MODERN MUSIC STUDIO BARRIE, ON

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7 Important Practice Tips for Music Students

Oct 4, 2021 10:20 PM

The 7 most important tips of staying on top of your practice routine


We’ve been back at it for almost a month now, and the students are really making the studio sing! The new space has been a huge success so far, and we’re so thrilled to have such an inspiring group of students to teach.

One of the most common questions we get here at Modern Music Studio from students and parents alike is: What is the best way to approach practicing at home.

And so, we’ve created 7 tips for practicing your instrument at home. Whether it’s Guitar, piano, drums, bass or vocals, these tips work for all of it. Follow these and you’ll always make the most of your practice time.

1.) Practice EVERY DAY!

I say it every week. It is THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING A BEGINNER CAN DO!!! Sorry for yelling. But it’s true. Practice every day. It doesn’t even have to be for long. Practicing for 15-20 minutes every day is far better than practing for 2 hours once a week. Make it a habit, and watch your guitar/piano/drum/bass/ukulele playing or singing take off!

2.) Pick the same time to practice every day!

Practicing at the same time every day makes sense for a lot of reasons. It makes your practice a habit, so you won’t “forget” to practice. Practice piano every day after dinner, or guitar when you get home from school. Practice the same time every day and you’ll find yourself just automatically picking up your instrument at that time of day without even having to think about it.

3.) Keep your instrument somewhere you will see it daily

The closet is a bad place to keep your instrument. Under the bed even worse. If you keep that instrument out where you can see it, you’ll be far more likely to pick it up and give it a go. The phrase “out of sight, out of mind” is all too often one that gets applied to our new instruments. Let that instrument stare right at you and chances are it’ll start calling your name. 

4.) Show other people what you are learning

Any one else in your house interested in the magical ability you seem to have acquired in the last few weeks? Friends at school hanging around to listen to you strum a chord or two? Show them what your up to, and teach them how to do it. It will make you a better player, and you might even have a friend to jam with sooner than you think!

5.) Develop a Practice Routine

Having a plan for your practice that touches on many different elements helps you stay balanced, and will make your practice time go by much faster. Having 6 items to practice for 5 minutes each means your practicing for a minimum of 30 minutes. For beginners, we usually divide these 6 items into: 1-Muscle building, 2-technique, 3-scales, 4-chords, 5-rhythm and 6-repertoire. Touching on all of these aspects allows your playing to progress much more rapidly.

 6.) Swap instruments with a friend

Seriously?! Yes! Learning to play guitar? Head over to your piano playing friends house and swap for a day. Drums your instrument? Invite your singer friends over and show them how to bang the skins while you learn some breathing techniques. All instruments speak the same language. Learning how to translate what you know from one to another gives you a much more fundamental understanding of the foundation on which that musical language is built. We always promote a multi-instrument approach at Modern Music Studio

7.) Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Look, you’re not going to be Alcia Keys or John Mayer tomorrow. They started somewhere too, and when they did, they sounded just as terrible as you likely will in those first few weeks. Be okay with sounding terrible. Everyone does when they first start out. Just keep on playing and it will get better. Sometimes fast, sometimes not, but if you keep playing you’ll always be getting better. So if you wanna get better, you gotta just keep playing.


So there you have it. These are the 7 most important practice tips for music students. If you follow these tips you will absolutely get to where you want to go with your instrument. And you’ll likely have a ton of fun doing it too.

Keep on making music everyone!

Bob

Modern Music Studio

111 Toronto st. Barrie, Ontario

705-770-0826

modernmusicbarrie@gmail.com

© Modern Music Studio 2021