Practice daily is essential for student success. Your child’s progress is related to the amount of practice time done at home. Ideally, students should aim for at least 6-7 days of practice each week. Having the student do short daily practice is more effective than one or two long sessions per week. It is not practical and also is very stressful to wait until the end of the week, trying to catch up right before a student’s next lesson! Students’ most crucial time to practice is right after their weekly class to solidify what they have just learned.
An estimate daily guideline is:
5 – 15 minutes – Young Beginner
15 – 30 minutes – Beginner
20 – 40 minutes – Intermediate
30 – 45+ minutes – Advanced
These times are guidelines only. For intermediate and advanced levels- the goal should be to practice sufficiently to see incremental improvement.
I want all students to play for their enjoyment. Students should play their older pieces, more manageable pieces, and review their favorite music. They should try to sight-read something new!
Most of all, have fun playing!
Parental involvement in home practice is the key to student success, especially at the early stages. Please help your student establish and stick to a practice routine. Making sure there are no distractions during practice time. If you are the parent of a very early elementary-age student or student at a beginner level, I highly recommend you to sit with your child for at least a portion of their daily practice time. Children who are not getting used to a set routine in their schedule benefit from having parents help structure their practice time and set expectations to establish a practice habit.
To build independence in a student: it is important to building the skill of having a young child manage his or her materials. For example: read the assignment book, do the practice, make their own mistakes, make corrections, and collect materials to have it ready for the lesson. Independence builds a real sense of personal achievement and aids in establishing the child’s identity as a music student.
Piano Lessons 