Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Reasonable insrtumental music practice schedule?

Obviously, there is not a single answer. For example, the level (beginning, intermediate, advance) would make a big difference as well as the age of the child. I am looking for a consensus (or not) of typical number of days and length of practice.

I am also interested in others' opinions regarding the point at which a youth band/orchestra (outside school) may be appropriate.

I can't even begin to give you an answer, but would also consider other variables as important: level of interest of the child, your goals, your child's goals, the natural ability of the student, access to instrument/quiet/etc practice environment, frequency of lessons, is your child participating in band already etc.

I grew up playing and loving music, and each of my children has played multiple instruments - and the answer to this for each child + instrument + stage of life has been very very different.

So - total non-answer from me!

polarbera

Thirty minutes a day on the piano for our children, ages 7 to 10, but they aren't going to Carnegie Hall on that schedule. Sometimes they play just for the fun of it, which is a reason to continue their lessons. If they only ever played out of compulsion we ought to stop.

Agree with previous posters that there are probably too many variables to make this useful, but I can share where my two are.

Their middle school band teachers require 120 minutes/week, and prefer that it is divided somewhat evenly (ie, not crammed into one or two sessions).

DS 12 has been playing his current instrument for 2 yrs, he practices 20-30 minutes, 6-7x/week.

Dd 14 has been on the current instrument 4 years, she practices for 45min-1hour probably 3-4x/week. She is more of a slacker, and is very good at sight reading, so sometimes slides by; however, her private teacher is quite demanding so this is becoming harder for her to pull off.

This definitely varies depending on schedule constraints, if an audition or performance is coming up, etc. Both take lessons during school and private lessons after school. The practice time is also limited by endurance, both play wind instruments and stamina is a factor.

Regarding outside ensembles, I would say it depends if their needs are met in school. Our school has pretty high-level music, and both kids play in small group ensembles in addition to band. Dd has definitely outgrown what is available in middle school and has auditioned for an been accepted to the highest level band for high school next year. Still, she is going to audition for an outside youth orchestra. This group is the main outside ensemble locally that would be suitable, but you have to be a ninth grader, so she has been waiting patiently to audition. The main reason she wants to try the outside group is that her high school group, though it plays sometimes with an orchestra, is primarily a wind ensemble, and she wants the orchestral experience.

Just to note, in our area there seem to be more opportunities for string players, in terms of outside ensembles, and they start at younger ages, often 6th grade. Our band program doesn't begin until 5th grade, so that may be part of the reason for fewer opportunities there; by then many of the kids have already become entrenched in orchestra and string music.

I really try stick to them doing it only while it is fun. I think the key for younger kids in particular is to find ways to encourage an independent love for it. So we often have short practices, but we really do aim for daily (lovely Suzuki saying "only practice on the days that you eat")

Sometimes we do longer practices when we are all feeling relaxed and seriously working on a particular item or technique. Other days it's a review day where we just play what calls out to us to be played.

For Dylan (3) and Nathan (5) I build a lot of games around practice - we throw balls into buckets and find what to play next, we snap snap circuit bits onto the board for each exercise done, we build duplo towers piece by piece for something practiced. Dylan practices for about 4 - 8 minutes. Nathan for about 5 - 15 minutes depending on the game, the focal point of the practice session and his mood.

Aiden likes the games sometimes, but he most often prefers to use something like this:

Warm up (scale/arpeggio and old favourite piece)
Review piece 1 (usually an old piece that may need a bit of fine detail work or has gotten a bit rusty)
New piece (the piece he is currently working on - he does the bits his teacher suggested he focus on, working on tricky bits over and over and then trying to play it through a few
Sight Reading Practice
Review piece 2 (another piece that he knows well but may need a very slight adjustment, or taking a favourite piece and playing it in a different key for fun)
Review piece 3 (an old favourite that he knows well)

That's for violin. It takes him about 20 - 30 minutes a day when he does it like this. If he only does the review pieces then it's less than 10 minutes. Then I try encourage another session later that day again.

My rule of thumb is similar to the homework rule of thumb (not that we actually have hw, since ours are homeschooled--or maybe it's all hw!): under six years of age, 5 minutes per instrument per day, or however much can be tolerated and still be fun, whichever is less, 6-7 days a week. Beginning with your sixth birthday, 10 min x 6-7 days, incrementing by 10 minutes with each succeeding birthday.

It helps when practice is broken down into sections targeting different skills, studies/exercises, or pieces. We also use a countdown timer. They are allowed to pause the timer for breaks, or to mess around on the instrument, as long as 80% of each practice session is spent on serious practicing. We had to add that recently, as ours would spend all of their time jamming if allowed, and claim they had practiced.

Dc is a serious musician but has become more serious over time. At ages 8-10, he practiced 1/2 hour most days. By 11, he practiced 45 min most days. Now, at 12-14, he practices minimum 1 hour, 6 days/week PER instrument. That's on top of rehearsals for various groups plus music theory plus performances, which average another 6-8 hours/week.

I'd say youth orchestra would be a good idea as early as they'll take your dc. It teaches ensemble skills including listening and keeping a tempo, and it's generally more fun and motivating than solo practice alone.

It does depend on the instrument. What my son's private teacher wants is for my son to have his instrument (clarinet) in his mouth almost every day. He doesn't say how long every day. My son doesn't practice enough but when he does he spends about 30 minutes at time. But he does have band practice in school 4 days a week, and his goal (and mine) is for him to play in the marching band through the rest of H.S.

The amount really depends on age, maturity and what one is trying to accomplish. For any instrument I would suggest every day for at least 15 minutes per day, more the older they get. Try for almost every day, but don't worry about minor exceptions because of special activities.

As to when to join a outside band/orchestra? This depends on the on the orchestra. In my area they usually have age limits, and require a audition. Around my area there are groups for children (8-12) and teens. Most don't start till the age the school band/orchestra starts. Unless one really felt your child was a musical prodigy I would probably stick to their limits. And outside band/orchestra is appropriate if you child enjoys it and they aren't over-scheduled in a million other activities.

I'm feeling like a real tiger mom right now after reading others' replies here. DD3 (she'll be 4 in 2 months) practices at least 45 minutes every day. Obviously, she is a beginner and you'd think there won't be that much to practice but there is. If it was left up to her, she'd be playing all day long. She didn't start this way but once she could play well enough, she took off on her own.

I've read about elementary school children practicing 5+ hours a day. I wouldn't want DD to practice more than 3 hours a day but even that seems a lot. DD is NOT a musical prodigy. She's moving along fine but no more so than any other children who tend to learn quickly. We have no ambitions for her beyond playing music for fun. I didn't think she was practicing excessively but maybe I need to step back and reassess.

I think if your child enjoys practicing, she should practice. =) And I'll just mention that I've toned down my expectations for practicing quite a bit from my childhood piano, which was spent under the tutelage of a Russian emigre, with pretty much what you'd think as practice demands! My career as a concert pianist was short-lived (at best), and I have no ambitions or expectations for my children to be professional musicians, so our practice schedule is intended to develop perseverance, time management, and reasonable amateur musician skills, sufficient for educated enjoyment of music.

This is the schedule we've agreed to with our DD14, as well-- she's done things this way for years, and sometimes fights it, and sometimes not, and we're not terribly rigid about it during a week when things go topsy turvy.

At the late intermediate level, understand, this means working on a piece for months at a time. Our DD is quite talented, but she doesn't really value this talent very highly, nor have intrinsic motivation to excel at piano-- I mention that only to note that this amount of practice time is WHOLLY inadequate for most piano students at this level-- even pretty talented ones. DD doesn't seem to need a lot of repetition to improve. PLAYING time counts more than repetition of what she's working on. Can't really explain that one, but it seems to be true.

As long as it's enjoyable is my answer. Quantity need not dictate advancement. When I first learned violin at 15, I completed six RCM grades in a year on 3 hours a week of ensemble play and about 1 hour of solo play. The ensemble was a total delight, and the excitement at hearing the harmony of the group provided motivation for solo work.

Strangely, I find time thinking about the music in my head outside practice was what really helped me progress. I have a strong auditory memory and can easily hear simultaneous parts as though they are played solo, so deconstructing and reconstructing the group play was what helped me better understand the role that my part played in the ensemble. It gave me a heightened appreciation for the dynamic range required to optimize the listening experience of the audience. I have to wonder if others here/others' children use a similar non-practice approach to working on a piece.

On the upper end of the scale, if I was caught by the composing bug on piano, I'd often go most of a day playing, sometimes getting so caught up that I'd miss meals (to my mother's chagrin). Those are the days where I feel music in my soul and need to release it, like a breath trapped in my throat.

So somewhere between 30 minutes and all day to get to a teaching level of proficiency (ARTC in RCM) in 3-4 years. What a useless recommendation, isn't it?

Aquinas, I think that is precisely what my DD manages with her non-practice improvement, which is otherwise kind of inexplicable, frankly.

She, too, will get into a real tear occasionally and put in 4-6 hours over a day or two, just doodling, improvising, composing.

As others have said, it totally depends on the motivation level of the student, parent and the teacher. My child's piano teacher is a prefectionist, I am a perfectionist and so is my child. That makes the practice tough on both my DS and myself.
My DS needs me to schedule the practice time into his day as he is still very young and he also needs me to be around to help him during practice (although I am doing less of this as he gets older).
We set a goal of practicing for the same # of minutes every day as his private lessons (this is the expectation of his current teacher). We accomplish it most of the time, but we let things slide occasionally due to travel, sickness and overscheduling etc.
I like the Suzuki quote above on practicing. My child's teacher told him to practice on days of the week that end with a "y"!
DS also belongs to an "ensemble group" (not school or band related) which has classes every other week - this is more fun than work for him because there are a few kids there who are not at his level yet and hence they play easy pieces. But, he gets a lot of enjoyment and ensemble practice. I recommend ensembles as early as possible as they teach a lot of musical skills in addition to providing peer groups - this is so important for my son as we are a non-musical family and can only read books on music with him.

Ashley's point reminds me that, when I was learning violin, I was a beginner in an advanced group-- easily the weakest member by a large margin. If I can offer any advice for personal growth, be it in music or otherwise, it would be to find a group that allows you to aspire to mastery. Don't be afraid to be the weakest; it's the best position to be in because you stand to learn so much from those around you! Aspire, learn, evolve, repeat. When it stops being hard, it's time to ratchet up the challenge! There's no shame in imperfection, only in missing a learning opportunity.

I would definitely agree with your other variables but thought that level and age were the most significant factors.

Thirty minutes sounds reasonably to me as well although I have never suggested that my children practice every day except in preparation for an upcoming performance.

Those sound like reasonable schedules as well although a bit more than my 5th graders are doing except during preparation for a performance. Mostly I have provided parameters for practice ranges and stressed that a certain level of practice is required to develop skills. They are old enough that it has mostly worked well without the need for me to hound.

Congratulations to your DD on qualifying for the highest level school band and good luck on the youth orchestra audition.

Wow! I don't think that I would have had the patience to monitor my kids at the younger ages (5 and under) so did not bother starting them that early. As it was, I sometimes find it taxing to provide instruction during some of their practices but fortunately the need to weigh in (or even pay attention) during their practices diminished as they gained skill.

The timer is actually a good idea as my kids often practice together and do end up goofing around a bit. On the other hand, I try to create an atmosphere where they are accountable to themselves rather than me so that I don't keep track.

I hear you about ensemble skills and keeping the tempo. It is so much easier for them to get away with minor imperfections when performing a solo while it becomes glaringly obvious when they have to play with someone else.

I think that practice in school does negate the need for as much practice at home. I can see the benefits of daily practice but it had always seem to me that they should get at least one day off even if they do enjoy it for the most part.

If she enjoys it that much then she should be allow to practice. I find that 5+ hours a day for elementary aged children rather astonishing unless they were musical prodigies destined for Carnegie Hall!

I can definitely see that! They have been working on their current duet for weeks and there are definitely room for improvement although mostly subtle issues of dynamics and tones, etc.

My hope is that by 15, I won't have any input on their practice schedules and that they will completely self-monitor at that stage. It's at the younger ages that sometimes it becomes necessary to provide a little nudge and a reminder that improvement/progression requires a certain minimum practice time.

That's cute. I wholeheartedly agree with the ensemble suggestion. I find it really helpful when my kids have to time their playing with others as they develop invaluable listening skills.

As long as it's enjoyable, as long as it fits with the children's goals, as long as it fits with the priorities of the children and the family... I also don't think there is a fixed answer. My kids love music and are very advanced, at times I've definitely thought about pushing them to practice more. So far I've been able to suppress the urge. :-) They need time to develop in many areas. There are a lot of things that they should do in music as well, away from the instruments. In total, my DS14 probably spends 20 hours a week on music (lessons, pratice, work away from the instruments, ensembles, etc), and my DD9 probably 15 hours. When they were starting, though, at the age of 5 or 6, they were doing 15 to 20 minutes a day.

I've heard that some teachers think that the practice time each day should be the same as the length of the lesson. For example, if the kid takes a 45-minute lesson each week, then she/he should practice 45 minutes a day. But it depends so much on other factors as well.

Also, the quality of the practice is much more important than the time. I'd rather my kids have a focused practice for 20 minutes than a half-hearted one-hour session.

When the kids are young, I personally don't think it's a priority to practice a lot. I think developing good music sense, intuition, taste, listening skills, etc. are all important and lots of these are not done through practicing the instrument.

If you look at the now famous paper on deliberate practice and expertise by Ericksson (1993, a survey of violinists, the classic paper on "10,000 hour rule"), you will see that these violinists actually didn't practice much in the first few years of study (on average, probably 20-30 minutes a day. They picked up the pace dramatically in teenage years. The vast majority of the kids won't be professional musicians anyways.

Ensemble: my kids really enjoy it since it's fun for them to interact with other musicians and they get to work on a wider range of music. They started at 8 and 6, respectively.

I completely agree about not forcing a lot of practice in the beginning. My approach has been securing an agreement for enough practice so that they will see enough improvements to encourage continued pursuit. It is a lot more fun when you can play well.

They wanted to start. Even little Dylan now will always take out his violin when I take out mine (I started after Aiden did - I always wanted to learn the violin!)

It's not so much patience as much as it is the Suzuki methodology. It fits me, us, what I believe about education and learning so it feels right for me.

Aiden hardly needs my input now - occasionally I will say something as I walk past, or yell a reminder from a distance. Nathan is starting to practice on his own, but I like to be there to ensure that no bad habits are slipping in. And for Dylan, well it's really about 4 - 5 minutes, and it's totally fun too.

And I know as they surge ahead they will need my input less and less. And that's great too

For me, the point is to get them to enjoy/choose practicing regularly in a meaningful way. This seems to be the best, and least stressful, way of achieving that.

It's great that it works so well for you and your kiddos.
For my kids at that age, while they may indicate some interest, I would have to schedule the practices and be right there with them.

oh don't get me wrong - I still largely have to remind them to practice - but it forms a part of our homeschooling day so it's on their lists of things to do each day.

It's taken us nearly 2 years to build it into habit.