Music Lesson Blog

The preceeding was contributed by Marty Fort for the Champaign School of Music. Marty holds a Master’s Degree in Guitar and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of South Carolina. He has been teaching 20 years.

After teaching 20 years and working with over 1000 students, I honestly believe that every student is different. That’s the attitude we live by at the Academy and it’s part of the reason why  we’re able to help so many students. As a result, some students will practice an hour a day, but many won’t and they should not be given up on. What if my parents had given up on me? My parents enrolled me in piano, guitar and violin from age 5-9 and at age 9 I said, “I NEED A BREAK!”. They never pushed me to practice and I still needed a break. At age 11, I saw Michael J Fox tearing it up on a mean guitar solo in Back to the Future, and I said to myself, “That’s what I want to do!”. I started lessons again and never looked back. The early years of piano, guitar and violin allowed me to have a head start in guitar. When I became serious this greatly benefited my progress. In other words: every lesson is an investment in your child’s musical future. Every recital is a monumental achievement that they may not appreciate for years. Lessons are like vegetables and I still don’t like to eat broccoli, but my wife doesn’t make cookies every night!

I know that a lot of children refuse to practice, so I ask you to consider the following: Don’t measure practice in hours. Measure it in “what” they will play for you. Go for quality not quantity. If they will play one 60 second piece every week or so, to show you that they’re learning, you’re doing the right thing. Students need their musical broccoli (lessons) whether they use it now or in the future. Just because your child isn’t practicing today, doesn’t mean they will not practice someday. We have seen remarkable transformations with students who go from 0 to 60 because they get inspired by a concert or movie, just as I did. Last December my 5 year old niece, Lilly, played Jingle Bells at her school’s recital. As her uncle and guitar teacher, my only goal with her is that she plays a song for me once a week. I don’t sweat the hour per day, I just want to see her LOVE music, love guitar and progress bit by bit.

This is the formula to success, so that when she is mature enough, she will have all of the right early training in place. But no matter the level of your child’s practice, if they’re not breaking their instrument and running out of their lesson, I assure you, they’re doing ok!

At the Champaign School of Music, we believe the same. We are delighted when our students practice consistently and daily however we do not believe that music is only for those elite few. Even minimal time spent at a child’s instrument lays the groundwork for many years of musical enjoyment. Encourage your child to play a song or part of a song or a lick or a melody line for you every week and you’ll see their skills and love of music grow bit by bit! We are looking forward to hearing our students perform at the Holiday Concert coming up!

Last month I talked about two of the most common causes of hand pain for guitar players. Here are two more, complete with solutions!

Reason 3. You’re playing too much!

This is especially true for adults or even teens who are putting in hours and hours a day. A practice regimen that extensive is great for students who have been taking lessons for a substantial amount of time. However, it’s way too much for beginners and I’ve seen a lot of adults over do it. An hour per day is plenty of practice time for teens and adults, and for young children 15-30 min per day is a good goal to strive for. Also, remember that you don’t have to practice seven days a week. It’s actually healthy to take one day off!

Reason 4. You’re pressing too hard.

Have you ever caught yourself typing on a computer and realized that your shoulders are really tense and raised high? 

That’s because you’re typing too hard and you don’t even notice. The same thing happens with the guitar (or any instrument). You’ll just be playing right along but using 4-5 times the force necessary to make the sound come out.

The solution: When you play, press as light as you can. This seems like a very obvious answer. But it will be a real challenge for you at first to do so consistently. When you play scales, chords or single notes, you must play as light as possible and train your hands to always use light pressure. You will hear a lot of dead buzzing sounds when you do this at first; but in time, you’ll get the hang of it.

Reason 5. Your wrists are out of alignment.

If you’re bending your wrists too far in either direction, it’s going to strain the tendons in your hands and cause hand pain.

The Solution: Be sure to speak with your Champaign School Music teacher and even check out  Aaron Shearer’s Classic Guitar Technique book if you are having hand pain. His sections on mid-range alignment for the wrists (and other parts of the body) are an outstanding resource that will help you become pain free.

Final Solution: Regardless of what instrument you play, if you have pain of any kind, be sure to talk to your Champaign School of Music teacher. We’re here to make your experience pain free and fun!

Read this to learn how to help youself or a child overcome performance anxiety.

Whether you play guitar, piano, violin, drums, clarinet or sing, these tips from CSM faculty Ms Corrin will certainly help you perform at your best on the day of the recital!

We all get nervous before a performance, but there are things we can do and steps we can take to combat these qualms and give a good performance anyway. The first thing we can do is use visualization, the second is to remember to breathe, and the third thing is to practice every day.  

How do we visualize? Well, you can sit in a chair and close your eyes. Imagine yourself at the concert, instrument in hand, walking on stage. Next, imagine playing your piece from beginning to end. If you come across any mistakes while you are visualizing, you can fix them in your mind, and keep going over your piece until you can imagine it all the way through onstage with no mistakes. Then bow, look at the audience, smile and walk offstage, all in your mind's eye. 

Remembering to breathe is crucial. When we don't breathe our hands get tight and everything we do feels forced and uncomfortable. When you find yourself tight and short of breath it is already too late because it is next to impossible to get back to breathing normally 10 minutes before you go onstage. Try taking 5 deep breaths at the beginning or end of your daily practice. Then, two to three hours before the concert, start paying attention to your breathing. Make sure it stays regular, even if you have to really focus on it to keep it that way. 

The third thing to do is to practice every day. And specifically practice towards memorization. Practice so that your muscles know what they are doing. Stage fright is a problem of the mind, not the body. The body has adrenalin, the mind does not. I have performed in plenty of recitals where my brain totally freaked out and went away, but my fingers knew where they were supposed to go, and so in those moments, I could keep playing until my brain came back. That's why we say knowledge alone is not enough, but paired with 10,000 repetitions, you will develop great ability. Practice until you can't get it wrong! 

Nerves and anxiety can seem tricky to deal with, but if you try out these suggestions you may find yourself having a wonderful experience onstage! 

"Talent is not inborn, it must be developed" 

A quality early childhood music program will stimulate your child's inate music intelligence and enable him to make the connections necessary to fully enjoy and realize his talent in later years. However, there is so much you can do at home. Here is Part 2 of: 4 Easy Ways to Nurture Your Child's Musical Talent at Home!

 3. Dance and Make Up Movements or use the simple moves you learn in class. Children love to move and bounce to music. If they are too little to walk, you can bounce them on your knee, rock them in your lap, pick them up and sway or dance around the room. This will be lots of fun as well as teach them about space, weight and different qualities of movement such as bouncy and smooth. Do not move their legs or their arms for them. This will interfer with their ability to feel and interpret the music. If they are older, you can sit facing and holding hands while rocking to the side, play patty cake, stomp feet, dance, twirl, gallop, hop, etc. There is no end to the options and again they will be delighted to suggest the next move. Your class teacher will model a variety of movements that you can incorporate in your play at home.

4. Use a Song Book like a Story Book. If your CD is accompanied by a song book, use it as a story book and follow along as you listen to the music. Look at the notation, talk about the pictures that accompany each song, utilize some of the suggestions for at-home adaptations of the song. Over time it is likely that your child will page through the book on their own and sing the songs that go with each page. They may even put the book on the piano and start "playing" the songs. Whether their rendition is accurate is not important. What is important is that they are making connections between the notation on  the page and the song it represents. Its very much like "reading" a favorite book to a teddy bear: the internal connection between page and content is a signifiant pre-literacy milestone.

Remember, that you can use the songbook like a story book as part of your bedtime ritual too. Page through it, singing one or two favorite songs and then end with a lullaby. This will help end your child's day with a sense of loving closeness. 

Share some of your favorite At-Home Music Activities by commenting on this blog!

Find additional information on the philosophy & method of our brand new Early Childhood classes at: www.MusicTogether.com