Everyone’s heard the mantra “Practice, practice, practice,” but why is consistency a key distinguishing feature of successful students? Why do teachers prefer students practice 30 minutes for 6 days a week over 2 hours twice a week? Here are 7 reasons:

Reason 1

Minimize your need to re-learn. Every day you don’t practice, your brain forgets information. By practicing consistently, you decrease that forgotten information.

Reason 2

Maximize your ability to remember. Memory is strengthened by repeated retrieval. Hearing, seeing, and performing your music every day strengthens audial, visual, and kinesthetic memory.

Reason 3

Make the work easier. Big weekly goals are easier when broken into small daily tasks. Question: “How do you eat an elephant?” Answer: “One bite at a time.” Next question: “How much elephant do you want to eat today?”

Reason 4

See your progress. If you’re practicing every day, you’ll notice that metaphorical elephant getting smaller.

Reason 5

Take out the stress. If you return to practice after half a week, the size of the elephant in the room can feel overwhelming, especially when working towards a deadline. Instead, visualize your previous progress in order to practice in a relaxed state of mind.

Reason 6

Be efficient. If you know reasons 1-5, how can your practice help but be more efficient?

Reason 7

Make it a habit. New habits can be difficult to learn, but are not as difficult to maintain. Once you’re used to the effort and benefits of practicing consistently, it becomes much easier to do it!

Still not convinced? Read this article by Grand Canyon University about “10 Successful Habits That Students Consistently Engage In,” and consider how much these habits overlap with practice skills!

Step 1 Towards Consistency: The Practice Pledge

One of the key elements to the success of consistency in practice is an accountability partner. According to Dr. Tim Church when speaking to The New York Times, “If you want to keep people doing a behavior, get a buddy.” We all do better with support, which brings us to step 1 of the practice award: The Practice Pledge.

The Practice Pledge is an agreement between two people: parent (or other supportive adult) and student. The student pledges to practice 6 days a week for 10 consecutive weeks; the parent pledges to be the student’s accountability partner and encourager. Students must fill out a Practice Pledge with their accountability partner to begin working towards the Practice Award.

Before completing the practice pledge, take the following steps:

• Determine the instrument(s). For each instrument, students must fill out separate Practice Pledges.
• Determine the number of minutes. Think it through: which amount is right for you?
  • 30 minutes a day (minimum pledge for the Practice Award)
  • 1 hour a day
  • 1 hour & 30 minutes a day
  • 2 hours a day
  • 3 hours a day
  • 4 hours a day
• Get your teacher’s approval. Your teacher must approve your minutes before you can complete the Practice Pledge. Your teacher will consider questions like these:
  • Does your past progress show you are capable of practicing well during your pledged minutes?
  • Have you built up the strength, technique, and stamina to make your pledged minutes achievable?
  • Is the pledged practice time the right amount to help you learn repertoire at your skill level?
  • Is the pledged practice time the right amount to help you achieve your personal goals?
• If you’re planning to upload recordings to YouTube, have your YouTube playlist link ready before filling out the Practice Pledge. (See instructions later on in this article).

Now you’re ready! Grab a seat at the table with your accountability partner take the first step towards consistency! Fill out:

Step 2 Towards Consistency: Start Recording

Sometimes finding the best tool can make a big difference in your progress and consistency. To submit your practice each week, here are some things to consider:

• If you plan to submit recordings through YouTube:
  • How fast is your internet connection? Upload speed affects how much time is needed to upload videos.
  • What recording device will you use? If you’re recording audio only, you’ll need to complete extra steps to submit a YouTube video.
  • Read our Instruction Page for more information on submitting YouTube recordings.
• If you plan to submit recordings in person at Vance Music:
  • Does your recording device have ample storage space? It may be easy to record on your phone, but does it have enough storage for an entire week of recordings?
  • Does your recording device have removable storage? If not, you’ll have to transfer recordings to a second device for submission. Do you have the skills and time required to do so?
  • Do you have more than 1 storage device? You’ll need 1 device to leave at Vance Music for a full week, plus 1 storage device to record during that week.
• If you run into technical issues, give us a shout! Send your teacher an email: we may be able to walk you through the issue.

Step 3 Towards Consistency: Log Your Practice

After you submit your Practice Pledge, our staff will process it and issue you a Student ID via email. Students who play multiple instruments will have different Student IDs for each instrument. You must have your Student ID to fill out weekly practice tracking forms. If you have not received a Student ID 2 business days after filling out the Pledge, please send Marissa an email.

After you receive your Student ID:

• Wait for the Google form to open; it will not open until a Practice Pledge has been processed.
• Complete a week of practice.
• Fill out the “Pledged Minutes: Quarter 1” form.
• If you missed minutes during the week, fill out the “Makeup Minutes: Quarter 1” form. You will not be able to complete this form until you have made up the missing minutes.

Step 4 Towards Consistency: Reap The Rewards

Once you’ve completed a quarter, look back at your progress. Has your stamina increased? Are you able to play harder material? Can you see a difference in how much you achieved?

Think about next quarter. Can you keep going? How hard would it be to increase your practice time? Even if you don’t jump a whole level, think about adding 5 minutes. Each time you’re able to add 5 minutes, you make it easier to jump to a new level.

Students who complete one quarter receive a keychain, ribbon and certificate, and receive ribbons and certificates for each additional quarter. Students who complete all 4 quarters during a year receive a plaque and a gift certificate for 2 free lessons! Additional prizes are given to students who complete the year at higher pledge levels.

Congratulations on taking these first steps towards consistency through the Practice Awards!