Practicing...

Sometimes, getting your kids to practice is easy. Sometimes....not so much. Regardless, practicing is very important. Some of you may think "duh"..practice is the only way to get better at an instrument.... TRUTH!!! But as a Suzuki teacher, my goal is to teach far greater life lessons. Lessons which I didn't quite understand myself until recently in my life as an adult, and still struggle with on a daily basis.... Discipline!! I was oddly reminded of this the other day as I was ordering a sandwich at Jimmy John's and one of the signs on the wall said "Do the things you need to do now, in order to do the things you want to do later!" As I reflected on my own piano practice this past year, I found myself wandering to repertoire I wanted to play, rather than what I was supposed to be doing. How much progress did I make? Well... not nearly as much as I should have over the course of a year's time. Eeks! Being a student on a secondary instrument, has been an amazing experience for me. It's making me go through all the steps and phases of my own students all over again! It's helping me see things from their point of view! 

   Usually people would shy away from saying as a piano teacher, "I'm taking piano lessons myself"...but I'm proud of it. I'm not the best piano player in the world, nor do I pretend to be. But I will never hold any of my students back. I know what I can teach, and what I can't teach. I strive to never be responsible for holding my students back. Letting go of my ego, has been great for me as I can really begin to see things from the students perspective. I took piano lessons from 6-8 years old. I really don't remember that much from them... but I do remember the painstaking sweat, blood, and tears I put into building my foundation on cello and boy does that translate to any instrument. However, when you're 29...it's hard to remember how difficult it was back then. How you never really wanted to practice and got bored of your instrument. There were weeks where I didn't touch it and would show up to lessons incredibly unprepared and unapologetic. Eeks!!! (Poor Ms. Liz... AKA, the most patient teacher ever). Some parents believe that you shouldn't make the kids practice because they're afraid of them resenting the instrument. That is a VERY good philosophy... however, if we're too afraid to push them, then they don't improve and improvement is how they stay motivated... SO... that being said, there are some pretty good articles on this. 

One of the most famous one is by NPR: http://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2012/06/18/155282684/getting-kids-to-practice-music-without-tears-or-tantrums

Please share your own ideas on how to get your kids to practice consistently. Remember, by you sharing, you're helping fellow parents!!!

Awesome Quote!!