Part of the continuing series of tips to help parents help their students get the most out of lessons
At Otto Percussion Studio we specialize in Drum and Percussion lessons for all ages and abilities. Give us a call or text at 248 783 6520 or send an email to otto@ottopercussion.com to set up lessons. If you’re local to Lake Orion, Rochester, Troy or the surrounding areas of North Oakland County, MI you can come directly to the studio. If not, we can set up lessons over the great series of tubes known as the internet!
Video Transcript
Hi Facebook, Jeremy Otto from Otto Percussion Studio here to help you help your student get more out of their music lessons. Those of you that know me know that I can play a handful of instruments other than percussion and that I can play them pretty well. The one that I am probably best at outside of percussion is guitar.
Now, I learned guitar using a secret practice method. It was so secret that I didn’t even realize I was doing it for some time, at which time I transferred it to drums and I instantly increased my practice time. I am here today to share this secret practice method with you.
Are you ready. Here it is. Leave your instrument out. That’s it. Make it easy to get to.
When I was growing up my mom’s guitar sat on a stand in the living room, and I would pick it up when I was watching TV. A commercial would come on and I had a guitar in my hand and would start playing. It’d be at least a minute back into whatever show I was watching before my attention went back to the TV and I’d noodle around haphazardly until the next commercial break. Is this the best practice I’ve ever put in? No of course not, but it was certainly more time with an instrument in my hand and it added up to something. Eventually I convinced my parents that my practice pad belonged on the coffee table.
Now I know that kids don’t watch TV in the same way that we did growing up, but encouraging them to have their instrument out in whatever situation might take that role, whether it be putting it next to the video game console, or next to the computer they watch youtube on. For my daughter the answer was putting up a wall hook for her cello. She practices so much more often just by the fact that the instrument is out and she sees it. And as my wife points out as well, if you have other little ones in the house, when one of them is playing their instrument, they ALL want to play their instrument, or each others instruments. Which is great cause everyone is playing!
So, the take away for today is (1) encourage that instrument to come out of the case, and (2) if at all possible let it live in the place your student hangs out in. This will increase not only total practice time, but also will encourage them to explore and bond with their instrument.
Thanks for watching. If you have any questions about how much your student should be practicing please send me a message or of course we can talk about it at lessons. If you haven’t already please ‘like’ the page and maybe share this video with others that might find it helpful. Thanks again, Lets hit it.
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