Goal setting for effective practice

Getting kids to practice their music everyday can be challenging.  If your child is asked to run through everything on their list at each practice, tedium can easily set in.

Although much can be said about rote learning, it is not the most creative nor inspiring way to learn. Seeing kindergarteners sitting in a circle and reciting the alphabet in a singsong way can be charming and effective for learning the order of letters.  But reciting the alphabet in this way does not teach a child to read.  It teaches him or her the order in which the letters are placed in the alphabet.  In the scheme of things, knowing that order is not particularly valuable.  I have never been called upon to give the correct placement of the letter L within the alphabet in any job.  So learning by rote is effective for some things but deep learning with understanding is done by different methods.

Therefore, scales should be learned by rote only if the student understands the relationships between tons and semi-tons, the different modes and their usage in music.  It actually makes learning more interesting when you understand the why and how of things.

How does this relate to goal setting in practices?  Well, if the child can find something specific to work on instead of running through the piece by rote, learning will be deeper and the practice more effective. Running through a scale 3 times with the wrong fingering is less effective than running through it once slowly while paying close attention to correct notes and fingering.  Understanding the logic of a specific fingering, the relationship of a particular scale to its relatives, all this information can make for a quicker more effective practice.

Reaching your goals

GOAL SETTING IDEAS

Journaling

Some kids like journaling and this can definitely be used in practice.  Keeping track of details can be time consuming in the moment but quite a time saver in the long run.  A simple entry such as:
      SCALES:  Eb Major and relatives.  Trouble with left hand fingering today.

This entry will prompt a practice response the next day if read before she starts her scales.  Her time will be spent correcting the exact thing that needs help and not just running through the scale, maintaining the mistake.  It takes much longer to correct a mistake that is practiced over and over again than to fix it right away :)

Stop and fix

When starting to play a piece or exercise, at the first sign of a hesitation or mistake, the student should stop.  They should back up a few bars and try again.  If the glitch is still there, "buttering" it can help. Running over it slowly from all angles, using different techniques such as hands separate, playing different rhythms, changing tempo, then play the section through again is constructive work.  If it's fixed, they can start back at the beginning and try playing the passage again.  If they need to slow down a bit as they approach the fixed area, that's ok.  If the problem persists and they have time, students should continue working on it.  If not, they should be aware that this is where they need to start again the next day.

Work one thing throughout

Your child could decide that on any given day the aim would be to fix one thing, like technique for example.  Whatever they play, they concentrate on hand position or finger action.  This is a very good way of quickly fixing basic problems for the long term.  This kind of work may not allow for loads of concentration on others aspects of performance, but the payback is well worth it.

If all these ideas are too specific for a student's style of practice, then let me leave you with one thought. Never practice without forethought.  Before starting anything, think of one aspect of the piece that needs tackling and go do it.

Enjoy the music!