“Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand” – Stevie Wonder
There is a direct correlation between the amount of success that students achieve on playing a musical instrument and the amount of time that they spend practicing. Learning to play a musical instrument involves several complex physical and mental processes that occur simultaneously: decoding written symbols on a page (reading music) and translating them to corresponding physical actions (fingering/sticking/blowing into an instrument).
To become good at playing a musical instrument, practicing and repetition of fundamental skills are necessary on a regular daily basis.
Because there is a certain degree of muscle memory that must be developed in learning to play an instrument, meaningful practicing that yields successful results cannot be crammed into large segments of time at sporadic intervals (ie: an hour of practicing once a week), but instead these skills develop best over short sessions of practicing on a daily regular basis.
We require that our band students try to practice 10 – 15 minutes each day, for 4 – 5 days a week, for a total of 40 to 50 minutes of practicing each week.
Practicing is a required part of playing a musical instrument and participating in band lessons. Students are encouraged to have self-discipline by making practicing part of their daily routine, which means even doing it when you don’t feel like it. When a student reports that he/she is too busy to practice on a regular basis or routinely turns in a blank/unsigned practice journal, we will call home to speak with a parent/guardian to see if the student’s schedule can be better adjusted to include practice time.
Advanced Band students in the 5th grade are required to keep a practice journal where they write down how much time they spend practicing each day. At the end of the week, the students are asked to add up and record the total number of minutes spent practicing and parents are asked to sign off on the practice journal for that week. Journals are reviewed at the beginning of each lesson. At the end of each lesson we write the weekly practicing assignment on the journal.
Beginning Band students have received their practice journals and are required to keep a practice journal where they write down how much time they spend practicing each day. At the end of the week, the students are asked to add up and record the total number of minutes spent practicing and parents are asked to sign off on the practice journal for that week. Journals are reviewed at the beginning of each lesson. At the end of each lesson we write the weekly practicing assignment on the journal.