Success Key #1 – Practice. 

Let’s face the obvious.  If you don’t, your chances of learning to reach some level of competency are drastically reduced.  Even if you just want to gain better technical ability, practice is essential.  Oddly enough, many people don’t think much about this particular element of music lessons, when they begin. Kids, of course, don’t usually understand what is involved until their teacher explains the relationship between reaching their goals and practice time.  Adult students, on the other hand, should realize anything worth having is worth putting in some effort to make gains.  So let’s take a brief look at the idea for adult students and for kids.

Success Key #2 – Make the Time to Practice. 

The time it takes for kids and adults is restricted by several factors.  Practice has to fit somewhere in the 24hrs. of a student’s day.  It takes a back seat to sleep, for obvious reasons.  The same holds true for meal time or eating.  For kids, schooling is the next limiting factor.  As far as adults are concerned, a work week around 40hrs. is also a limiting factor.  Adults may have unexpected time factors such as relationships, or even duties around the house.  Kids may have chores to do which also will be a priority over practicing. 

So where does the time come from?  Free time or recreational time is the only logical time to fit in working at your craft.  When it comes to kids playing video games or talking on the phone, playing with friends etc., they have time.  Consider the adult student and having any recreational or free time, you have time.  If you look at practice time realistically, very few people don’t have the time to spare.  We have taught boys and girls of all ages.  Moms and Dads have taken lessons with us.  In fact some of our students have been doctors, lawyers,  business owners, and many other people who have busy schedules.

Success Key #3 – Make it a Priority to Practice. 

Priority is one of the most misunderstood keys to success, because many people fail to balance their priorities in proper order of importance.  So is it a top priority?  Well, not exactly.  Nobody is going to die, if you fail to practice.  The reality is that you probably will make some progress, even if you never practiced at all.  The weekly lessons alone will yield some results: however, the amount of time you diligently participate in is directly related to the amount of progress you’re going to make.  Lessons do not necessarily have to be a top priority, but they must be a priority of sorts.  If you do not practice, the resulting lack of progress will lead to playing the same thing more times than is fun and interesting. 

The “rule of thumb” is that you should practice the same amount of time as your lessons, at least six days per week.  This means if you take 1/2hr. lessons, then you should practice at least 1/2hr. per day, six days a week.  If you take hour lessons, then you should practice an hour a day, six days a week.  If you follow this rule your lessons will remain fun, and you will make great progress.