Practice is not the same as repetition

Most children asked to practice will play the piece they can already play, or do the drill they're already good at. It feels like work, it takes the allotted time, and it moves nothing forward.

The difference between practice and repetition is whether anything is being decided while it happens.

The quick answer

• Aim at the hard part, not the whole piece.
• Go slowly enough to get it right.
• Stop while it's still going well. Twenty focused minutes beats an hour of drifting.
• Make it a routine, so it happens without an argument.

What useful practice looks like

It's aimed at the hard part. Not the whole piece: the two bars that fall apart. Not the whole routine: the transition.

It's slow enough to get right. Playing a passage fast and wrong ten times teaches it wrong ten times.

It stops. A child who finishes while still interested comes back tomorrow.

What parents can do without becoming the teacher

You don't need to know the subject. Two questions cover most of it:

• What's the bit you can't do yet?
• How would you know if it got better?

The second one changes practice. A child with an answer ("I could get through it without stopping") is practicing. One who hasn't thought about it is repeating.

Give it a regular slot

Practice that happens when somebody remembers doesn't happen often. On Befundo, a routine holds it: "Practice piano, three times a week, fifteen minutes". You tick it off as it happens, and a row of dots shows the recent weeks. A missed day isn't counted, and it isn't held against anybody.

Be patient with the plateau

Progress isn't linear, and the flat stretches are long. A child who feels they've stopped improving usually hasn't. They've moved into the part where improvement stops being visible from outside.

Set one up

Open Tasks, press Add a routine, and choose who it's for.