Wouldn’t it be great if your children or students cheerfully practiced their assigned piano pieces every day, without wasting time?
In this article, I’ll share a simple effective system that will start your kids efficiently practicing piano today and every day.
When I was a child, I took piano lessons. At the advice of my piano teacher, my mom placed a wind-up timer on the piano and told me to play for 30 minutes each day. Here is what actually happened during practice time:
A timer didn’t work!
1. I set the timer for 28 minutes (that rounded up to 30, right?).
2. I looked through my piano books for 3 minutes.
3. I spun around on the piano stool for 1 minute to adjust the height.
4. I “played around” on the piano to make some noise for 3 minutes.
5. I played 1 or 2 easy scales (not the new harder ones I was supposed to work on) for 2 minutes.
6. I played a few memorized pieces from last year’s recital for 6 minutes.
7. I practiced one of my assigned pieces for 10 minutes (the same one I practiced yesterday… the one I liked the best).
8. When the timer showed 3 minutes left, I would gently push the knob to 0 with a resounding DING! (after all, it was only 3 minutes!)
In short, I made poor use of my practice time.
As a parent, I now know that piano lessons are a) expensive, b) time consuming, and c) valuable for learning important life skills (music appreciation, the value of practice and persistence, learning to perform in front of a group, etc).
About 6 years ago my daughter began taking piano lessons.
I wanted to see my daughter make good use of her practice time, so I came up with a tally-system for practicing. Instead of a minutes-based system, practice success is measured on the number of times a piece is played. In her first 2 years of lessons, she typically was assigned 5-7 short pieces per week. I figured that 4 tallies per piece would add up to a great daily practice session. I made a tally sheet that would allow her to track her daily practice. On each day that she completed all her tallies for all pieces, she earned a sticker at the bottom of the column for that day. This helped motivate her to play the pieces that weren’t as fun. If she loved a piece and wanted to practice extra, she could fill in tallies for other days. If she forgot to practice one day, she could do extra on another day.
Tallies work better!
Benefits of the tally system:
1. Efficient use of time is rewarded.
2. Even if there is limited time for practice, measurable progress can be made.
3. Practice time can be divided on busy days (“Do half of your tallies before dinner, and half after dinner.”)
4. Playing favorite assigned songs is rewarded.
5. Repetition of new pieces is rewarded.
6. Playing old songs is great, (and I clap enthusiastically for piano shows!), but it doesn’t count for this week’s practice.
7. Since tallies are measurable, incentives can be used as a motivational boost.
During her first two years, my daughter made such good progress in piano that I used the system again with my younger daughter. Using the tally system, I could see real improvement on a daily basis. Their practice time was efficient and focused.
Free Printable Log
To begin using this system today, print the Free Printable Log on the right. Insert the days of the week in the top row, starting with the day after your child or student’s piano lesson. Fill in each exercise or song in the first column under Assignment. Set a goal for how many tallies to achieve. Have the student enter his/her own tallies as s/he plays. If desired, reward the student with stickers or smiley faces at the bottom of each completed practice day. Do the same thing each week to achieve real results in the coming months.
My daughters are both becoming accomplished pianists and practice independently every day. Much of their success is due to their excellent piano teacher and their own aptitude and motivation for learning piano, but I think the tally system was also a big contributor.
I’m sure the system could be adapted for other instruments; hopefully it will benefit other young musicians!
Parents and teachers: I’d love to hear about other tips or methods for encouraging practice!
Great article; what age kids does this work best with?
I think this system will work great all the way through elementary school. Once kids are in middle school, they should be better able to set and achieve practice goals. Thanks for reading! 🙂 Connie
Also, do you every use candy as rewards?
Great question! I try to avoid candy as rewards whenever possible because kids can develop an unhealthy relationship with food (seeing food as rewards rather than nourishment). I have to admit though, I have occasionally awarded a sugary treat when my kids showed a great attitude while working through a really tough assignment. 🙂 Connie