Many young children want to play guitar. The problem is that a lot of them have difficulty practicing their instrument once they come home from their lessons. As a parent, you can do a few things to ensure that they practice and get the most out of their music lessons. Here are some tips to help your children practice their guitar.
Make Sure They Want to Play
As parents, we sometimes pressure our children into doing things they don't want to do. We get them involved with sports other extra-curricular activities after school. In some cases, your child might not want to do what do you think they want to do. You should ensure that your child is enthusiastic about their music lessons. Ask them if they enjoy playing the guitar. It's going to be a waste of your time if your child is not interested in the instrument. Many students end up quitting because they're not interested as much as you think they are.
Personal Practice Space
Make a room dedicated to their practice if you can.
Many students practice in their bedrooms, but this is usually a poor place to practice. There can be lots of distractions in the bedroom. There may be a stereo system, television, or they might have easy access to their phone. You could decorate this room with some music themes.
It makes more sense to have a dedicated room if you possibly can for practice. In this room, you should have a music stand, comfortable chair, and all of the learning materials that your child is using within easy reach. This will make it a lot simpler for your child to practice when they have everything that they need, and there are fewer distractions.
Let Them Choose When to Practice
Your child is capable of making their own decisions. Let them decide when they want to practice their guitar. You should not pressure children into playing guitar. You can gently remind them that they should be practicing, but don't pressure them into doing it. The activity of practicing their guitar should be something fun for them, so they should not feel like they are being forced to practice.
Make it Fun
One way you can encourage practicing is to make it a fun activity. For example, you can design a board that has stickers or stars. Perhaps the music stickers could be guitars. You could have a book made up where you can place each one of these stickers from the board when your child finishes practicing. This way, they have a record of their practicing.
This gives them a little bit of reward after they finish practicing the guitar. It can give them that little push or incentive to play their guitar more often. You could try other incentives such as making them their favorite meal, or some other type of small reward. As your child gets used to practicing their guitar, they will probably want to do it more often.
Have Them Pick Out Their Favourite Songs
Another trick you can use is to have them pick out their favourite songs. Ask them the songs that they would like to learn. You can take this to their teacher and tell them that this list is their favourite songs that they want to learn. As a former music educator, this was one of the first things I used to do when a child came to me for music lessons.
I would have them write down on a piece of paper their favourite songs. This was a homework assignment that I gave them the first day. Most children do not want to learn the boring beginner songs that you find in many music books. Those are old ancient songs that no one today really cares about. By having children learn something that is exciting to them, they will have more motivation to play the guitar.
Encourage Them
You should become the cheerleader for your child. Make sure you are always encouraging them when they practice, and try to always give them positive reinforcement as much as possible.
Your child will pick up on this positive reinforcement, and they will want to keep playing guitar. Take as much interest as possible in their guitar playing. Perhaps you can go together to a music store for books, guitars picks, or to get a fancy new guitar strap for their instrument.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the things that you can do to help your child practice guitar. You should never pressure them to practice the instrument. Let them learn on their own, but encourage them to practice. Give them some small rewards after they have finished their practice session and take an active role in their lessons.