I Don’t Know What to Practice!

I don’t know what to practice! How many times have you heard this phrase recently? Or maybe you are the one guilty of saying this. I get it – if you or your child hasn’t had a lesson in a while, you feel like you are sick of practicing everything your teacher assigned you. Here are some ideas for what your child can practice when he doesn’t know what to practice.

Scales

First and foremost – practice scales! I can’t emphasize this enough – practice scales! All you keyboard players, practice your scales hands apart and hands together. Make sure you use the correct fingering. Play scales in contrary motion and parallel motion. Other instrumentalists, you need to practice scales also! If you are going to continue in music, you must know your scales – major, minor (all three kinds!), chromatic scales. Scales in every key!

Past Pieces

Practice music you already learned, music from the past. How can you play it better? What can you do to make it more expressive and more musical? Learn to play something from memory. Go back and work on those tricky passages again to see if you can make them better, smoother, cleaner. Review pieces you played last month, or last year.

Something New

Try learning some new music on your own. Maybe you have a piece that you always wanted to learn but never got to it in lessons. Have you found an arrangement of your favorite song that you want to learn? Go for it! Approach this new piece the same way you would start new music from your teacher. Be sure to check the key signature, time signature, accidentals, tricky rhythms. Learn something new just for fun.

Arpeggios

Do you know what an arpeggio is? Think of a chord but played just one note at a time. That’s the basic idea of an arpeggio. You find arpeggios all over your music, so practicing them in advance will give you a head start on future music. Keyboardists, you need to be sure you practice arpeggios with correct fingering!

Compose Some Music

Try composing some original music. Wouldn’t your teacher be surprised if you come to your next lesson with some original music to play for her? Think of a little theme or melody, play around with it, add some variety to it – see what you can do! And then, take the challenge further and try to write it out with the correct notes and rhythm. Who knows – you might discover a new passion!

Did I Mention Scales?

Let me reiterate – practice your scales! Scales are foundational to all music! Did you know that most of those long tricky passages you see in more difficult music come from scales? So work on those scales until you no longer need to think how to play them, and you will be ready to face those complicated passages head-on.

OK – Go practice! No more excuses! I’ve just given you lots of ideas of what to practice.

Need some more help or ideas with practicing? Check these posts.

How to Help Your Child Practice

When Your Child Doesn’t Want to Practice

Practice Like a Pro

Musical New Year’s Resolutions

New Year’s Resolutions. Are you a fan of them? Do you make resolutions every January? Or maybe you just set yourself some new goals for the year. Do you make any resolutions relating to music? Or any goals? Whatever you want to call them, let me give you a few ideas for Musical New Year’s Resolutions.

Go to more concerts

        Do you get to live concerts very often? Plan to go to more this year. Indoor, outdoor, free, paid, local, a new group, high school, community, professional – doesn’t matter! Go enjoy some live music. Chicago has a great line-up of free outdoor concerts during the summer. They just announced the schedule for the summer; I am already thinking about which ones I want to go to!

Learn a new instrument

        Do you play an instrument? Have you ever wanted to play something? Start learning! Choose an instrument and start learning to play! Maybe you played something in school – choose a related instrument and learn that one!

Practice an instrument you used to play

        Did you play an instrument in high school or college? Get it out and start practicing again! Practice up on those pieces you used to play. Start practicing a piece you always wanted to learn to play.

Join a performance group

        Get involved with a local performance group. Join a choir. Join the community band or orchestra. You will meet some fascinating people and enjoy making music in a group setting. Accept the challenge and have some fun with music!

Learn to read music

        Did you always enjoy singing but never learned to read music? Did you play a treble clef instrument but never learned to read bass clef? Or vice-versa? Did tenor clef or alto clef always mess with your mind? Take some time and master the art of reading music.

Explore a new genre of music

        Do you know all the latest pop music but can’t tell a symphony from a concerto? Maybe you are great with Bach and Vivaldi but know nothing about 20th century music. Whatever the case, take the challenge to learn a new form of music. Maybe you will choose to explore string quartets. Perhaps you will decide to learn about bluegrass. The options are endless! Explore something new.

Take a music appreciation course

        Learn about the many varieties of music available! Check out the different eras of music and the composers of each era. Find an online course, check out a course from your library, take a continuing education course through your community college. Learn something new!

Add your own ideas in the comments! Let me know how you are going to challenge your musical self this year.

Ideas for Musical New Year Resolutions

Sing with your Child – It will be good for both of you!

Looking for a great way to introduce your child to music? Searching for an easy way to get your child interested in music? I’ve got a great idea for you! Not only is it easy, it’s free! Can’t get much better than that!

The easiest way to introduce your child to music is to sing. That’s it! Just sing! Sing with your child. Sing to your child. You can sing about anything. Sing about what you are doing. Make up songs about picking up the toys. Sing about getting up in the morning. Just sing!

Here are some reasons why you should sing with and to your child.

Singing with your child is fun!

Music makes most anything better, so use some songs to go through your day. Sing when it is time to wake your child in the morning. Sing about her clothes when she is getting dressed. Make up a song about what you are going to do that day. Sing silly songs together. Make a game with your songs. Let your child sing an answer back to you. Just have fun!

Singing with your child is easy!

Just take your sentences and set them to some little tune. Use a melody you already know, or just make one up. You aren’t looking for highly refined music here, just little tunes. Make them up as you go along. Even if you only use a couple different notes, you can still sing a little song about what you are doing or thinking.

Singing with your child takes no great skills!

Singing with your child does not take great skills or practice. Remember, you are doing this for fun. It’s not necessary to have a great voice, or great vocal skills. So, enjoy! We talk to our kids without worrying about being great orators; we should sing with them without concern for our vocal qualities. Just have fun!

Singing with your child is free!

What’s better than free? You don’t have to invest in materials or lessons to sing with your child. No cost involved! Sing songs you remember from your childhood. Sing songs you have heard. Make up your own songs. Find silly kid’s songs at the library, or on your favorite streaming service. Sing them together. Make up your own words to some songs you already know.

Singing with your child will benefit both of you.

  • Bonding
  • Cognitive skills
  • Communication (Language skills)
  • Musical Sense

Your child will learn some basic things about music.

  • Pitch differentiation
  • Music is a form of communication
  • You can have fun with music
  • Music is for anyone, anytime, anywhere, not just for professionals.

Here are some links to other sources showing that singing with your child is beneficial:

So, go forth, sing together, and have fun!

Sing with your Child!