friends did with their practicing this week:

Katie Mattox from Mattix Music Studio:Having trouble getting back into practice? Make work into a game! Here's our "train station game" from today with small tasks written on each station. Once you complete the practice goal or task, drive your train to the next station. We had to have a chocolate at the end, of course!


Asheley Watabe: It's a superhero matching game-- every time Jack does a task he gets to turn over one cup to see if he finds a match... There are 20 cups! It's awesome!


Kelly Stewart: A few years back Koen Rens gave a silent masterclass. I loved how he used his violin to speak to the kids and communicate what he wanted them to do. We tried it at home. Genius! Suddenly she couldn't sass, and more importantly, I couldn't YELL.



Stacy Smith: Today's practice game: Uno cards. Grab a bunch of uno cards. Get a bunch of different numbers, and limit the word cards. Line them up on the stand. The kid picks the card, and you pick what they do. For example 5. "Ok, now you're going to play 5 A major scales." 3: "3 review pieces with a perfect wrist." Big numbers are great for new exercises. Word cards are something you do- I usually demonstrated something but have awful posture. They always fix it! I forgot about this game until today, it worked wonders with my 5-year-old. We got 45 min in without complaint.


Do you have a fun and easy practice game you'd like to share?  Send a brief description and a quick photo to leslie@thepracticeshoppe.com.

Music in Practice

I recently discovered a great website www.musicinpractice.com.  This is by a teacher who has really put some thought into some of her products and ideas.  She has great motivational articles - some of which I really want to use in some of the SAU publications.

You can receive this free set of practicing games by e-mail if you visit her website.  Here I have printed everything out, laminated it, and cut it.  Now I have a lovely set of practicing cards that I can use in many different ways.  Half of them have different things a child can do or say that just break up practicing and make it fun.

There are some blank cards where you can write in different practicing pieces or points with a dry-erase or wet-erase marker.

Some of the blank ones have stars.  When playing this game at my group lesson the one with a star had to be a solo by the person who picked it.

Some of the blank ones have a treasure chest.  Perhaps there could be some sort of surprise if the child gets a treasure chest.  In my group class, I was giving out Bach Bucks to people who chose a card with a treasure chest.

Sue, the author of the website and creator of these great cards, has six different practice suggestions on how to use these cards.  This is how I used them in group lessons for my Book 1 students, but this could easily be adapted to private practice or lessons as well.  I put the cards in a circle, face down.  We started with the first one and played that piece.

    

The kids then took turns rolling the dice and moving our little Panda around the board and turning over a card.  We did this for half of the group lesson and the kids loved taking turns rolling the die, playing the songs, and doing the activities.  It was a fun group lesson and would be a fun practice idea as well!

Two Ways to Use a Deck of Cards

My daughter's teacher has a studio mom who e-mails some practicing ideas each month. Tabitha Ricks gave these ideas on practicing with a deck of cards.

The Lay Down Game

The parent/teacher lays down a card every time they hear what they are looking for (i.e. ringing notes, shifting in tune, stop-stop bows, eyes on highway, straight bow, notes in tune).

The child can try to beat what (s)he got the last time or the day before.

 

Dynamics

If parent holds up an "A" (which would be "1"), child plays soft. The higher the number, the louder they play, so 10 is loudest.

This is good for scales, tonalization, and pieces. You might even ask what number they think they should start/finish at.

Thanks Tabitha!

Practicing Cards

I use practicing cards a lot with my own children as well as my students during their lessons and group lessons. Basically, the practicing cards are cards with the names of all the stuff you're practicing on them. I love to use these adorable cards from Meredith Strings for the Suzuki pieces, but I've also found that I need to make my own set of cards that include the Suzuki pieces, extra pieces, and scales, exercises, etc. I just make them on index cards and get an index card box to store them in. The Meredith Strings cards fit well in a Really Useful Box (really, that's the name) found at any office supply shop.

There are lots of ways to use these cards during practice.

• The parent or teacher lays out the things that need to be accomplished during a practice session so that the child can see everything and take turns choosing what to do and then take that card away. When the cards are gone - practicing is done! I like to take turns because if the child chooses all the time the hard stuff will be left to the end when they are getting restless. If I had to choose all the time the child might think it's not fair or fun.
• Today I practiced with my daughter by pulling out the things she absolutely needed to do, which were her new piece, last three songs, and scale. I put the rest of the cards in a stack and told her to separate them into two piles. One stack today, one stack tomorrow. I shuffled all the cards up and she picked the top one up and did it. This way it was a mystery to both of us what she would play next, but everything got done.
• In a group lesson setting, I put all the cards that I'm willing to play in the group, but since there is no way I will get to them all I let the kids take turns choosing the cards and we play those pieces.
• Combine these cards with other practicing cards that may have a posture point or a particular way to play. Cards could include Keeping Eyes on the Highway, Straight Bow, Bent Thumb, and Straight Head. It could also include fun things such as Standing on One Foot, Bow Upside Down, and Play with Eyes Closed. Pick a piece card and an action card and combine the two. This would be most effective with review in a practice or group lesson setting.

What are some other ways you can think of to use these practice cards?