How Much Time Should My Child Spend Practicing?

Photo credit: Columbia Orchestra

Hola Amigos! I’m back from lovely Playa del Carmen, Mexico, where I spent a wonderful 2 weeks with my new husband on our honeymoon. Thanks to everyone who gave us warm wishes on our wedding! It was an absolutely beautiful experience– everything from our special ceremony to delicious food to being surrounded by the love of our friends and family. While planning my wedding was stressful, it was certainly all worth it!

Today I’m discussing a topic we get asked about A LOT: How much time should my child spend practicing? If you’re not a musician yourself and never took music lessons as a child, you may have no idea.

My loose guidelines for practicing are based on age and are as follows:

Age 6 and under: 5-10 minutes/ day, 4-5 times/ week

At this age, it’s extremely important that the practicing is guided. That means that you should sit with your child while they practice. You want to make sure that they practice the pieces they are supposed to practice. Also, if they are confused with anything, it’s important that you help them. I talk much more extensively about this in this blog post.

Age 7-8: 10-15 minutes/ day, at least 5 times/ week

Age 9-11: 15+ minutes/ day, 5-6 times/ week

Age 12-13: 20-25+ minutes day, 5-6 times/ week

Age 14+: 30+ minutes/ day 6-7 times/ week

***Important caveat: These time ranges are not set in stone, and are dependant on several additional factors which include:

• Student’s seriousness and level of commitment to their instrument and lessons

When I was in high school, I practiced roughly 3 hours/ day rarely taking a day off. That was usually just my piano practicing, not my oboe practicing, which I did in addition. That may sound insane to many of you, though it was perfect for me. I was highly committed to music and my lessons and knew that I wanted to study music in college and turn music into my career. I wasn’t involved in a lot of other activities besides music related ones. I simply needed to, not to mention loved to practice 3+ hours/ day.

• How soon until the next recital or upcoming performance

Let’s face it, if a recital or other performance is coming up, it’s vital to practice a whole lot more. Our students’ recital pieces are generally more challenging than their usual pieces and require a lot of extra work and time. Keep this in mind when referring to the above practice guidelines.

• Lesson length

Most of the Winterhalter Music students take a 30 minute lesson once a week. Some of our students opt for a 45 minute or hour long lesson. These students are able to cover more material in each lesson. If you have a longer lesson, you definitely should practice more than I’ve outlined above.

• Quality over Quantity

This is probably the most important point of any I’ve mentioned. Honestly, it’s not really about practicing a specific amount of time just to say you practiced. It’s about sitting down, really focusing, and getting through everything that was assigned by your teacher in the last lesson and making sure by the end of the week you can play the pieces just as they’re meant to be played. Whether that ends up taking 5 minutes or 5 hours, it doesn’t really matter, as long as you are prepared for each lesson. My teachers will agree that students who are consistently prepared for each lesson progress so much better than students who aren’t.

Now I want to hear from you! How long do you have your child practice? Leave a comment below. Subscribe to the newsletter and “like us” on Facebook. Have a fantastic day, and I’ll catch you next Thursday!

Sincerely,

Cassie