BLOG
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG
If your child enjoys music and wants to learn how to sing or play a particular instrument, you might enroll them in music lessons . Despite their passion for the activity, many students get discouraged with their progress, which may cause them to want to quit. If your young child or teen is showing frustration, gently encourage them to continue their music classes using the following tips.
When it comes to practicing music, many people believe that the amount of time spent practicing is the most important factor in achieving progress. However, the quality of practice is just as important, if not more so, than the quantity of practice time. A common mistake that parents make is measuring progress solely based on the amount of time their child spends practicing in front of them. Here are some tips to consider when practicing your instrument: 1. Set Specific Goals Before beginning a practice session, set specific goals for what you want to achieve. This could include mastering a particular section of a piece, improving a specific technique, or increasing the speed of a music piece. By setting these goals, you can stay focused and make measurable progress. 2. Break It Down When you encounter a difficult section, break it down into smaller parts and practice each part separately. Once you have mastered each part, put them together to play the entire section seamlessly. 3. Identifying Areas for Improvement To improve the quality of practice sessions, it's important to identify specific areas that need improvement. This could include working on intonation, rhythm, phrasing, or technique. By focusing on these specific areas, you can make more progress in a shorter amount of time. Practicing for hours on end without focus or purpose is not effective and can lead to frustration and burnout. Instead, it is better to practice for shorter periods of time with clear goals and a plan for improvement. This allows for more focused and productive practice sessions. Additionally, quality practice helps to develop good habits, which is crucial for progress. Rushing through practice or mindlessly repeating the same mistakes will not lead to improvement.
If your child is learning a new instrument, you may be debating signing them up for group-based or private music lessons . Each approach has a distinct set of advantages, but choosing the one that will best support their musical development depends on various factors. The following guide explains more about the characteristics of these two teaching methods and how to get your young musician off to a good start.
If you've always wanted to learn guitar , the first step is getting an instrument of your own. Stepping into the music store can be both exciting and overwhelming, so knowing what to look for can assist in your search. Consider the following tips to find the right guitar for you.
Practicing your drums outside your music lessons hones your skills, but it can be difficult to do at home since the instrument is loud. Here are a few solutions to practicing at home without irritating those around you.
Having a music mentor can be a game-changer for your growth and confidence as a musician. A mentor can provide guidance, support, and inspiration, helping you to develop your skills and reach your potential. When choosing a music mentor, there are several qualities to look for that can make all the difference in your experience and progress. The right person for the role offers a valuable combination of experience and enthusiasm for the subject. To make the most of your time spent learning, seek these qualities in your music coach.
Thirteen days into distance learning, and there’s one overriding theme that has emerged. When forced to stay at home, kids will jump on their instruments and practice. Yes, that’s right, I said it. Whether they loved their lessons or were just lukewarm to them in the past, the majority of students have come to their online lessons prepared and eager to learn. Okay, so we’ve heard a lot of, “I didn’t have anything else to do but practice on my instrument,” but regardless, all of the teachers have reported that individual progress has stepped up. Maybe this is partially due to the frequency of practice. (Haven’t we always said that practicing 3-4 times a week for 10 minutes is much more effective than forcing your child to sit with their instrument for one hour the day before class?) Perhaps it’s down to actually having the time to connect with music. Or maybe this is just about interacting with someone outside of their own four walls. And here’s another thing we’ve noticed, our students are much more inclined to reach out to teachers in between classes with questions or seeking advice because they have discovered that they can . Now, before you start thinking this is a new feature of distance learning, think again. This has always been an aspect of our lesson program through our online platform. Up until now, only a few have taken full advantage of being connected to their teachers, but not anymore. It’s that sense of being connected we always hoped to achieve, and hopefully, when we emerge from social isolation, it’s a trend that will continue. One more thing… Parents, take note: Kids have overwhelmingly embraced distance learning, and as adults, this is something we will have to accept and support. Technology has changed our lives, and we as a generation can’t hold our kids back just because this method of learning is different for us. Kids don’t fear technology like we do. They have grown up with tablets in their hands, so they’re much more adept at navigating through it, but more than that, they have the ability to focus on online activities because they’ve always done it. If we take a step back and allow them to take the lead, I guarantee we will be pleasantly surprised at the outcome. Today, some of our students blew me away with their music! I’m excited to be able to share that with our MusicWorks Family in the coming days. In turn, if there’s anything you’d like to share, your favorite take out place, services you or your company provides, a secret source for rice and toilet paper, please pass them along and I’ll happily share it with our community. To everyone… stay safe and stay healthy!
The state’s stay at home order means we are missing a great deal of our normal social support from friends and family, and as our movement and general way of life becomes more and more restricted, our freedom to control our day to day lives seems to have vanished. Making music provides a means to regain some of that control. For some, it’s about trying to break the tedium of staying confined at home, but in a broader sense, music creates a sense of belonging and participation. As we practice social distancing due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, COVID-19, it bears repeating that active music making is good for you on so many levels. From making you smarter, to diminishing the effects of brain aging, to improving emotional stability, it seems that playing an instrument has a hand in reconfiguring your brain and enhancing it. Here are ten reasons why, especially in troubling times, making music is a meaningful activity: 1. Enriches connections between the creative right brain and the logical left brain. White matter found in the corpus callosum, the bundle of neural wires connecting the brain’s two hemispheres, is increased, allowing communication between the two to process creativity and logical ideas. Problem-solving abilities are improved when both creativity and logic work together. 2. Boosts executive brain function. More white matter may be why people with musical training are also better at making decisions, processing and retaining information, and adapting based on changing mental demands. For these reasons, executive brain functions likely contribute more to academic success than IQ. Some researchers even speculate that playing an instrument could prove beneficial in helping kids with neurological problems that involve executive functioning, including ADHD. 3. Strengthens speech processing. It’s no surprise that making music helps your brain process musical sounds, but it also aids in processing consonant and vowel sounds in speech. Researchers speculate that music and speech share common characteristics, pitch, timing and timbre, and that the brain relies on the same neural pathways to process both. Sharper language skills, including reading, may in turn help kids learn better in all subjects, from math to social studies. Kids who have music instruction are able to process many more speech sounds, and with greater precision, than those who had never taken a music lesson. 4. Magnifies memory. Related to speech processing, those with musical training are better at remembering spoken words. Music-making also seems to boost working memory, the ability to temporarily store and use information that helps you reason, learn or complete a complex task. 5. Promotes empathy. Musical training increases the brain’s capacity to detect emotions in sound, meaning that musicians may be better at reading subtle emotional cues in conversation. It may lead the way to more emotionally rich relationships, and maybe even help kids with emotional-perception problems, such as autism. 6. Slows brain aging. Studies find that older people who had musical training when they were young could identify speech 20% faster than those with no musical training. Speech-processing and memory benefits extend to sensory information, including auditory, visual and tactile data with men and women, aged 60 and older scoring higher across the board than people who’d never learned an instrument. 7. Fosters math and science ability. A recent study found that preschoolers who got keyboard lessons performed better on a test of spatial-temporal reasoning (the ability to mentally envision spatial patterns and understand how they fit together). Researchers believe that elevated spatial-temporal reasoning leads to better math and science performance. 8. Improves motor skills. Scans reveal stronger neural connections in motor regions that help with imagining and carrying out physical movements. Playing music helps develop hand-eye coordination in children, and later translates to better non-music motor skills tasks as adults. 9. Sharpens self-esteem. Musical mastery transfers into greater feelings of self-worth. Studies show that kids who receive music lessons score higher on a measure of self-esteem than kids with no music instruction. Kids who participate in music performance groups (whether in school or as extra curricular activities) tend to feel less alienated and more successful. 10. Elevates mental health. Studies show that those who play an instrument have a thicker brain cortex in regions that regulate emotions, anxiety levels, and the capacity to pay attention. Making music also relieves stress. That is, musicians may suffer from fewer stress-related psychological and physical symptoms, including burnout, headaches, high blood pressure and lower immune function. No doubt, in the face of these uncertain times, music is a remedy for anxiety, enhancing community connections, and calming our growing sense of alienation and isolation.