My child doesn’t want to practise

It’s ok - it’s not just you. Getting your child to start practising can be hard, especially when they have just started lessons. Think of it like learning a new language, where the road to learning is paved with practising. If you want them to learn to play, they simply must learn to practise. As thousands of musicians the world over will tell you, there is just no other way. In practical terms, this means finding whatever reward it is that will make your child practise, even if it is reluctantly at first. Get a practice chart (some are available at the Hub), discuss with them what the reward they will work towards is, and start working towards it. Bear in mind these helpful tips too:

Agree practice times in advance. If your child knows when in the day they must do it, it will be easier for them to comply.

-  Give them a warning before you call them to practise. If they are playing, eating or chilling out before practice time, give them a 10 minute warning, a five minute warning, and a one minute warning before they actually have to change activity. Don’t tell your child that it will be practice time when they finish their snack/game/book etc or you will find that snack/game/book lasts for hours!

-  Be upbeat about how much fun you are going to have during practice. You will have noticed how much fun the teachers have during lessons. This is no coincidence, we work to make these lessons fun. We are the adults, they are the kids, so if we have to do a little acting along the way by pretending to be having a great time when rather we would be doing something else, so be it. That’s our role as the adult.

-  Come armed with rewards and treats. Give stickers as liberally as you dare (as rewards), but only if they are genuinely deserved. Don’t give a child a sticker in order to make them stop messing about, give them one when they actually do stop messing about.

-  Tell them what you expect and hope for from them in the practice, and how proud and happy you’ll be if they live up to your expectations. If they don’t, tell them they can try again tomorrow and that you understand they are learning and will make mistakes just like you will.

Use a stopwatch if you’ve agreed with your child to practise for a certain amount of time. Chances are, by the time your agreed practice end time comes around, you will both be having a good time. Resist the temptation to extend the practice beyond the agreed time. Tell your child that as much as you’d love to continue, you must stop because that was the agreement, and they will be keen to practise again tomorrow because of that. If you keep the practice going beyond the agreed time and don’t stop until they get tired, they will remember being tired tomorrow. Once your child is doing regular good practices, you can forget the stopwatch and just get on with the work you’ve been set by your teacher. But remember to use it again in the future if times get hard again.

Talk to your teacher about problems with practice - that’s what we’re here for and we can help!