Setup a Music Practice Space for Your Child
- Alonso Figueroa
- Dec 18, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 27, 2020
Taking time to set up a practice space is grossly underrated, and makes huge a difference when starting music lessons. Make sure your child’s home lesson/practice space is setup so that everything they need is nearby and organized. This removes a lot of barriers to practicing and actually makes practice time more pleasant. Below I will share some tips for you to help setup your child’s music practice space.
Location
Have a dedicated space that is exclusively for music practice. Like a craftsperson’s work station or businessperson’s office gets them into the mindset to do work, a dedicated practice space should get a young musician “in the zone” to practice.
The space doesn’t have to be an entire room, though if it can be that would be best. A set off space in a room in the house would be enough. I would advise against having the space be their bedroom, unless that is the only option. If the music space ends up being in a common room in the house like the family room, the entire household should agree to let the student “have the room” for practice time, so that your child doesn’t feel guilty about disturbing others in the house, or feel shy about making music.
Regardless of where the dedicated space is, it is highly advisable to minimize distractions during practice time. This means keeping meddlesome family members away, and mitigating distracting noise as much as possible. Sometimes it may be unrealistic to be totally silent for the entire duration of your child’s practice, so sound-isolating headphones plugged into their instrument might be considered as a means to dampen distracting noises. This would be especially helpful for younger children who tend to look for any distraction/excuse possible to not practice.
Materials
Just like an office or workstation, all necessary material should be nearby. Method books, notebooks/progress charts, pencils, music stands, flashcards etc. Also take into account your child’s specific instrument. For drums that means: sticks, practice pads, earplugs, tuning keys. For guitar; amplifier, cables, tuner, etc.
Having everything within reach makes it easier to STAY in practice mode. Looking for a pencil for 5 minutes will take me out of practice mode, and it is difficult to get back in – even after consciously trying to. I can only imagine that is even harder for children considering that children will look for ANY KIND OF EXCUSE, to put off practicing – “I don’t know where my book is,” “I can’t find my homework sheet.” I know I said that already, but it bears repeating.
Don’t let those excuses cross their mind, have everything they need nearby. Additionally, if materials are chronically difficult to find during practice time, it can easily become unpleasant and tedious, making young children even less inclined to practice. Make all necessary practice tools easy to find! Which leads to the final point…
Organization
If your child has been taking lessons for a while, there can be a lot of practicing accessories to keep track of. Organizing them will make finding them easier and make practice time go more smoothly. Sheet music, progress charts, method books should be kept in folders and binders. As the collection of sheets grows, so too should the folders. One for sheet music, one for progress charts, one for homework assignments, and so on.
Things like extra guitar strings, extra drumsticks, tuners, etc should be kept in a dedicated box or bag. Most beginning students will only need to have one box or shelf these kinds of accessories. Drummers especially will most likely have to have more than one bag/box for their essentials. Writing implements, should have their own pouch or box that can be kept in the backpack. All these bags and boxes would best be kept on a dedicated musical accessory shelf/cubby unit
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One Step at a Time
I know what you’re thinking, and yes, it SEEMS like a lot, but having a homework sheet in a binder, in a backpack, on a shelf that never leaves that room will make it (almost) impossible for your child to lose track of it. It is easier to produce high-quality work in a well-organized workshop, office, or music practice space. Take this opportunity to provide your child first-hand experience with the benefits of staying organized.
You don’t have to do this all at once. Start by getting one binder, or one bag, or one box for the sheet music and other accessories. You may find that this level of organization will suffice, and you can wait to get more organizational items.
Conclusion
You are well on your way to having a dedicated practice space with all necessary materials handy and organized for your child. If at all possible have your child have some input (or help guide them) in how the space and materials should be organized. Do this to make music time productive, and something your child will look forward to!
BONUS Check out these two resources for further ideas on how to set up an effective practice space. These tips are geared for intermediate/advanced and older players, but you may be able to translate most of the concepts to your young beginner child. Also, you will gain a better understanding of the principles behind optimizing a practice space.
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