It’s that time of year. Living in New York, winter has set in. Daylight hours are minimal and hours of sunlight are at a premium. January is typically, for me, the month I choose to hibernate. Really, the only things I am remotely interested in are eating, sleeping, staying warm, and then eating again.
It is no wonder that it is the month which seems to be the one in which my students practice the least. I have mentioned in other posts that I support bribery which is why January is ‘Practice Contest’ month in my studio.
Starting at the first lesson of the month, I have my students log their practice minutes weekly. At their lessons we chart their minutes for 6 weeks (ok.. a bit longer than January). Here the student can see their progress and that of the others in the studio. I want them to compete with others, but more importantly, I want them to compete against themselves to log more minutes than the week before.
I am not a big supporter of competition, but to me this seems harmless.
They are not competing to play better than others, just to give more effort. When we look at the minutes I do not point out that student X played more than student Y. What I comment on is the particular student’s weekly progress. For some, it’s eye opening. When I break down the fact that 210 minutes breaks down to only 30 minutes a day some are really surprised.
The contest lasts 6 weeks for a couple of reasons:
1. It starts with a new year, so maybe for some a fresh start. It ends just before a school holiday.
2. It shows a realistic view of the amount of time a child devotes to piano and sometimes unveils a pattern in their habits .
3. In a span of 6 weeks, there will be at least one week when a child is too busy with other things to devote time to piano or a period where a child is ill and is not able to practice. That brings another realistic element to the chart.
Students are grouped in two divisions according to age, not ability. What is the prize? Nothing big. In the past it has been a coupon for an ice cream cone or for pizza at our local stores. But as we all know, that’s not the point. Some students really get into it and are really excited for me to hear their work. Others, who practice all the time anyway, just keep doing their best. And for some, it is a real slap of reality; they are shocked at how much others practice and how little they do. I find it all interesting.
If you want to know the results, I will report mid-February. So as always, please keep dropping in.
Thank you for that post! I think I might take a similar approach as far as charting the practice time. That is a good idea. I think it would be good for some of my students to see how much others practice. Your posts are always so helpful!
It’s always nice to hear other peoples approaches to competitions.
One thing I hadn’t really considered in the past was timing of the competitions – this article has made me think that instead of random timings they should be scheduled to co-incide with dips in practice or upcoming events.
Thanks for the post.