Sing it with me— “It’s the most wonderful time, of the year!!” No, it’s not Christmas time yet, although with the surprise snow that arrived last week, one could argue otherwise. It’s the time of year when the days are longer which means when I finish teaching in the evenings, I’m not driving home in the dark! To be fair, driving home in the dark hasn’t been bad since I do leave for work while it’s light out, even in the Winter months. And, when you love you job, minor details like driving home in the dark aren’t even a blip on the radar. However, yes, it is nice having the extended days now.
Are you finding the month of March to feel as though it’s gone by extra fast this year, as if everything for March and April is being squeezed together in this month? I am. Easter is very early this year. I can’t recall the last time we had Easter at the end of March/start of April. And it’s literally right AT the start of April this year.
We had March break, St. Patrick’s Day, and now Easter this coming weekend. It could also just be because I’m pretty busy between teaching, practicing, and spending time with friends and family, but it really does feel like two months have been jammed into this month. And speaking of this month, let’s take a look at what we have for this month’s newsletter to touch on:
- Easter Weekend/Easter Monday Schedules
- Practice Schedules
- Student Of The Month
Let’s Go!!
Easter Weekend/Easter Monday
Schedules for Easter weekend are fairly easy for me. Myself and my family used to do dinners, but over the years with schedules and so many other holidays to spend together, we don’t plan anything for Easter, so my schedule stays the same. Some of you requested to move your lessons to a different day which was easy to accomodate having early notice, so thank you for that! I know on Monday, kids are home from school for ‘Easter Monday’ so if you have lessons on Monday April 1, and your son/daughter is home during the day and you would like to schedule their lesson earlier in the day, let me know. I have nothing planned for Monday so my availability for earlier lesson times is wide open. If you have any outstanding make-up lessons that you would like to schedule, I can also do that on Monday as well if you would like.
Practice Schedules
I’ve had a few questions this month from parents and students regarding practicing. “Alex, how often should I, or my son/daughter, be practicing during the week”? This is the number one question all music teachers get on a regular basis, and I’ve touched on this on the school website in the FAQ section, but I wanted to take some time in this month’s newsletter to focus more on it for those who may not visit the website. Here’s a general guide for practice lengths that I recommend and I do understand some factors can change this schedule, which I also talk about below:
Children 4-6: For my students that start with the Faber Piano Adventures Primer book, and are between the ages of 4-6, I suggest once per week with ‘hands-on’ piano practice and for no more than 15 minutes. For any of my younger students who are using the Music For Little Mozarts book, I suggest having them tell you about what they learned or show you. A good way to do this is have them pretend to be the teacher. Because the Little Mozart series is based more on general music terms and knowledge at the start and not as much hands-on the piano learning yet, it’s a good way for the students to repeat things they have learned. You can do this a couple of times during the week for no more than 5-10 minutes.
Children 6-12: This is the most common age group for starting students. Regardless of what method or book I start them in, for students this age I suggest 2-3 times per week, for no more than 20 minutes per session. Practice times of this length help avoid practicing feeling like a chore but is enough to work on what has been taught.
Teenagers: The practice schedule for teenagers can be increased to practicing 3-4 times per week for no more than 30 minutes per session.
Adults: For my adult students, I don’t suggest specific time lengths. My suggestion for adults is decide how much satisfaction you want to get from learning an instrument, then that will help you decide how much time you want to put into it. That can sound like a rather bland answer, but adults have the busiest schedules with work, family, etc, and in addition, some adult students at times think they can instantly be playing songs they know with having no experience on an instrument. If you just want a fun hobby, you may not need as much practice time. If you want to be able to play your favourite song, you may need a little more.
Now, with all that being said, there are always factors to consider and I always make a point of including these when I’m asked about practicing. First and foremost, it depends on the individual. Some young children are able to practice more, some less, some the suggested practice schedules. Also, as kids get older their lives get busier. Other extra curricular activities, more time with friends, more school work. And sometimes, kids just want to be a kid some days. I understand all of it. With the amount of years of experience doing this, I understand all of it. The main concern always is to see progression, regardless of how fast or slow. And in 20 years of teaching music, I’ve never had a student that hasn’t progressed. So again, it comes down to the individual first and foremost, then the other factors. And as I tell everyone, school studies always come first, so don’t worry if you didn’t practice because of a school assignment that was due or a test you had to study for. I will ALWAYS understand. Now, with that being said, if you decide to practice more or learn songs that were not assigned in the lesson, I certainly won’t object to that. LOL
Student Of The Month
Our Student of The Month for March, 2024 is, Harriet!!
Harriet began lessons with me in January and had some prior experience before enrolling with me. Harriet has been working out of the Faber & Faber Piano Adventures Level 1 book and has already started to compile a list of her favourite songs that she has learned to play from the book, most recently being ‘The Juggler’. Harriet loves the Harry Potter books so most times she likes picking the Harry Potter stickers when she is finished learning a song. Recently, Harriet also took part in her school’s Science Fair. She studied how white flowers can change colour based on different food colouring they are grown in. I had the privelage of being shown the experiment during the process and it was really neat to see the white flowers turn yellow and blue from the food colouring!
Harriet received her framed Student Of The Month certificate, and is featured in this month’s newsletter as well as on our Facebook and Twitter pages and on the school website when the newsletter is posted there.
Congrats, Harriet!!
Coda
That’s it for this month! As always, I wish to pass on my thanks to everyone for the continued support and trusting me with teaching you, or your children, music, and welcoming me into your homes every week. Please have a wonderful Easter weekend, regardless of if you celebrate it or not, and if you do celebrate with a family dinner, don’t forget, it’s ok to have a second helping of stuffing – its’ the best part!!. LOL
– Alex-
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- Twitter (now ‘X’): https://twitter.com/alexander_doan
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Alexander Doan School of Music 