How much practice time for a young child?
We spent this past week at a Suzuki Institute with our four year old son. He played his first "Twinkle" in April of '07 and he is currently in the first half of Suzuki Book 2.
He had a great time at the Institute, but several parents asked him or us how many hours a day he practices, and most of the kids were talking about practicing three or four hours a day. He practice probably a total of 30 - 40 minutes a day broken up in two shifts, but it takes about twice that amount of time because he goofs around a lot and I let him (things like we'll make up stories with his action figures and he has to play a song two times correctly to chase away the bad guy, or he'll make his violin "cry" like a baby and I have to play lullaby on mine, etc, etc)
So my question is this: how much practice is reasonable for a four - almost - five year old, and when should we start to get "serious" and knock off the play stuff?
I don't want him to (God Forbid!) think of music as a chore or an unpleasant obligation ever, ever, but I also want to teach him to stretch himself and his capabilities in an age appropriate manner. Does anyone have any experience or insight into helping young kids develop in a way that keeps them happy with music?
Replies (18)
Well, I'm impressed with your son, Anna!
Hmm, let's see, my son didn't start playing violin until 6 1/2 and if he practiced 5 minutes a day, I was lucky. He eventually worked up to about 1/2 hour a day through age 12. Now, at age 14, he's sporadic, depending on what he's got going on. Some days (and weeks), no practice. Other days and weeks several hours of practice.
He went through 11 Suzuki books in about 6 1/2-7 years practicing between 30-45 minutes a day.
I think each child is unique. My son had zero attention span and playing violin increased it slowly. It sounds like your child has a great attention span. Is he pretty agreeable to practicing that much? If he is, it sounds like all is well. I guess there must be many schools of thought on how much a young child should practice but I don't want to battle my children over practice and kill their love so I always encourage practice but don't force it. That's just me and as always, YMMV. :-)
Good to hear that :D
Well, I don't think you should 'knock of the play' stuff, let them go at their own pace!
Maybe gradually slow it down as your child gets older but I think playful things let children really explore with their imagination - I think thats a very beautiful thing.
Take care :)
Were the other 4-yo kids talking about practicing 3 and 4 hours a day, or were the *parents* talking like that?
Kids' sense of time is not going to be that well developed at that age, so take what they say with a grain of salt. As for the other parents, I'd recommend not talking to them about those kinds of topics. Ask them about sports or the weather or their recent vacation. Or ask them how they liked local violinist X's latest concert. Just stay away from comparing your kids.
Parents of young kids, especially first-timers, can get into competitive parenting almost without even realizing it. The more you can ignore and stay out of it, the less anxious you'll feel and the better you'll be able to listen to your own son's individual needs.
From what you say - you and your son sound as if you are doing just fine! Making music fun is vital at that age, he doesn't think of practising as a chore, it is a cool time with Mummy and in my opinion he is probably learning much more about life and violin this way!
Sounds like the "competitive parent syndrome" took hold at the institute. I wouldn't believe a word of it.
I think your stories and games sound really fun. It is also good that you are breaking up your practicing in small chunks. I am not a Suzuki teacher, but it sounds to me like you have embraced the Suzuki learning philosophy in the best possible way. If you, your kid, and your teacher are happy with how things are going, then I wouldn't worry what the Stage Mothers are cackling about!
I would take the above comment about competitive parenting to heart. As a parent of a child (recently turned 13) at a specialized music school, I learned long ago not to talk about practice time with other parents (and also to treat as much as possible progress on the instrument as my daughter's personal journey). I've encountered two types of competitive parents in my travels: Type one plays the prodigy/talent-as-gift-from-the-heavens card by telling everyone their child never practices at all (when the kid's likely sawing away for hours a day). The other type goes the other way, making outrageous claims about practice time (another type of psych-out strategy). Both of these approaches, in their way, are examples of competitive parenting that are best politely ignored if you'd like to retain your sanity and enjoyment of the learning process with your child.
Still, as a general comment regarding the kids in my daughter's school, practice time tends to increase with each grade, or at least the official expectations do. Kindergarten kids are not expected to practice anywhere near 3-4 hours a day. By middle school, however, students are indeed expected to be logging that sort of time. Do they in actuality? Who knows?
My humble opinion is that practice duration doesnt necessarily mean effective practice time.
Practice without thinking = practising what you already know, and that probably includes mistakes as well.
Effective practice involves lots of think ahead, and careful observation(with both eyes and ears).
There is always the 'off on a tangent' response.... WHen the other parents start comparing, start talking about how you have this little tether and your child always has the violin with them when they are at home; they never get to take it off unless they are leaving the house (by the way, you home-school, so that is only about three times a week).
Also, he sleeps with it, and although when he is awake he is still working with 'Twinkle', at night at times you hear Haydn's Concerto in G major and you know he is sleepwalking.
After that, you won't be bothered with any more discussion on comparing kids....
I am happy if I get about 15-30 minutes with my son. I figure this is just right becuase I taught my son to read in 6 months with only 15 minutes a day. That being said, I have found that teaching violin requires 10 times more patience compared to teaching reading.
10-15 mins with my 7-yr-old - the last thing I want is to put her off it for life, but we hope she'll at least get pleasure out of amateur playing later on. After all if someone's not got the interest or flair you can't MAKE them achieve the same as a keen young player who practises because they want to.
People are probably asking you how much your son practices because he is talented. When my daughter was 4yo she was completing one suzuki song per week. At recitals she was keeping up with kids 10 years older than her. I would always get asked "How many hours does she practice?"
My response would be "As long as it takes" At that time she was probably practicing 15-20 minutes MAYBE twice a day.
Kill them with kindness (the parents I mean)... some parents are a hoot to watch in action while others are sad.
I wanted to start violin at age 3, but my parents, since they had not experience with violin and what ages people start training, made me wait till I was 7.
What a privilege it is to start at age 4! I admire you for making up those games with your son! It is best to make kids interested in it, yet learn enough from it.
I would say, as he gets older, start teaching him the importance of self-discipline and that the only way to improve in anything is to work HARD! Teach him that one gets good results from working hard (maybe give him a treat when he reaches a certain level or masters a certain technique). Yet, of course, don't push him to where he hates it. The balance is hard to find. As a violin teacher, I find that some kids are more willing to learn than others, as you probalby know as well, and those kids will work harder than others.
In short, have your son practice as long as he can without him getting antsy. Also, during practice times, make sure he practices right. The worst thing you can possible do is let him get away with saying he practiced when all he did was play notes of a song over and over. Of course, this may be for a more intermediate-advanced player. It takes time and discipline to learn how to practice the right way.
30 min. a day may be good. By the time he is in Bk. 6, maybe 45 min.-1 hr. a day. After that, steadily increase to 2 hrs., then 3, then probably 4 when he's in high school.
Good luck, and I hope this helps!
I am thinking of how should the time be divided - as in how many percent of the practice time should be spent on techniques (eg bowing, finger exercises, scales), how much on etudes, how much on repertoire? And how this divison should adjust as the child progress?
Yes those Suzuki books/parents and some teacher can turn music education into a real treadmill.
We took Orff at that age which stresses harmony and counting and is very physical and fun. Some Suzuki camps offer it and I highly recommend it for the little guys.
In my opinion is I would require a 4 year old to practice between 5- 15 minutes with a minimum of 5. Then I would leave the instrument out so he can pick it up if he feels like it and contintue with support from you. I think the main goal is to be smart about practice so don't let him get into bad physical habits. Do a lot of listening.
While if he is comfortable doing 45 minutes that is great, I would not require it. It really depends on him and what makes him happy at this age. Just don't let bad habits develop and he will make steady progress. Too many of these kids turn into performing seals to satisfy a parent or teachers unfullfilled dreams. When it is his dream, he will practice so don't worry to much about it. As he gets older, get him to do his homework and some days will be long and some won't. The priveledge of taking lessons as he gets older demands more cooperation, but at 4 he is a little young to understand that part.
I agree that 5 to 15 minutes of practice is appropriate for a 4 year old, maybe 20 if he is almost 5. Always stop BEFORE your child wilts. It is much more important that the practice be a happy time and that you are consistent about making the space in your day for it every day.
Listening is key at this stage and it can happen in the car, while playing with legos, eating breakfast etc...
If you opt for more than one practice session a day, be sure your child doesn't feel he/she can never get away from the violin. My children did not like to break their practice into two smaller chunks of time.
Lastly, you must listen to your own good sense and follow your own instincts. Where your child is concerned, you know best.
As parent, i believe we have the tendency to get really too worried about our kids' behavior. It is important to step back and ask ourselves: "Why do i want my child to play Violin?". For me it should be about having fun. So practice should be fun too. It is not easy and some days i struggles with my 6y old when suddenly i forget about that. You are lucky because you son has a good attention span. I thought, my son could not have started violin at 4. So we started when he was 5 1/2. His attention span was around 5 minutes max and now after a year of every day practice, there are some times when on weekends he is still playing after 1 hour, telling me "hey dad, can we play this?" We practice 20-30 minutes a day during the week and we double that during the week-end.
Again, childs (like us by the way) learn better when it is fun. Once my son told me he was bored with the current pieces and first i was sad to hear that. Then i thought about playing some tunes from his favorite cartoons. We listened to SpongeBob and I found the first notes and he found some of the other notes. That was a fun way to start learning triplets! Then recently we learned Spiderman that i transposed in D major to make it easy and again it was a fun way to learn F natural.
Last thing, every person is different so in average yes 20-30 minutes is appropriate for a 4-5-6 year old but if your child can do more, let him play. Any excuse is good for practicing even goofing around :-) Check this video i did about the string institute we attended in Virginia. It features a play-in session with the professor Dr Durbin: http://www.vimeo.com/1236471
All the kids were following blindfolded all the funny moves done by Dr Durbin without realizing that there was some practicing behind each one.
Marc,
You are correct, when it is fun you get more perspective. We also play tunes from the TV. Our sons love the famous tunes from movies. We are in a western phase. Clint Eastwood movies like The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly is a really fun one.
This discussion has been archived and is no longer accepting responses.
Violinist.com is made possible by...
Dimitri Musafia, Master Maker of Violin and Viola Cases
Johnson String Instrument/Carriage House Violins
Subscribe
Laurie's Books
Discover the best of Violinist.com in these collections of editor Laurie Niles' exclusive interviews.
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 1, with introduction by Hilary Hahn
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 2, with introduction by Rachel Barton Pine
August 1, 2008 at 05:51 AM · What institute was that?