<p>Looking for some practice inspiration here. Trying to get some consistency in my practice time, not happening for some reason. What have you/ your kids used in the past to help motivate your/their practice? I'd love it if you shared and gave as much detail/advice as possible; you never know what might help. Thanks guys!</p>
<p>Some past practice threads:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/706957-excellent-if-somewhat-obvious-article-practice-habits.html?highlight=practice[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/706957-excellent-if-somewhat-obvious-article-practice-habits.html?highlight=practice</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/681022-practice-college-vs-balancing-pretty-much-everything-else.html?highlight=practice[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/681022-practice-college-vs-balancing-pretty-much-everything-else.html?highlight=practice</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/446958-how-many-hours-do-you-practice.html?highlight=practice[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/446958-how-many-hours-do-you-practice.html?highlight=practice</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/277993-practice-innate-talent.html?highlight=practice[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/277993-practice-innate-talent.html?highlight=practice</a></p>
<p>From personal experience, son did not require any motivation to practice, even from the point he first began the instrument. I honestly feel he also practices mentally throughout the day. I’m to the point where I believe he thinks in notes, not words. No other way to describe it.</p>
<p>Try to practice every day, if only for a short while. You need that kind of routine. On “short days”, practice technical exercises, or set attainable goals within your repertoire (I don’t know your instrument, so I hope this is applicable). There came a point for me in school where practicing had to become my number one priority, and not practicing multiple hours a day was simply not an option (again, I’m a violinist, so it could be different). If you are looking for something to motivate you, why not plan to play in public, or do a competition? Those were always motivators for me. Listening to lots of music, studying scores, and watching perfoances always helped as well. Bottom line is that consistency is up to you. No one and nothing can really make you practice, you have to see the value
in it and just do it. Hope that helps!</p>
<p>This article is meant for teachers, not students, but you may find something worthwhile here:
[InsideMusicTeaching.com</a> - online magazine and bookstore for professional music teachers](<a href=“http://insidemusicteaching.com/articles/art_wontpractice1.html]InsideMusicTeaching.com”>http://insidemusicteaching.com/articles/art_wontpractice1.html)</p>
<p>D’s first teacher as an undergrad had all her students keep a log book outlining the entire day. Sleep habits, eating, exercise, study, rehearsal, practice …EVERYTHING. She went over the log book at the beginning of every lesson to help the students fine tune their health and practice habits. D was already pretty obsessive and organized, but it still did help.</p>
<p>In my D’s case the motivation was wanting to be accepted at the college of her choice and her making the decision as to where to go and not just where she was accepted. In Elementary school she would practice 15-30 minutes 2 or3 times a week but each year she would increase the time. By the end of Grade 12 she was doing 1 to 2 hours 4-5 times a week and now in college she says that she is either practicing solo or with ensembles on avaerage of 3 hours a day every day. Her present teaher put it very clearly to her when she was accepted, he would push her as hard as she was willing to work. If wanted to just pass then that was all he would expect but if wanted to be the best she could then he would push her as hard as he could. Thankfully she has chosen to be the best she can and loves the hard workouts she is assigned.</p>
<p>I think the motivation to practice in the end comes from the student, someone else can’t motivate the student to practice, they need to internalize it. I liked lastrose’s comment, that one way may be to listen to music, read scores and such, and realize why you are practicing in the first place, that can be motivating in of itself (I know a number of violinists who heard Ostraikh for the first time and it really seemed to hit them, about what a violin can do). Course, some kids have ‘motivation’ of fear of facing their teacher <em>lol</em>.</p>
<p>The other factor could be knowing how much you are practicing. I like the idea of logging, it helped our S when he really started getting serious to figure out how much time he was doing and to plan things out. </p>
<p>The only other thing I can offer that my son seemed to find made doing practicing work the number of hours he does (4-5 now on most days) is to take a break after a set time. For him, 20 minutes, then a 10 minute break, seems to work for him, it allows him to get in the practicing and avoid the strains and pains that he used to get when not stopping.</p>
<p>@violadad-- As always, thank you so much for your input and your links, Violadad. It’s very nice having such a knowledgeable, helpful individual like you here on CC. And I envy your son! Nature or nurture, that is my question…</p>
<p>@lastroseofsummer–love your screen-name! I play violin too… so I completely understand where you’re coming from. I saw who you study with, that’s so cool. Does she say recommend anything in terms of practicing? Your comment was definitely helpful. I realize this needs to happen–i need to schedule a competition, or a performance to motivate me. Looking around…</p>
<p>@binx–that article is amazing!! experimentation–seeing what works for you and for you only is really the key to everything. that’s why i want to hear what other people are doing and trying different things out. i knew the practicespot guy, but i don’t think i had read that page before. did you use these techniques with your kids?</p>
<p>@musicamusica–wow, your D’s teacher’s is the sort of guidance i crave~now, i’m someone who’s NOT obsessive and organized and i admire ppl like your D. Is she a singer? i don’t know any string teachers that would do that sort of thing…</p>
<p>@percussiondad–is it possible that your D accepts and loves hard work because her parent(s) set up a good practice routine for her in elementary school? thank you for your comment.</p>
<p>@musicprnt–that totally happened to me when I heard Oistrakh for the first time! it still happens when i see his videos. and yeah, my teacher motivates me (scares me to death…:)), it’s just the day of and days following the lesson that are the hardest (like today, lol). that’s why i’d love to improve my consistency. also after big things (auditions, recitals) i just stop practicing. it’s something i have to unlearn, the cramming aspect. thanks for your help!</p>
<p>goldenlynx: Yes D is a singer in grad school. You could always keep your own log and ask your teacher to review it and give you advice. Even without a teachers advice, a log book forces you to reflect on how your time is organized. Take it from me, the “master procrastinator”.</p>
<p>Goldenlynx- my teacher is definitely in favor of organized, consistent practice. She was just saying today at my lesson that she thinks organization is key to making progress quickly. She also emphasizes using technique books and improving the bow arm to improve the overall level of playing. I just made a big jump in repertoire (Saint-Saens concerto to Sibelius haha), and I think the technique exercises I had been doing between the two really made the new piece accessable to me. For me, auditions were always a huge motivator. I haven’t done so many competitions (my previous teacher was against them), but they are definitely motivators. Plus they look good on your college resumes ;)</p>
<p>Goldenlynx you may be right as both my wife and I are very focused, organized people and it may have rubbed off. But as as far as music is concerned she tells her friends that we are musically challenged. Neither of us play an instrument of any kind so we did not know what it would take. Her love of music and desire to succeed and yes our continual support (we have never missed a performance she has been in) have all been the deciding factors</p>
<p>I practice about 4-5 hours a day as a senior in high school, especially coming up to auditions. I say average is 3 or 4, but sometimes push longer. (ensemble time is NOT considered practice time).
I defiantly keep a journal, so I can keep track of stuff - what worked, what didn’t, and what to work on the next day. I also think practice has to be a 7 day thing, not 4 or 5. i defiantly take sunday ‘off’, just doing chop maintenance, long tones.
for motivation, is just want to suck less the next day. what motivates me is the chance to play in a great symphony orchestra one day, and that usually is enough. listening to recordings, ect. will also help.
do what works!!!</p>
<p>I’m wondering if it is really possible for a singer to practice 5 hours a day without pulling something? Maybe we have to work up to it…?</p>
<p>I’m kind of at a loss when I hear these things about hours and such. Some days I put no time in for me, but I do have 3 hrs. ensemble time a day and squeeze and hour hour and a half in when possible.</p>
<p>Don’t be confused by the numbers. The vocalists will confirm but 5 hours for a singer is most probably both inadvisable and unhealthy. I will leave it to those more experienced to quantify and clarify what are the “norms”.</p>
<p>The numbers in this thread are for instrumental, and typically string and piano tend to be among the higher numbers. Seems winds and brass are typically a few hours less.</p>
<p>And long does not equate with success. Developing good practice habits, effective habits, utilizing warm-up, flexibility stretching type exercises and cool downs are just as important.</p>
<p>My son (strings) was always a short duration practicer. Bursts and rests, periodically throughout his day. Multiple shorter sessions throughout the day worked for him.</p>
<p>Singers don’t sing for 5 hours a day, but they have to translate their music, work it through on the piano, read the hsitory of the piece, work out the diction, etc. Might not be 5 hours but it does add up.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m a piano teacher, so I’m always looking for practice ideas.</p>
<p>My own kids did NOT need to be reminded to practice their primary instruments (well, except my ADD daughter sometimes needed to be reminded that she was practicing), but DID need encouragement with piano. My method (which I’ve told here before) was to put a jar of quarters and dollars on the piano. My kids paid themselves 25 cents per 15 minutes of practice. They did not get an allowance, so if they needed spending money for something, practice went way up. Since none intended to study piano long term, it was good for them to have an immediate reward. (AKA bribe.)</p>
<p>You’re right - the main thing is to find out what works for you. And to be prepared to adjust as you go along, grow, and change.</p>
<p>Musicmanjbd: You are right that 5 hours of practice a day would be too much for almost any singer and particularly for a young voice in high school. My wife’s voice teacher who produced many competition winners warned her soprano students to never sing more than 2 hours per day. She preferred that her students do as little choral singing as possible for two reasons: a) in order to maximize the amount of private practice per day (if you have a 2-hour choir rehearsal, then you can’t do any individual practice that day); and b) also to allow the voice to develop in ways that were appropriate for the individual voice instead of what was most appropriate for a choral blend: choral directors often want a placement/colour for the voice that is at odds with what the private teacher wants and often the choral director wants no vibrato whatsoever. </p>
<p>Generally lower voices can withstand more daily practice than higher voices, but certainly 5 regular daily hours would be excessive for any young voice. The damage that an enthusiastic young singer can do to their voices can be irreparable.</p>
<p>On any instrument frequent breaks (generally at least once an hour for a few minutes) help in at least two ways: a) reducing the possibility of muscle/tendon/nerve issues from repetitive unrelieved stress; and b) helping to clear the mind and to increase the focus so that practice doesn’t become daydream-filled repetitive mindless drill. The brain gets tired and does need a change or a break. The brain is much more important than the fingers, the lips, or the vocal cords.</p>
<p>Motivation must eventually be internal, but for young children having clear structures and firm expectations in place works wonders.</p>
<p>Hmmm thank you for the insight, I have heard similar regarding choral blend and solo style singing problems.</p>
<p>Just for balance: Most voice teachers that I know do not object to a moderate amount of healthy choral singing for college-aged voices. Most college-level choral directors are well aware of good vocal hygiene for their choristers. </p>
<p>Most voice teachers of pre-college singers actively encourage some choral singing for the skill base that it develops in a cooperative environment. </p>
<p>Perhaps the bigger danger to young voices is not a choral director’s demands in terms of timbre and vibrato, but an enthusiastic young singer’s tendency to oversing in an effort to contribute in a big way or merely to hear themselves.</p>
<p>Interestingly the only singers in my D’s university choir that could hit a high-C were all singing in second soprano section! The first soprano section was filled with Music Ed majors while all the soprano VP majors sing in the second soprano section to keep their voices as healthy as possible. </p>
<p>My VP D was thrilled when at one of her grad school visits the director of the program drawled “we don’t DO choir here…” in response to a question from a prospective student.</p>
<p>In HS, my D was fortunate to have a choir director that recognized the potential in individual voices and protected them. She has not been as fortunate in college where there appears to be a wide gulf between the choral VP faculty at her UG school.</p>
<p>Obviously the situation differs by individual as well as by school/program.</p>