February 2020 - I Practiced Every Day I Ate! Almost...

the year has only just begun…the blank spaces are days I genuinely forgot to practice my scales and arpeggios. There’s always room for growth!

I have a chart almost exactly like this on the wall in my kitchen, where I keep track of my running mileage. There’s nothing more satisfying than watching that chart fill up as the year progresses, so I asked my husband to make one for me to track my piano practice minutes. 

One of my New Year’s goals for 2020 is to heal my relationship with the piano, a long, boring, melodramatic saga no one really wants to read about. The best place for me to start was establishing a daily practice routine, similar to my running routine. Keeping it simple was my number one priority, so I could be consistent and therefore successful. This was not going to include any work-related accompanying or rehearsing, but solely self-initiated practice time. I committed to practicing my scales and arpeggios every day, major and minor, no matter what. If time allowed for more, or if I needed to practice other music, I would fit that in as well. I discovered that the scale/arpeggio routine took approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Just right.

One of the catalysts for this resolution was to set an example for my students - if I was going to ask them, and their parents, to make time in their busy schedules to commit to practicing, I needed to show them that it could be done, that it was possible! As a mom of four kids, managing 35 piano students and two part-time accompanying jobs, my middle name is BUSY. I’m excited to share my first month’s progress with you, and I hope you’ll share it with your children as well. It’s not perfect, but perfection is never the goal.

I would love it if you would help your child do a similar thing - simply print a blank calendar template, or if you have a spare wall calendar lying around, keep it next to the piano/keyboard at home. Every day that your child practices, have them put a sticker, a check mark, or some other indicator that they played the piano that day. It really doesn’t matter for how long - right now the goal is to play every day that they eat. Ideally I’d like to see at least 15 minutes for good skill development and comfort at the piano, but that’s an individual goal. More is needed for older/more advanced players.

Almost every student that I teach has a routine they can start with, whether it’s scales, 5-finger scales, “This is My C Scale,” “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” or some technique exercises. If that’s all you have time for, or just some noodling on the black keys with the damper pedal pressed down, it’s better than nothing! Let’s discourage that all-or-nothing mindset that so many of us are guilty of having - “if I can’t practice everything on my list, I just won’t start.” 

Have your child bring in their practice calendars to me and I will probably have my prize box with me at the beginning of each month...

Happy music making!