how do you encourage you child to practice their instrument?

[phr1]

My DD really likes the idea of learning an instrument but when it comes to practice all the enthusiasm disappear. I am not keen on the push strategy, or maybe its a question of how to push, but after a while of paying for lessons you do ask yourself where to draw the line and if persevering it's all it takes?
I am sure lots of parents go through this frustration and I am hoping you can share your experience and any good tips you have on how to encourage your kids practice.
Many thanks

HahaRainbow that is great advice, thank you. I'm struggling to inspire my 11 year old on piano and that's going to be really useful.

I think you are correct - whatsthatcomingoverthehill - practising without help can be detrimental... probably for all instruments...this is why it's so helpful to have parent/carer sitting in on the lesson and taking notes and then also listening (constructively) to the daily practice.

stringed instruments are particularly difficult because of the problems related to getting a decent sound (use of the bow) along with (then) getting the good intonation via correct finger placement. Just putting the violin/viola in the correct place so that it's comfortable is hard work... and easy to mess up.

Of course, brass and woodwind instruments have their own peculiarities too!

listening to recordings constantly helped mine... most important: tuneful pieces that they can play and relate to. the only problem is that a 6-7 year old's listening tastes might be more sophisticated than the tunes that they can actually play. However (whilst I'm not a fan of any particular method), there are some top rate cds with good instructional books out there. And there's nothing wrong with adding to the collection that the teacher has recommended.

My strategies for my children as young beginners reluctant to practice were to make the immediate task small enough that they were willing to start.

Oboe: get the instrument out and start playing your pieces for (just) five minutes. After five minutes, stop if you wish or carry on if you can.

Piano: you have to sit at the piano and play one line. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

I wish I had had the tips shared by hahaRainbow, which seem very sensible to me.

The other key motivation is a performance opportunity. My DCs had teachers that organised performances. Each teacher would gather their students and their parents; each child would play one short piece. This happened 3 or four times a year, even from the first year. It seemed to me that having a performance scheduled usually gave them extra motivation to practice.

My dd 7 is practising a lot due to routine. She has been playing piano for 18 months now and just sat her grade 1 exam.

Since day 1 of piano lessons practice became part of the evenings routine, same as reading and brushing teeth. She is now so into her routine that she wouldn't even consider not practising her piano pieces.

I also read something interesting a few days ago, never "reward" a child with a non practice day. Never say "you've been so good lately, don't worry about practising today" as they will start perceiving practice as a punishment.

I also sit in her piano lessons as I think it is important to help her focus on what her teacher asked her to practice. And I sit with her during her practice time, it is quality time for us (even though now she is practising for 30-45 min a day so I could perhaps do something better with my time but I do believe it helps her to have my support).

I sit in on my girls' lessons too - never really considered not doing it, it is only an hour out of my week - the piano teacher even gives me "homework" now DD14 is doing her theory... "write 2 4 bar rhythms with this start - mum can do it too"

gives them some different aspects to look at some crappy ones to pick apart and show you why some stuff doesn't work as well as the stuff that does also helps my very competitive daughter - she loves getting praise when I get "mmmm why do you think DD's might be better here... , what do you think mum has forgotten about?"

I think even if a parent is there during practise it's not necessarily helpful, unless they know what they're looking for. So whilst intonation is important, that is something that generally comes with time and training your ears. But if you get your technique wrong but it sounds OK it's difficult for parents to notice.

Not that I'm bitter about my technique not being corrected when I started out. Oh no. To be fair that was my teacher's fault more than my parents', but it's blooming hard to try and change entrenched bad technique. You can bluff through most of the grades without brilliant technique but once you get to grade 8 plus it really needs to be nailed down properly.

whatsthatcomingoverthehill -- so true and I'm sorry that you didn't get the sort of teacher who could help you nail the technique you wanted.

Unfortunately, there are LOTS of 'music' teachers out there... people who did a grade 8 or who enjoy playing.. but do they understand physiology, child development and the psychology of learning? What do they actually know about kinesiology? I ask only because I think it is really important to ensure that a child can play (physically) properly and that the teacher actually knows how to teach.

For example: It's not enough to tell a child 'don't slouch' when playing the piano. Children do not naturally 'slouch'...rather, ask: is the piano bench the right height? Does the child's feet touch the floor, are the hands in the right position over the keyboard? Is the child the correct distance from the keyboard? Is the child tired? (if yes, the lesson should include stretching and/or should be structured into smaller bits... (I'm not even a pianist .. this is just from watching the lady who teaches my own kids))

Bad habits can result in nasty repetitive strain injuries - and I don't care how wonderful the institution is that produced your child's teacher .. or where it is that your child studies... if it hurts, then it's wrong. If your child is bored - there's probably a reason for it.

Ask other parents who their kids study with (and why), Google, check ESTA facebook page or EPTA (for piano)... go to masterclasses and performances whenever you can, READ.. watch videos... learn as much as you can ..

Music education is so much more than that 15 minutes a day with instrument in hand. A proper music education is a gift for life...

yes, DH says attending lessons with the dc has sorted out a few bad habits he had accumulated over the years.

She's six, you tell her "Practice time!" and you do it. Together. Mix it up. Say the rhythm names and/or clap the piece together. Write silly words to fit the rhythm. Think about what kind of animal it could be. Work out which notes to play and say string names (A and D or Alice and Dan) or use solfege (Do Re Mi - two strings apart are So and Do). Try to say them in rhythm. Hop the rhythm. Sing the words if there are words. Hold the violin up, correctly, for as long as it takes to sing the song, but without playing it. Practise your bowhold using a pencil. Bow the rhythm on an open string, if she's already using the bow. Do some or all of these. Then try to play it. ;-)

If the pieces are a bit more advanced, try it a line at a time/a phrase at a time. Work on rhythm, correct fingers and once correct work on intonation (playing in tune). If she has reasonable pitch and can sing or lilt the tune she's trying to play you should do this together as having the 'ear' for the notes helps you to play in tune.

Violin is hard work. Praise every little improvement you hear. If there isn't much improvement, praise the concentration or hard work. Be specific - I really liked how you made that bit quieter. Can we try to do the same thing in this section? You don't need to be super-musical to help productively.

And don't expect a 6yo to go and practise by herself, or to do useful practise without help.