Sometimes our young musicians master their new practice assignment in a day or two which leaves alot of time until the next lesson. You may have been in this situation and wondered what can be done to productively fill the time. Here are a few thing you can try next time your child aces their practice assignment in a few days.
Variations
This will exercise their creativity by having to recombine information they already know.
Transpose the music, or just a fragment, or just one hand (for pianists). This will require some serious mental spatial awareness and can be a fun challenge! If you don’t know how to check their transposition work, then ask your child to remember what they did and have them show their teacher. Their teacher will be pleased with their student having gone above and beyond. Also, their teacher will get the hint that they might need to increase the challenge of the practice assignment.
Ask them to play it very softly. It is actually quite difficult to play music very quietly since it requires even greater control of fine motor skills. I have found that some students focus very intently and get a kick out of playing something very softly then suddenly very loudly. Ask your child to assign some passages to play very softly and others to play very loudly. Have them perform the piece in this new way.
Play it all staccato or all legato. Changing the articulation can change the character of the music quite drastically giving them a taste of the variety of tone colors their instruments are capable of. This will also expose them to having to make creative artistic decisions about where to put those sounds.
Play it very slowly or very fast. This again is something that I have seen my students have a lot of fun with. They make ups stories about the music being sleepy or lazy when slow, or frantic, bouncy, skippy when fast.
Have them play additional material from repertoire books. This material should be easy and provide a medium challenge. Or have them revisit old songs from past books.
Make a video. This will teach them two things. One is that they are going to have to be able to play the music they’re working on from start to finish just like a live performance. AND if they know their way around a tablet or computer, they can sharpen their video editing skills in making a video for social media or sharing with family.
There is also the option to not practice the instrument for one day, and instead listen to music. This is great opportunity for you to share music with your child that you really love. You can tell them about the first time you heard the song, how it made you feel, and what it means to you. I have fond memories of older family members sharing their favorite music. Active listening in this way is an effective form of practice since it exposes children to high quality music, and makes the impression that music listening can be more than a passive activity..
Conclusion
Have your child play the assigned music in a few variations: tempo, volume, articulation, and transposed. You can also consider playing additional material from repertoire books, or revisiting old material. Videos of any of the mentioned suggestions make for a fun side project that can lead to additional creative and technical skills. These are only temporary solutions. If your child is chronically under-challenged, then let their teacher know and they will adjust the workload accordingly. Of course there is always the option to take a day off!
I have to admit when, my student’s parents asked me about what they can do after their child mastered the week’s assignment in a few days, I was caught off guard. In the moment I had no idea, I had never come across that issue. What are some things you have done to productively fill the time?
If you found this article helpful please give it a like down in the bottom right, and share it with other parents you think would appreciate the information. If you still have any doubts about what to do, send me an email ask.music.alonso@gmail.com or DM on IG @practice_percussion
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