Length of Lessons

How long should lessons last?

Parents will go either way on this question.  Some believing that to get anywhere, kids should start with long lessons (like an hour), regardless of the age of the child.  Others believe that 30 minutes is plenty, again regardless of age and even level of playing.

I will generalize my answer since of course, each child is different, but even keeping those differences in mind, the following rule of thumb still stands.

The 30 minute lesson.

Regardless of age, private lessons should begin at 30 minutes.  It is easy enough to increase the time should the teacher deem it necessary.  A three year old will get to spend time on the instrument, mastering basic techniques and will also get to spend time playing fun games that will teach basic theory.  The 30 minutes will also allow the child to build a relationship with the teacher.  This is vital for a young child.  Wanting to spend time with his or her teacher can actually be THE most important motivator at the start of music lessons.  The love of music usually comes a little later.

For the older child, 30 minutes is about the time they should practice each day and so the teacher will have just enough time to run through the material being studied.

The 45 minute lesson.

There comes a time when the teacher simply cannot review and work on everything that the child is practicing during the 30 minute lesson.  When you start seeing comments like 'work on everything else' or 'will look at pieces next week', you know it's time to increase lesson times.

At the very beginning of learning music, children should practice between 10 to 20 minutes a day.  This should increase within a few months at the very most.  Once they have more material to work on, the natural progression is for longer practice times.  Longer practice times means longer lessons.

The 60 minute lesson.

Your child is now proficient on his or her chosen instrument.  He or she has been playing for a few years and is serious about practicing and progressing.  Examinations are usually being taken by this time.

Two lessons a week.

There may come a time when the teacher asks for the student to take 2 lessons a week.  A serious music school will provide opportunities for the second lesson to be taken in a group setting.   The first lesson remains private, with the main teacher.  This second lesson can be invaluable to work on technique, theory and ensemble work.  A different teacher can easily take over this lesson.

By taking these two lessons per week, the student has more time to work on repertoire with his or her main teacher.

Basic Guidelines to follow

Lessons should be long enough for the student to go through most of his work, whether pieces, technique or theory.  Of course, during festival or exam time, priority will be given to specific material. During these times, the student will have to learn to practice the peripheral work more autonomously. There may not be enough time during lessons to go through everything.  But at regular times during the year, everything should be looked at or at least mentioned.  If week after week the teacher runs out of time, consider adding to the lesson.

If, on the other hand, your child feels that the lessons drag on, two factors may be quickly considered. One, the teacher doesn't know how to manage the allotted time, or the student is not practicing enough and progress is slow.  This means that the teacher constantly reviews the same material and never adds anything new. This makes for a very long lesson for all involved.

Hopefully, I have given you enough food for thought to help you navigate this issue.  Please post any questions you may have.  I'll be happy to answer any concerns.

Play on!

What to practice

Is that what your teacher wants you to practice?

I never heard you play that before?

Stop fooling around and get to work!

Ever heard those statements?

I have had so many discussions with parents about what their kids SHOULD be practicing that I think this is definitely worth a few words.

Firstly, I am a firm believer that ANY time spent on their instrument is good, regardless of what the kids are doing.

Secondly, I would hope that they ALSO spend conscientious learning time.

In a perfect situation, the child reads her teacher's comments for the week and runs through everything assigned daily.  That's in a perfect world.  If your child actually does this, you and her teacher must be congratulated on a job well done!

Encouraging your child to follow the teacher's guidelines will go a long way in setting up good work habits.  Obviously if your child is too young to read autonomously you need to read the notes for her. Think of this as an investment in her learning skills.  This time you give her will pay off!

What to practice is relatively easy when you are sitting with your child.  It becomes more of a challenge when the child practices alone.  It takes time for the skills of good practising to develop.  If you are not allowed to sit with your child (some kids hate having a parent oversee their practices), you can still check their work by "happening to walk by"!

Rarely does a child innately know what the correct sequence of work should be.

So, a good basic daily practice schedule could look like this:

1.    A few minutes (10 to 20) of warm-up exercises.
These should be easy, stress free (as in, no physical tension) exercises.  They can become progressively quicker and more demanding as the fingers and body warm-up.

2.    An easy piece to complete the warm-up.
A piece that needs to be up kept for a recital or just a favourite piece are good candidates.

3.    Technique and scales can now be done.
Use of the metronome can make these even more valuable.  Proper technique is better than speed!

4.    Pieces/Repertoire
Practice pieces, going over difficult passages before actually playing through.  If a child constantly just plays through a piece (which most kids do), they reinforce weaknesses and never actually finish pieces correctly.

5.   Ending
This is a good time to do sight-reading, solfege or any other work that is not just playing.  If your child needs a break in her practice, she can insert these anytime.

6.   Fun stuff
If all went well and the student would still like to play, well, let her!  Composing, playing favourite pieces, or just banging around is a great way to reward herself for the good work she did.

If you are battling with a child that simply doesn't want to practice in such an organized way, be creative.  Mix it up.  Some parents find that doing one day of pieces and one day of technique seems to work best.  Others believe that practicing every other day sits well with their child.  If your bidding musician is not goal oriented and taking lessons for pleasure only, then this can be more encouraging.

On the other hand, if your child wants to participate in festivals, competitions and examinations, a more structured practice schedule is in order.

Just remember that in the long run, most kids will not turn to music as a career choice.  What IS important is to give each child time with an instrument so that they may have the opportunity to be creative and find the magic in music.  Playing and listening to music can be a meditative tool for a life time.