Hi ,

I'm posting for some advice about practicing the Clarinet. My daughter is 10 years old and is learning to play through tuition at her school. She has a 30 minute lesson each week and we encourage her to practice for 15 mins per day 5 or 6 days a week. She has a lot of natural aptitude and several other members of our family play instruments. I'm proud to say that she plays well for her level - she's just passed UK Grade 1 and been invited to join a local junior Ensemble.

My problem is that it's becoming increasingly difficult to get her to practice regularly. Because she has natural ability she's found it easy going so far and I think she believes that she will somehow "pick it up" without putting in the effort.

Has anyone here experienced a similar situation ? Or can any 'veteran' players offer me or her some advice as to how important it is to practice regularly ? I really don't want her to give up the Clarinet but at the same time I don't want to force her to practice as I think this will just make her resent the instrument.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Regards.

Also, if your daughter likes any particular games, or anime or such, maybe find some sheet music for that. I really like anime, and since I'm pretty ahead of my band (the bass part gets realllly boring sometimes) I enjoy playing anime music a lot more. Also there are a lot of anime sheet music websites out there.

Tough question.
What has already been said is good advice - get her some sheet music she likes.

As a young person I practiced very little because of my talent. I used to sight read my lessons (and probably did better at that than when I actually practiced). But I found time to make time to practice later when confronted with others who were better.

I am not sure that younger people really know how to practice. What I do with my students when they haven't practice for their lesson is I spend the lesson practicing something; their school music, the assigned lesson, etc. Most teachers I know don't like it when the students don't practice, but I don't mind it, because it gvies me a chance to show them how to practice, to practice with them. Then I know they know how to practice.

You do not want practice to be boring and frustrating. YOu want your child to get something out of it. My suggestion is talk to the teacher about spending 2 lessons on just how to practice that you can watch so you know what your child should be doing. REWARDS !!!!! Find something she can work towards (toys, cellphones, tickets to a show, whatever she likes) make those goals she can purchase by practicing properly 4 time a week 30 minutes each time.

John

When I was having trouble practising, my parents introduced me to jazz. They also gave me popular music to play such as Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc. You don't get anything out of playing unless you actually like to do it.

not only 15 mins a day "thats for wimps" practice as much as possible, everyday. scales, long tones, register change practice,high notes, flexibility excercise. plus more

To: HPB

This may ramble a bit. To be a good musician an individual does need to practice a substantial amoutn of time. In order to play a full concert with major pieces a musician needs to have stamina. And stamina comes from hours of practice every day. However, not everyone wants to be a professioanl musician, not everyone has 3 hours of available time each day, and in your case your daughter is 10 years old. She should be 10 years old and she should also be learning discipline and focus.

In my teachings I am not so concerned about how long my students practice, but how often. It is more important to me the frequency of picking up the instrument. Much of what we learn in music is through repetition. Most 10 year olds have an attention span of about 10-15 minutes. Your daughter should be practicing regularly but not so much that she will not enjoy it. As she progresses and meets challenges she can choose to practice more, or longer, or both.

If it isn't fun there is only one other reason to learn music, well 2 other reasons, but I digress.

One question for you (actually 3 questions). Why is your daughter playing clarinet? How did the subject of learning a musical instrument come up? How did the clarinet get chosen as opposed to something else like a trumpet, or cello?

John

She should probably be practicing for at least a half hour a day.

if shes only 10 years old, maybe try half hour every couple of days, and my teacher would say practise for a bit for the lesson, and then play something fun, maybe let her find her own schedual, I always hated being told to go practise and I woudnt enjoy it, but when I decied to practise it would be alot more fun

I'll reply as a band director for 19 years and pro clarinettist. I started in 3rd grade (1963) with private lessons. The teacher said 40 minutes a day no exceptions. My mother gave me HER old clarinet from when she was in band in the early 1930s. She said that the clarinet was now mine IF I did the 40 minutes daily. Private lessons did it for me. But, I did enjoy it. After the 40 minutes, then I could go out and play. The fun parts of the practising were the songs the teacher wrote out for me, but I did find the book a challenge ("Foundation to Clarinet Playing". As a band director, I "reqired" beginners (6th Grade) to do 15 minutes every day. This is not enforceable by the teacher. Only the parent. Most didn't. The better players did SOME practising sometimes. There are many good suggestions here about how to make practising fun, but the fact is, much (or most) of the time it is simply work. I still practise over an hour every day to keep my position professionally as a player. 2 out of 3 days I really don't look forward much to it. I'd rather be scuba diving. But, when I play first chair and appear as a guest soloist it makes it all worthwhile. I used to play basketball too. Funny how "practising" basketball is about as much fun as playing a game, while playing a concert or solo is WAY more fun than practising clarinet. Never quite figured that out in all my years teachin, playing. One of life's mysteries.

I'll reply as a student who plays several instruments in addition to the clarinet.

My parents don't force me to play my instrument, it's on my own. I suppose if they got a call from my private instructor, they probably would. If your daughter is having fun with the instrument, there's no need to force her to practice. Like others said, get her some music she likes. I know that if I'm bored with my material, I won't put any effort into it. I've gone through several bad teachers who stuck strictly to the method book, and didn't go to any of the solo or fun books. I didn't stick with those teachers very long, because I started to get bored of my instrument.

My violin teacher tells me all the time how she has this one student that just doesn't practice, and it shows. The girl has been on the same piece of music since February, and it's now April. This is the teacher who will incorporate fun things into the lessons.

Try taking her to band or orchestra performances. Clarinets usually get the melody in pieces of music, and she will be able to recognize them. Take her to watch soloists perform, that might encourage her to practice more to become better.

To tmhiemer : I suspect your "basketball practising" was nothing like ours. Not fun at all. The games were, the practicing was not.

I think Slap slap hits a key point. Many of us who teach think we know what is best for the student. To some end this is true. However, what is often said but not followed through with is that "music can be fun". What we adults think is fun and what we adults think is fun for the students may not always be what they think is fun. Teaching music is communication between the student and the teacher.

I of course want my students to practice the traditional method books, but some of them dont want to. And they don't want to be professional musicians. When they decide they want to go further than the method book is essential, but until then I try to find "pretty" music they like with similar tasks. And instead of a whole bunch of etudes I give them a one or two, and if they don't practice it then we practice it in the lesson. I don't give them crap for not practicing. I would rather 20 students playing half their ability and having fun, rather than 5 practicing really hard just because it is required. It makes for a bigger band or orchestra and it can be fun.

How do I challenge the better students? small ensembles and grades of "A". Not everyone gets an "A" just for being in band.