Help Your Child Learn Violin

Create a practice zone

This is hard. This is also vital. We are busy people, and after a day of school and work it's a challenge to keep a consistent place and time for anything; but it's absolutely necessary to have a place and time for practice. The place should have good lighting and practice necessities such as a metronome, music stand, and pencil. It should be free from distractions-do not practice in front of the TV!! The time should be regular, and when the student is reasonably awake. This keeps practice from being continually pushed out of the way by games, appointments, or whatever else keeps your family busy. Make it a priority by giving it a set time and place.

Practice with your child

Sometimes, especially your younger children will need help remembering what to practice, or figuring out how to tackle it. I try to write things down clearly for them, but sometimes they just need that extra help to walk through the practice process step-by-step and accomplish the goal. This can take a lot of patience but it can also be really fun; you can find creative ways to turn practice into a game, break a piece down into manageable sections, even make repetitions interesting! This does not have to be a stressful time. It's ok for a student to make a mistake. Then we just have to get the mind in gear and figure out how to fix it!

Parents are welcome to come into lessons any time (although your younger students will appreciate this more than your older ones!) to get ideas and gain a better understanding of what your child should be accomplishing. Again, it does take time to practice with your child, but you'll gain the reward of accomplishing something worthwhile together.

Arrange informal performances

Maybe it's just one child performing for mom or dad. Maybe it's a sibling concert. Maybe it's a gathering where he or she can share her accomplishment with a whole audience in a friendly setting. But any time you give your child the opportunity to play in front of people, you build his confidence. You remind her she's doing something special. You give him an chance to rise to the challenge of performance. Many of you can give your children a chance to play in church, Sunday School, or other areas of ministry where they can learn what it's like to serve God directly with their music. In any case, they will grow.

Listen to music together

I require beginners to listen to their Suzuki CD three times a week (daily is even better) and expect older students to continue listening to their recordings faithfully.....but for parents, sometimes hearing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" continually gets to be a bit much! To add some variety and enhance your child's learning, go to your local library and pick up some classical music-or start building your family's classical CD collection. I've included a "listening list" of great pieces to look for. Classical music may not be what you're used to, but there's such a variety in it I can almost guarantee you'll find something you like....and the more you try, you'll find yourself appreciating the beauty, the emotion, the craftsmanship and complexity of this music. Your musicianship will grow as well as your child's.

For an added boost, go to a symphony orchestra concert! There is absolutely nothing like seeing fifty or a hundred musicians on stage making their incredible music. In our area, there are also many smaller concerts, some of which are free. Check your community center's offerings, and take advantage of them!

Be encouraging

Children need this even more from parents than from me. I see them twice a week-you see them every day. If you regularly interrupt their practice or show your annoyance when they just don't sound good (and sometimes they really don't!); if you make practice a punishment or view it as a hassle, they will probably hate it and eventually quit. But if you help them make practice important; if you praise whatever you honestly can; if you find positive ways to work on that stuff that doesn't sound so good and take pleasure in their progress, they will enjoy playing-and probably even practicing! Your encouragement and consistent positive pressure is what will get them over the humps of "I don't want to practice" or "I can't do this" and on to "This is great!"

See the recommend listening chart for pieces every musician should hear!