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Mr. Kamp's Practice Philosophy
Practicing an instrument is like taking a vitamin- you do it every day to stay in good (musical) health.
Studies show that ALL learning happens the same way: you repeat and reinforce skills or knowledge which then become habits or patterns of thought and behavior. Whether you're working on spelling words, studying times tables, working toward a belt in Tae Kwon Do, learning a new piece of music, or even trying out a new video game, you learn and improve the same way.
So, like a vitamin, practicing every day, even if just a little bit, will make you better at your instrument. If you forget to take a vitamin, should you take all seven on Saturday morning? NO, you'd get sick! Will practicing for an hour on the weekend because you're too busy druing the week make you sick? No, but you will get more benefit out of finding the time to practice every day.
The idea of repetition, reinforcement, and habits, is true whether you are paying attention to it or not- unwanted habits can get reinforced as easily as wanted habits. So, if you learn a song "wrong" with an F# when the music calls for an F, and keep practicing it with F#, you'll become an expert at playing it "wrong." More repetitions don't always make it better, just more reinforced.
Practice time requirements for the Mt. Park Band work on a graduated basis: 4th grade beginners start in September by practicing at least 5 minutes every day. The amount of material to reinforce is very small at first, so everything can be accomplished in five minutes. The repetition of doing it every day is what enables the learning to take hold. In October and November, students have learned more so that 10 minutes every day is enough to accomplish our goals. This progresses through the school year as students become more proficient on their instruments and learn more musical material. See the chart below for a complete overview of practice requirements.
For 5th graders, the process is similar, but with 15 minutes every day as the first standard, progressing through the school year. See the chart below:
Month |
4th grade minutes |
5th grade minutes |
September |
at least 5 per day, every day |
at least 15 per day, every day |
October |
at least 10 per day, every day |
at least 20 per day, every day |
November |
at least 10 per day, every day |
at least 25 per day, every day |
December |
at least 15 per day, every day |
at least 30 per day, every day |
January |
at least 20 per day, every day |
at least 35 per day, every day |
February |
at least 20 per day, every day |
at least 35 per day, every day |
March |
at least 25 per day, every day |
at least 40 per day, every day |
April |
at least 25 per day, every day |
at least 40 per day, every day |
May |
at least 30 per day, every day |
at least 45 per day, every day |
June |
at least 30 per day, every day |
at least 45 per day, every day |
PARENTS: Please remember your responsibility to initial your student's practice record in the front of the lesson book once a week. This is our "homework check" so you confirm that the work is being done at home.
In my years at Mt. Park, I have found that the students that are most successful in band make the time to practice every day. There are several strategies I'd like to share:
Make a regular time to to practice on your daily schedule; it can be a different time every day, but it should be on the schedule. As the time gets longer, it may be easier to break up the amount into smaller sessions- practicing 5 minutes two or three times a day is just as valuable, and often more valuable, than trying to do it all at once. You are mentally and physically fresher in shorter, more focused efforts.
Some students practice one session before school and one after school; some do it just after school and just before bed, others practice before and after dinner. One of my favorite strategies is to treat practicing as homework (which it is!) When you take out your backpack, take out your instrument. Practice for 5 minutes, then do you spelling words. Pick up your instrument and do 5 more minutes, then pick up the math homework. Do your science or social studies, then play the instrument 5 more minutes. The switching off between activities gives a mental and physical release and also stimulates the brain to coordinate and integrate learning and higher thinking levels.
Here's a short list of practice tips written by the people who created "Warner Band Expressions." prax1_student.pdf
And, if you're such a good practicer and motivated student that you read this far, you can get 50 bonus minutes by telling me the new password: "ice cream."
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