A Guide to Supporting Instrument Practice at Home

• Regular practice is necessary for your child to improve in their instrument, helping them to build confidence, discipline and musical skills. With your encouragement, your child can thrive and enjoy their musical journey. If practising at home is not possible, please speak with schools as they may have space for your child to use.

• Short and regular practice sessions (aim for 5 to 10 minutes a day) are ideal to create a daily habit.
• By setting short achievable goals for practice times, your child may be less intimidated by the task of practicing and once they’ve picked up the instrument they may even want to continue practising for longer!
• Having the instrument, books and Music Diary set up throughout the week encourages practice by acting as a visible reminder and removing the extra steps of taking the instrument in and out of its case.
• Acknowledge and celebrate regular practice with a reward chart.

• Ensure your child has good posture, sitting and standing comfortably with correct technique – check your child’s Music Diary for tips on this.
• This enables them to play to the best of their ability and gets them into the habit of always playing with correct technique.

• Ask your child what they’re working on and encourage goal setting – for example “Can you memorise these 3 scales by Friday?”
• Ask them to perform for you and show interest, offering praise and feedback to encourage them.
• Celebrate progress, not perfection.

• Technology such as metronome and tuner apps and play-along backing tracks can be vital practice tools.
• Recording their practicing lets them listen out for areas they should focus their practice on and allows them to hear their progress over time
• Your encouragement is the most powerful tool in your child’s musical journey. With your support, practice isn’t just a task but an enjoyable experience for both you and your child.

Download your reward chart here >

Colour in a music note for every day your child practices!