Top 5 Practice Tips From Your Teachers!

Ms. Joy: “Stick with it. Make practicing a part of your daily routine, like brushing your teeth or making yourself a snack at 3 o’clock every day. And guess what? You don’t physically have to be practicing your instrument every single day. Listening to what you’re working on also counts as practice. So stick with it - you’ve got it!”

Ms. Anna: Make a practice space. “Find your space, like we have our studio which is sacred to us as dancers. So find that safe space at home that you know is your practice spot.”

Ms. Nicole: “Record yourself. You might say, ‘why would I record myself? I hear myself every time I practice.’ That’s because we sound different inside our own heads than we do in front of an audience… You can find out what you sound and look like to an audience, and you can use that recording to make yourself a better performer.”

Mr. Steve: Slow down your practice “Ever been practicing a song and the recording just feels a little too fast for you?… If you can find a song on YouTube, go to the little gear symbol on the bottom right hand corner of the screen. You can change the playback speed to 3/4 1/2 or even 1/4 speed.”

Ms. Johanna: Set practice goals and celebrate them! “When I play through a piece I like to use a dice to count how many times I play it, and each time I move to the next number. I also really like to use a timer. I set it for 10 minutes, I work on the piece, and when it goes off I know that I’ve reached my goal. I also really like to congratulate myself when I reach my goals, because I’m a fan of my music.”