Motivating Young Musicians to Practice

“One minute on the stage needs ten years practice off stage” and “Practice makes perfect” point out the importance of practice in becoming a successful musician, but for some families whose children are learning an instrument, practice is a challenge. Most young musicians take weekly private instrumental lessons with their teacher for merely 45 to 60 minutes. Their progress relies mainly on the quality of the practice during the week. Often, parents do not know how to play the instrument the child is learning. For some families, they struggle to help their children with practice, which sometimes evolves into a fight that destroys parent-child relationships. For other families, lack of practice was the leading factor of dropping out. Teachers and parents should work together to stimulate young musicians’ intrinsic motivation through goal setting and heuristic teaching.

Mastering an instrument requires effort from the teacher, the student, and the parent. However, some parents take for granted that it is the teacher and student’s responsibility to learn an instrument, and their job is to pay tuition and drop off their children for lessons. Parents would say, “there are no weak students, but only unqualified teachers.” Students who take lessons to please their parents are more likely to drop when external rewards are gone. Likewise, parents would feel exhausted from dragging them along the journey. Some teachers throw teaching points and assign pieces for students to work on, thinking practicing or discussion in the lesson is a waste of time. Without a specific practice plan and motivation, students procrastinate until the last day to practice to get through the next lesson. To these families, their experience of learning an instrument can leave a negative mark in their memories.

At the beginning of their musical study, students, parents and teachers should collaborate to come up with long-term and short-term goals. Long-term goals might include what students would like to be able to do with their instruments in ten years, and whether or not they plan to participate in the music festivals, recitals, exams and competitions. Short-term goals might cover timelines for learning, polishing and memorizing a piece, and minimum tempo requirements for technical exercises. In the weekly private lessons, teachers could guide students in making specific practice plans on what and how to practice every single day. Teachers should encourage students to write down their feelings and give them freedom to adjust their practice when needed. Some parents have ambitious goals and impose their expectations on their children, which leads to the rebellion of the students and distorts the original purpose of goal setting. Therefore, parents and teachers should respect students’ decisions, start with simple goals, and inspire them to add goals as the journey unfolds. Goal setting puts students in the driver’s seat, and allows teachers and parents to be the supporters. When kids feel they are in charge of their learning, they are more likely to practice.

It is crucial to value and inspire young musicians’ thoughts and feelings. Parents and teachers need to check students’ feelings and be sensitive about their moods to adjust the learning objects of that week. Teachers should conduct constant conversations with students on what feelings, imagery, characters, emotions, or thoughts they have for the music they are working on, and guide them to decide the interpretations they like to produce. When they have the ownership of the music, practice would become a path for self-expression. For students who are uncomfortable sharing their emotions, teachers should ask questions and offer options to inspire students to share. Conversely, some parents might feel it is more effective for the teacher to offer direct instructions on how to improve, and the discovery, conversational and inspirational learning is time consuming. I would say the goal of learning music is to express feelings and live an artistic life. If students see beauty and link their experience to the music, they are more encouraged to practice.

Starting to learn an instrument is easy, but being committed to daily practice is the challenging part. It is ideal for parents and teachers to work as a team to stimulate students’ motivation through setting student-centered goals and valuing young musicians’ ideas and feelings, supporting them when they need you, and stepping back and encouraging them when they face setbacks. Learning an instrument is an arduous and sensitive process that demands perseverance, hard work, and emotional input. With a strong intrinsic motivation, music can become young musicians’ lifelong friend and an extra way for self-expression.