Counting Beans

Lately we've been counting beans. I have a jar on the piano and a container for each child. I give them 15 beans for practicing the full time without complaining, 30 if it is done before school. They get beans for picking a part tricky measures and thoroughly working them through multiple times - 1 bean for each repetition. I give 100 beans for memorized pieces, double if they are more than 2 pages long. Beans can also be taken out of the jar for complaining or cross words. They use the beans to shop my candy store or save up for something special, i.e., new dance shorts. We've agreed that they can only earn beans if I am in the room - thus promoting a happy practice with mom:)

Free play

I love the structure of my son's Kindergarten class. Each day during work time the teacher divides the classroom up into sections: 2 sections are "must do jobs" that include practice on a skill that they just learned, and the other stations are labeled "free play." The children have to sign in and do their must jobs before the free play. I decided to incorporate this concept into our practicing. We spend the first 10-15 minutes (depending on child and level) on "must play" which is their practice sheet from their teacher. I then walk away from the instrument, sit on the couch and listen to them "free play." Free play is not only fun but it allows them to explore their creative side.

Jello Jello Blue Blue

Having rhythm troubles? Try using words instead of numbers to count. These are some of the words that I use in my studio:

triplets- strawberry

quarter notes - blue

eighth notes - jello (JE-LO)

sixteenth - watermelon

half notes are harder - I either use HE LLO or just 1-2

whole notes - "whole note hold it"

going from eighth notes to quarters can be really tricky, especially for little ones. They tend to play the eights really fast and then slow down on the quarters. Stop and have them say it a couple of times (jello jello blue blue...or whatever the pattern,) then play it while you say it a couple of times and then let them try it alone.

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Roll the dice

The thing that I love about kids is even the most simple activities get them excited. Next time you have to play a piece multiple times, get out a die and have them roll to determine how many times it has to be played. You could use this with measures you are trying to re-work too!

Put the timer away

The length of a child's practice session is always a fun topic among parents, students and teachers. I personally hate timed practice sessions and would encourage parents everywhere to throw away the timers.

Telling your child to "sit down and practice until the timer goes off" is like sending them to their room and telling them to "clean until the timer goes off." Would their room every really get clean? I've found the more specific I am with my children about their chores, the better the end result is. Practicing is the same. Make your sessions task oriented. I like practice sheets as do my children as they know that when they've checked off the "to do list" the session is over!

Here is an example:

Warm up- 2 minutes of something very easy to get their fingers going. This should not be something new. Warming up is essential...much like stretching before you go out for a run.

Review - This should be fun and could be considered part of the warm up. Pick a piece that they already know and like. Reviewing old pieces not only helps memorization and retention skills but it is the perfect place to work on technique as it is near impossible to have perfect technique when plunking through a new piece.

New Piece - You should really only work on one new piece per session. Any more than this can get overwhelming. More on how to tackle new pieces later...

That is it ~nice and concise!

Get Descriptive

Imagery works wonders with children and it's fun!


Instead of "curve your fingers" try "pretend you have a golf ball under your knuckles"
Instead of "keep your elbow up" try "pretend you have a quarter on your elbow, try to keep it on there while you play this piece"
Instead of "play loud" try "play like a lion"
Instead of "play staccato" try "play like your keys are hot coals"


Sometimes I will actually try the visual to help them with the image.
You get the idea!

Practice Tip - "my turn, your turn"

Typical practice fight - your child is half way through a piece when you decide that you can't stand to hear that wrong note or rhythm played for one more second. SO, you stop them...they give you that look...you tell them what is wrong...they get feisty...you get feisty...they hate their instrument...THE END.


Nobody likes to be interrupted. I remember trying to play a piece for my college professor and her stopping me every single measure for a correction. I felt like an anxious car on a road with a million speed bumps - would you let me play already!
We've started to play "your turn, my turn." The deal is, she can play the piece one time through without me saying a word. THEN, she plays it again and I can say anything I want. We rotate until she has played it about 5-6 times. During "my turn" I find the 10x measures that we'll use M&Ms or some other counting method for. (see M&Ms and Dixie Cups)

Practicing Tip ~ fix the problem

Playing straight through a piece is not practicing. If there is a measure with a problem, playing the piece over and over again is never going to fix it. Practicing is dissecting the piece and working through the tough spots to make them smooth. It is like putting dirt over weeds to make them go away. You need to get to the roots for the problem to disappear. Someone once told me (many times) "practice the passage until you can't get it wrong." HOW? What child likes to play a measure 100 times? give them DIXIE CUPS and M&Ms!


Let the child play the piece once. Find one spot that you feel needs work (there may be several but just pick one.) Ask them to play it 10-20 times. Each time they get it correct, put an M&M in the cup. Pretty soon your child will be asking to re-work several measures of the piece.

Practice charts

Yes it is "old school" but I swear, practicing charts really work. They are simple and can be picked up at any music store. My children have to practice 5-6 days per week and get 1 star for every day. One row of stickers = 1 point. They can choose to spend that point at the "practice store" or save it for something bigger when they've earned more points. 1 point will get you something like an eraser and 10 points will get you a journal (or something similar.) This concept is great because it not only rewards them for practicing but teaches them the value of saving.

Practicing ~ Fighting tip #1

One of the most common reasons parents give up on their children's lessons is due to fighting the child to practice. I promise, if you can find a way to get past this, it will be the secret to your child's music success.


How to battle. First you need to remember that you are in control and not the child. Dr. Suzuki's wife always said "your children will love you now and hate you later, or hate you now and love you later." Hate is a strong word (maybe there was something lost in translation...) I never "hated" my mother but I am SO glad that she stuck with me through the hard times and found creative ways to get me through. I can't tell you how many letters of appreciation I have written her over the years thanking her for fighting the fight and sticking with it.


Battle #1 Getting the child to the instrument


Solution #1 ~ make it routine- like brushing teeth, making their bed and eating breakfast. Do it at THE SAME time every day. If you have to miss a day of playing, do something in its place like theory or listening to some music--just make sure you call it "practice."


More later...