Recently, I went to my client’s home for our regularly scheduled piano lesson. I was greeted at the door by my client’s father asking me to assign more material for them to work on during practice time. I was thrilled to hear that they had a practice schedule and that my client was moving quickly through her new material. What became evident as our lesson progressed was that she had the notes down pat, but was paying little to no attention to the other parts of the music. We then spent 10 minutes of our lesson relearning the piece with dynamics, phrasing, and a steady beat. At the end of our lessons, we discussed that practice time should be used to not only learn the notes, but to also work on the other aspects of the music as well. While it was a great conversation to have, I thought creating a concrete list of things to work on would be helpful for not only my student but for her parents as well.
I created three pdf documents that I am happy to share with you and that I hope you can share with your clients. I had students of varying abilities in mind when I created this document and even left space where you can add your own personalized goals. This is a great activity to use with your clients during lessons or to leave with them as a practice reminder. It encourages critical thinking while helping students develop their musical abilities! Enjoy!
Practicing Checklist with blank lines
Practicing Checklist with blank lines (2 on a page)