PRACTICE – THE KEY TO SELF SATISFACTION AND SUCCESS
This week, our Principal Voice Coach, Clare Assetta discusses how to motivate yourself or your child to engage in and understand the importance of a regular practice routine.
As teachers we are often faced with concerns from parents regarding the efficiency of their child’s improvement. As I’m sure everyone is aware, there’s only so much you can cover in a single lesson.
What counts is what happens BETWEEN lessons. In order to improve and grow, students need to take what they learnt in the lesson and experiment with it.
PRACTICE = DISCOVERY
And THIS is where the magic happens!
But there’s a slight problem with this…. nobody likes practicing! Why? Because it involves forcing yourself to do something that you CAN’T DO! And herein lies the vicious circle when it comes to learning to sing (Or ANYTHING new for that matter )
THE GENERAL PATTERN WHEN STUDENTS DON’T PRACTICE AND/OR DON’T PARTICIPATE IN PERFORMANCES…
- I love to sing!
- I’m getting lessons, I’m so excited!!
- I love my lessons, can’t wait for next week
- Practice, practice, practice! Lots of enthusiasm!
- I enjoy my lessons. But I don’t really practice.
- I can’t be bothered practicing – I don’t need to anymore… I have no reason to practice.
- Why aren’t I improving?
- I feel pressure from myself parents because I don’t practice (deep down, I know I should be practicing.)
- Quit
Should We Force Our Children To Practice?
YES! Well… not brutally, but you can educate and guide them on why it’s such a beneficial exercise…
If we work with and encourage our children to engage in a regular practice routine, eventually they will see the benefits for themselves and WANT to practice without a parents intervention.
Last weekend, I had the absolute pleasure of attending a workshop by world renowned vocal coach, Per Bristow (The Singing Zone) Over the course of the two days he gave away some fantastic insights into why we tend to give up before we’ve even started.. and it’s all about attitude!
Let’s look at some of the common reasons why people shy away from practice and turn them into positives…
NEGATIVE: I failed/stuffed it up.
POSITIVE: Good! Failure = learning.
NEGATIVE: I’m not good enough.
POSITIVE: It’s okay not to be good enough…. YET!!!
NEGATIVE: I can’t do it.
POSITIVE: So what? Try. Allow yourself to fail and learn from it.
NEGATIVE: He/She is so much better than I am.
POSITIVE: Only compete with yourself and where you were yesterday. Nothing else. We are all at a different point in our journey. At Freedom we do not foster ANY form of competition.
NEGATIVE: It’s not perfect yet.
POSITIVE: Don’t wait for perfection. Prepare well and then just go for it! The best learning comes when we put ourselves under pressure.
NEGATIVE: I just get so frustrated.
POSITIVE: Frustration is a prerequisite for learning. To learn any new skill we must frustrate the senses.
NEGATIVE: I’m just terrible and this. I’m giving up.
POSITIVE: Try to keep an open mind. Respond to your mistake, learn from it and re-assess.
Thanks so much Per Bristow for enabling me to share these with my clientele.
How You Can Help Your Child/Yourself Engage In A Regular Practice Routine…
- Set up a regular practice time of 3 times per week minimum.
- Sit with them (if they allow you) and encourage them. Be their audience.
- Ask them about what they are practicing and show them how to reflect on their skills rather than practice their whole song once and claim they are finished. Find a section they struggle with and go over it in isolation.
- Perform the song for close friends and family members
- Bring a recording device to class and record the exercises so they can do them at home. Voice exercises promote muscle memory that will improve vocal strength, agility and flexibility. The more often you do them, the faster you will improve.
- Go regularly to at least one Performance Workshop so you can work with and be inspired by others.
- DO OUR REGULAR PERFORMANCES. These performances create a PURPOSE to PRACTICE. Students who perform are proven to be inspired to practice, be more fulfilled by their lessons, make new friends with and be inspired by their fellow students. In my experience students who actively engage in our regular performance opportunities ALWAYS keep having lessons for longer.
CLICK HERE FOR OUR 2019 CALENDAR OF PERFORMANCE EVENTS
The Freedom Practice Model Of Success…
- I love to sing!
- I’m getting lessons, I’m so excited!!
- I’m taking a recording device to class this week.
- I love my lessons, can’t wait for next week
- Mum sat with me and helped me develop a practice routine three times this week.
- I’m doing a performance next month!
- I better practice every night
- My teacher said she can tell I’m doing my exercises and practicing my song as I’ve improved so much!
- I’m really feeling like I’m getting somewhere. Better keep practicing. Mum doesn’t sit with me anymore as I feel comfortable on my own. She just listens and pops in now and again.
- Last night I sang for my Dad and Grandparents in preparation for next weeks performance.
- I attended performance class and saw what some other students are singing. They were all really nice and encouraging. Everyone seemed to enjoy my performance. I can’t wait for this Sunday!
- I did it! I performed for the first time. I was nervous, but I got passed it and everyone said I did so well! I can’t wait for the next one!! I can’t wait to go to my lesson this week and pick a new song!
- I feel so much more confident now and I understand how important practice is to achieving the end result!
If we all work together we CAN ensure success from ALL our students.
LET’S DO THIS!!
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