Young musicians are usually not taught HOW to practice. We tell them that they have to practice a certain amount of minutes a day, and then they sit down and play through all of their music, reinforcing any mistakes.

One of my main goals is to make sure that all students in the Wydown Orchestra Program become efficient, effective practicers. We learn about practicing personalities and tendencies and how to fix them. We talk about general rules of practice, and use these rules and techniques during our rehearsals.

1. Don't require a specific amount of minutes for practice. Ask your child to tell you their 3-5 goals for the practice session. Once they have completed those they are done. These sections should be fairly small and specific!

2. PRACTICE SHOULDN'T SOUND GOOD! A productive practice session should include playing notes really slowly to get them in tune, breaking things down into only notes or only rhythms, isolating shifts, practicing transitions, etc.

3. Playing through a piece is not practicing it (until you are close to a performance!). If you hear lots of run-throughs, ask about their goals.

4. Help them find a quiet place to practice or a quiet time. A practice mute can be helpful if they are concerned about making too much noise.