I often have different theme’s come up in lessons that oddly correspond to all my students. Which makes me wonder what is happening in my own life that might be affecting my students.

One of those themes, since the pandemic happened is that I haven’t been keeping up much with the “parent education” side of the Suzuki Method. But as I’ve had a handful of students regressing into “playing” and not actually practicing lately, I decided I needed to create this blog to help express myself more generally and hope this helps my studio, as well as possibly other suzuki method ascribers.

I made some printables for my students in hopes of helping guide them and motivate them in between lessons. They are in my Teachers Pay Teachers store for purchase from non-studio parents.

I highly suggest printing these out and putting them somewhere on the wall within eyesight of the piano.

The issue: Practice.

When students don’t practice with quality repetitions, they just play through their pieces (often skipping over their technique studies like scales and etudes), and don’t get any better. Then they struggle with their skills and confidence and then get frustrated because not only do they not PROgress, they actually REgress. Then they come to the lesson and get embarrassed and feel guilt and shame. Nobody likes that feeling. And yet, the following week, they repeat the cycle.

This tells me that either they don’t understand how to practice or they just get overwhelmed and cave to their emotions. Either way, the skills are teachable and so I want to focus on those.

First and foremost, please make sure they are actually reading their assignments. Far too often children assume they remember things. They don’t.

I have seen this a million times, as well as every other piano teacher. It is predictable and so easy to resolve. Unfortunately, we cannot be with our students every single day in between lessons, so as far as accountability goes, that IS on the parents, not the teacher.

I often hear parents talking about how keeping the students motivated is the teachers job. But remember, the Suzuki triangle. All three parts are equally involved in that motivation. The students job is to, well… actually DO the practicing and make sure they are focusing on the quality technique, correct notes, correct finger numbers, etc… And the parents job is to reinforce that and when they don’t have the time for that, at the very least, try to make sure the students are doing their quality practicing and not just playing through things haphazardly.

Let’s dissect how one goes about getting motivation.

In the words of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, “success breeds success”. The only way to gain success in music study, is to practice daily. It’s just the way the brain works. There are NO shortcuts, which makes this a great way to teach character development.

But when the students aren’t successful, what happens? Then they get bored, stagnant, have bad attitudes, or are completely disengaged and other bad habits that just propel the cycle forward and eventually it leads to disinterest and quitting.

The thing is, they often spend time complaining about having to do the “boring” things, but if they were in the routine of practicing those things…. after one week they wouldn’t even notice.

Often parents try to encourage the child by changing their feelings and saying “don’t say boring”. But I don’t think that’s as helpful as we wish it was. We need to validate their feelings, but then add some spice. It’s completely true that practice is boring work, IF you’re struggling and not breaking things down into smaller, easier steps, or if you think you’re doing it right and you’re just breezin’ along, completely oblivious to all the mistakes you’re making. It is boring if you have the wrong attitude. What is the opposite of boring? Curious.

Ask them to teach you how to do quality practice. See what they say. I often here “this amount of time every day”. *Uff*. Time is not the point. It is time well spent that is the point… when focusing on quality technique and accuracy, it doesn’t matter if it takes you 30 seconds or 30 minutes.

PRO–HINT: Make the students take responsibility for scheduling their own practice time, just like their homework or chores. Yes, of course, we want them to love practicing and in an ideal world it wouldn’t be a chore…
…but nobody LOVES doing anything day in and day out. We all get tired of the routine after a while. Motivation comes and goes in waves. It cannot be constant. That doesn’t mean we can quit. That means we need to find creative ways of getting through the low points.

The fun parts unfortunately come after work and we can’t get them to the point where it’s fun and where they can experience that joy, if they don’t have a routine and just “do it when they feel like it”.

What we teach kids when we let them slide on their commitments and just “practice when they feel like it” is a very destructive habit of catering to one’s emotions…..
…THIS is why we focus on character development over music. Because the power that comes from the character that only develops from keeping commitments, is an essential one in our lives as adults. And with this dedication, the music skills develop naturally. NOT the other way around.

I hope this helps boost morale and encourage us to reset our goals and focus on the higher things.

It IS possible and always try to put the goal first that we are here to build character!!!

Happy practicing!!!