Most of my students will have heard me say how a small amount of practice each day is much better than a large amount once a week! It’s something you will hear me say a lot! A daily practice schedule is the foundation for learning any instrument. For beginning students fifteen or twenty minutes a day is a good start. As students develop they will find that half an hour per day works well. From there, it depends on your goals and your motivation, and your love of music! The more you practice, the better you play!
A good practice session will have the following elements:
- Some finger exercises, such as scales, or arpeggios, or finger flexibility exercises;
- Some work on strumming and chords;
- Some practice reading music, working on a song;
- Some creative play – improvising to chords played by a friend or recorded.
I always like to finish my practice session with some creative play, because that is a lot of fun, and a good reward for your hard work in other areas of practice! Check out the practice tracks available on the school website, and make them a part of your practice schedule!