How to Keep Music Practice Fresh When Demotivation Kicks In

Music is meant to be enjoyed, not endured — and this includes music practice too! How do we keep things fresh? Whether it’s piano, guitar, singing, or whatever other musical instrument. Meaningful, enjoyable practice is a matter of perspective and framing.

Have you been fighting with your children — trying to get them to practice their musical instrument?

After all the time and money you’ve invested into finding an instrument, music teacher and consistent music lessons… Your kids aren’t practicing… That tense wrestle sounds all too familiar!

When we feel like we “have” to do something, it often highlights that it’s a chore, or a task that we may not enjoy doing. It may seem a little simple, but the language that we use, and the things we do before and after our music practices can either set us up for an enjoyable, successful practice session — or bring us to avoid, or despise the discipline.

1) Instead of saying “You have to do practice your instrument” - start saying “Wow, how cool is it that you get to learn an instrument! Can you show me that piece you were playing?”

When things start to feel demotivating and dry — it may reflect that the pieces that you may currently be working on aren’t a great fit for you (or your children). If your kids don’t want to practice, ask them to play a piece that they’d learnt a while ago. A piece you know that they love.

Positive reinforcement doesn’t just have to be in the form of lollies or treats. A big hug, genuine encouragements and warm compliments can go a long way. Changing the language we use to motivate kids to practice can do wonders.

“Wow, I get to do this!” — Once kids have this internal dialogue (modelled to them via their caregivers) — it can create a sense of excitement, gratitude and privilege which can become an internal driver for children to eventually find their own motivation to sit down and play their instrument with ease.

2) Make it a “thing” — Practice doesn’t always have to be private. It can be bring the family together and allow kids to feel a sense of connectedness when playing their instrument.

Get your kids to wear their favourite clothes, or comfiest clothes, and ask them to practice whilst you’re cooking dinner, humming along with them — or get them to play their pieces as a mini - performance for the family at dessert time.

Better yet? Set a day each week for the kids to put on a little show. Having a scheduled routine of making practice a little more “glamorous” and fun can do wonders for kids.

Get them to introduce themselves, introduce the pieces that they’ll be playing for you, light some candles, get the ice-cream out, and enjoy a little recital performance at home each week.

Giving students something to work towards can be a powerful thing when it comes to deriving that intrinsic motivation to reach a goal by a certain time frame.

If they’re happy with it - you can film the performance too. It’ll be special to look back at. And put a teeny bit of pressure on which can trigger the perfect amount balance of anxiety x arousal. Better yet, you can share it with your loved ones so that your kids can know that their music performance is putting a smile on their loved ones.

3) Share your work too, whether it be a short piece you know, or something else that you’d been working on.

Growing up, I was an incredibly shy child. Incredibly creative, but very shy. I would create art, write songs, and work on little projects at home, but keep it all to myself. Mum would always tell me, “Chloe, art is meant to be shared. That’s what completes your joy. Share your work.”

I want to share this principle with you. Share your work as you also encourage your kids to share their work. It can reinforce that great things come with persistence, and our joy can be made complete when we come together and connect through the sharing.

Music is meant to be enjoyed, shared, celebrated and appreciated. Not just endured.

I hope these tips are helpful for keeping that spark alive when things music practice starts feeling like a chore!

If you’ve been thinking about learning an instrument, we’d love to connect with you.

Music on Purpose is a music studio is based in Maroubra (2035), Sydney, NSW. We offer piano lessons, guitar lessons and vocal / singing lessons for students of all ages. Adults included! We’ve got incredible piano, singing and guitar teachers who genuinely care for their students and tailor their lessons to meet each of their students’ learning needs and desires.

Click the button if you’re looking for music lessons in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney! We’d love to hear more about you, and how we can best help you.

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