Practice Challenges and Practice Buddies

Many of our Suzuki teachers are coming with very interesting ideas to engage our students in their daily practice. We know of the intrinsic motivation that comes from shared experiences and the joy of making music together as a family and in our various group classes. We miss seeing you all in person, and most of all the children miss the opportunity to interact in the hallways with other kids, parents, faculty and staff. Hence, many of us are thinking of ways to continue to motivate the daily practice.

Practice Buddies: The faculty have put together a few practice buddies. That is, two students can become practice buddies to support one another in their practicing. A nice way to do this is among peers. They are on equal footing and can just support one another or share ideas. An alternate way is to have a more advanced player paired with a less advanced student and thus be able to guide that student in their practice. Do you like this idea? Please be sure to check in with your individual teacher or San-yi Lin, our String Department chair about more information about this.

Annie and Luana are great examples of the practice buddy system!

Practice Challenges: Some of the teachers have used the summer practice challenge to give fresh and fun ways to think about practicing, especially over the summer when there are many distractions that make daily practice more difficult to maintain. Clever ideas like taking a selfie while practicing in an unusual location can be fun. Look for students practicing on a mountain top or in the shade on a beach somewhere. The idea is to find new ways to think of practice, and it can be as simple as practicing in a different room or playing for a distant relative over Zoom! The idea is to set a goal of daily practice over a certain period of time. Sometimes an external reward can be part of the challenge, but simply a chart with a place for a big sticker can work, too!

Introducing the North American Piano Practice Challenge: Suzuki School of Newton is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas which is a member organization and a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing the Suzuki pedagogy throughout the three Americas and to pursue excellence in teaching. In collaboration with the Mexican Suzuki Association, the Suzuki piano community is participating in a daily practice challenge during the month of May 2021. This is an international endeavor and will involve social media, practice pals (buddies), a mystery to solve, and a final Zoom solo recital. There is a small participation fee to support the endeavor to put this together on a media platform (including an App) and there will be daily videos from which the student will receive a clue to the mystery... how to find the missing concert piano! Parents are involved, so please see more info here or contact Sachiko Isihara if you have questions. I am excited about this project because I have heard how much fun this challenge and mystery solving can be!

Remember to "only practice on the days that you eat" -- Dr. Shinichi Suzuki

Sachiko Isihara
Executive Director