Playing time should consist of a variety of activities. Depending on the amount of time spent playing each day or each week, young students and their parents should mutually agree to prepare for the upcoming lesson and to spend some time refining playing and improving skills. The positive correlation between increased time spent on the instrument and increased skill is not a myth. However, time spent on the instrument is easily wasted. Structure playing time around several of the following activities:

Right Hand and Left Hand Finger Activities – For the right hand, use string-crossing patterns or for more advanced students pick a right hand study. For the left hand, a movement requiring an anchor finger should suffice (anchor finger 1 down, then play a pattern like 13131 leaving finger 1 anchored/pinched for the duration of the pattern). For advanced students, longer patterns involving scales or slurs help to develop strength and accuracy in the left hand.

Favorite Song Review – Students (and parents) should always have a developing list of songs and activities to pick from every time they sit down to play their instruments. The more detailed the better: name of song, when it was first started, how long until memorized, tallies for successful run-throughs, time goals, etc. Having practice charts or notebooks also provide students with a diary of their accomplishments, trials, and history. Taking notes (parents) during lessons and during playing (questions that pop up) is also conducive to better results.

Learning New Songs – This process requires diligence. Learning a song with mistakes means playing with mistakes. Sitting down to learn a song can sometimes be overwhelming, though. Most often, an overwhelmed student falls into the “just play it through with the music a bunch of times” mentality. This method is not efficient and often leads to frustration. A method that leads to success, and one that I often use in lessons, is to learn ONLY two or three notes well (quality vs. quantity). The sooner (and younger) students form the habit of learning this way the better. Remember to keep this process engaging and interesting by asking questions that challenge the student’s perception of the newly learned material (two or three notes!). Students should be able to give precise answers to questions like: Which fingers are used? What is the string pattern for the notes? Do all notes sound clear? Does it sound beautiful? Any recognizable patterns? Do other songs use the same notes? Can you play it with your eyes closed? Can you play it looking at your right hand? Left? Etc…

Then, when the student has eliminated all doubt by questioning (with parents helping) the way they execute the newly learned notes, play a game to try and build on this success. Tallies are good motivators: play notes clearly, you get a point, produce a buzz or thump (parent sets challenge), parent gets point, first to five wins. Playing for pennies: student gets 5 pennies and a parent (or stuffed animal) gets five pennies. Play a group of notes well (try to specify goal), student gets a penny from parent, student plays poorly, parent gets a penny from the student. Game ends when student has all pennies. Onto the next round of pennies… Praise all successes!

Clapping, Listening, and Singing – Clapping, singing, and listening should never go underrated. Clap the rhythm of a part of the song. Listen to the song being learned several times. Listen to the rhythm, listen to volume/loudness changes, listen to the endings, and listen to the silence between notes if possible. Also, try singing along with the notes just learned. A simple “la” is fine but if there are words it can be more fun. Write words if the song doesn’t have any.

Creating Songs – Pick a song. Experiment with note substitution. What happens if we leave out all of these notes? What happens if we play this note instead of this one? Reassemble the notes of the song in a few ways and then write out any interesting or appealing groups of notes (in string/fret code if necessary). This is FUN!

In our classes we progress through a series of melodies, musical activities, and parts (accompanying voices). We use an easily decipherable code to aid musically illiterate parents guide and play with their children at home. Today, I taught a part of a German folk song to two seven year olds and broke it down in the following way:

1) play rhythm only on one string (child can pick a specific string but I try to steer them to the string where the majority of the melodic notes are ultimately played)

2) play rhythm only but include the string crossing

2) sing the melody (or the part) in rhythm (create words if there are no words)

3) muffle strings with the left hand (or by sliding a sock under the strings next to the bridge) and play the rhythm (with or without string crossing) while singing the melody

4) find all pitches in the group of notes that are being practiced, arrange from low pitch to high pitch, and practice as a scale (forward and backward, sock removed)

5) review the rhythm and add one pitch at a time

6) sing and play

There should never be a rush to the next step. Move on when it feels right and sounds good.

A few days ago, a particularly talented student played through three songs beautifully. Over the course of the last several months, she has tackled challenging pieces and has improved dramatically from lesson to lesson. She is very determined to play guitar and she has a strong desire to play music. I told her that learning an instrument was a lot like climbing a very high mountain and that instead of taking a step at a time, it seemed like she had a helicopter to the top. I think she got the metaphor because of her smile. For parents of young musicians, the mountain metaphor is a good one. Note: although I enjoy a good hike, my mountain climbing is purely imaginary; experienced vicariously through my wife’s ascents of Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, etc., and through a story I read to my children about the road to Lhasa. Nevertheless, peaks, as I understand them, are elusive, concealed in fog and clouds. With perseverance, intelligence, questioning, and some gentle guidance the peaks come into view. Sometimes, as my student’s parent chimed in, you have to stop and enjoy the view. Sometimes we tumble backwards and have to consult maps. Sometimes we have to go back to base camp and evaluate a new way to the top, etc… I could keep going.

The metaphor of the long haul is valuable for parents but for very young children it is not as useful though it is nice to share. Most parents have the perspective to see the learning curve and what a long term commitment could yield. Small children are zen creatures, living in the now, and living in the now for parents is sometimes as elusive as that mountain top when you’re cleaning, making dinner, and carting the siblings to their various sports and lessons. This is one of the reasons why it is challenging to sit patiently with your child while they explore every note on the guitar except the one you ask them to play. Suspend the future and past, provide specific activities and small goals to ensure success, offer praise for achieving and more importantly, for trying, and take another small step with your child tomorrow.

Approaching practice time is as much a psychological commitment as it is a time commitment for both parents and children. In order to strengthen the psychological aspect of the commitment, students must have success or they must at least perceive success. To this effect, approach music (or anything requiring consistency to master) from its simplest task. Simple means not complex or compound. For young children, select a group of notes (three? four?) where there is no doubt as to what the right hand must do, what the left hand must do, and what the final group of notes must sound like. Then segregate each part: play the right hand alone as many times as it takes to master the movements (with positive recognition for each successful repetition through a visual marker like a tally or sticker), play the left hand with careful attention to finger positioning (positive recognition as usual), then play hands together. If playing hands together remains difficult after several attempts, go back to what the student did best and then move on to a new group of notes or end play time on a positive note. The student should end play time with a sense of accomplishment, supported by visual reminders (stickers, tallies, etc.) of success and by praise for what was well done.

I’ve written about creating lists for your child as he or she progresses from the early stages of learning guitar into a practice routine at home. When my five year old son’s guitar time routine progressed from experimentation to active directed learning, I started keeping track of the activities, songs (or snippets of songs), and musical concepts we worked on. I’ve edited the lists little by little over the course of the last year and now have a list divided into four parts: new songs for learning, songs for review and refining, finger activities, and other. The list has gotten very long and complex, and, to come to the point of this entry, my son, Max, noticed this tonight in guitar time. We were sifting through his music sheets and a couple old lists appeared. He scrutinized them and proudly said something like, “Wow, I can play so many more songs now!”

Max was very proud. He was also enthusiastic about the suggestion of trying to build his current list with even more songs and activities. Learning a musical instrument well takes a lot of patience, hard work, and emotional energy. Having something concrete, like a series of lists to track progress, provides a confidence boost when you and your child are in it for the long haul.