PRACTICE!  

Your child should be practicing a minimum of 15 minutes a day/ 5 days a week for a total of 1:15 minutes.

They are very welcome to practice more! We are competing to qualify for All-Town Orchestra which will perform at Six Flags this year and be invited to a pizza party and at the middle and end of the year. The practice charts must be filled out, added up and signed by a parent or guardian. If they miss many days, they may fall behind the class and get discouraged.

 Please remember to arrive at 7:30am  sharp for Orchestra. Each child needs to be tuned when they arrive. It makes it difficult when they all arrive at different times and class has already begun.

Here are a few more tips:

1. Please help your child to find a stable practice time each day so they won’t forget. Many successful students like to practice right after school or right before or after dinner.

2. Make sure your child is bowing near, but not too close to the bridge. He/she should be using long, full, straight bows both back and forth (pull and push). If the sound is still not coming out well, it might be that he or she is not holding the fingers down hard enough or the fingers are not on their tips in the left hand.

3. Each week ask your child to perform for your family. Give your child a moment to shine at home, and make sure you are very encouraging. The more children can associate playing an instrument with having fun, the more they will play!

4. Let your child practice with the CD or DVD in the book. These are very helpful tools that can help make practicing more efficient and fun.

5. The finger tapes tell your child EXACTLY where to put his/her fingers. These tapes will not be used in the later grades, so by the end of 5th grade tapes should not be essential.

6. The world famous, Yehudi Menuhin, used to play in the kitchen while his mom was cooking and working. Children usually don’t like being sent to their rooms for exactly 10 minutes to do their practicing. It may seem like a punishment. They always love an appreciative audience!