​Summer break will be coming to a sad end in just a few weeks for most of our students here at Littleton School of Music. And whether you’re excited to be back in school, or dreading it, one thing is for sure- those school days sure do get in the way of all that extra music time you had!
 
As a musician, you’ve grown so much during summer break and you want to keep on the same track. Let us help you keep your momentum as the school year begins.
 
Practice right after school
The beginning of the school year can be a little draining and leaving you… less than excited to jump to doing homework after being in class all day. Instead of starting up on your homework, play music! It’s important to practice everyday. If you’re practicing after school, it’ll be a refreshing break that keeps your mind focused and absorbing new, but fun info.
 
Don’t take weekends off
Sure, It’s nice to have a day off. But this is your prime time to sit behind your drumkit, or pick up a guitar and jam! Your goal is to practice at least 5 days a week. Saturday and Sunday are the easiest days to fit in a good practice. Take off a day that you have a lot of homework (maybe Thursday nights). That way you get all your schoolwork done during the week and the weekend is yours to be free and play music!
 
 
Take lessons
Make lessons a priority as your new schedule begins. By taking lessons you’re holding yourself accountable, and asking your music teacher to hold you accountable and reach new goals each week. As a music teacher, I know starting school can be a hectic challenge. Finding reasonable, doable, goals is the key to your success.
 
If your student has been learning on their own all summer and find that they may not have as much time to figure it out on their own, sign up for music lessons today! If you’re looking for music lessons in the Denver area, find out how Littleton School of Music can help you or your student keep your momentum in learning and having fun with music as school starts back up. Call us at 303-972-7625 or email us at info@littletonmusiclessons.com, or contact us here. 

Knowing how much we should practice is a question that’s always being asked by musicians of all ages and skills. And it’s a hard question to answer! There’s no magic number of minutes or hours that are required to know that shredding solo, or being able to play and sing that song at the same time.
If you’ve ever asked someone, “how’s your day going?” it’s likely you’ve heard a pretty generic answer- “Good thanks!” If you’ve ever asked “How much should I practice?” I bet you’ve heard the same nonspecific answers- “all the time.” “every minute you can” “every day”. Do those answers not sound daunting?! Luckily, we have an answer we think you’re going to like.
 
20-30 minutes
There’s your answer. Practice for 20-30 minutes. Why? Ok, so you’re only going to get better the more and more you practice. But practicing an hour or more a session- you’re going to lose focus, feel sore, and most importantly run out of productive things to practice!
Practice is not your time to goof around. Practice is improving on new ideas and techniques. 5 minutes of practice won’t do you very good, but if you focus and stay in the zone for 30 minutes improving that one or two skill sets I guarantee you’ll grow your playing. Play your favorite songs for fun later! But for the next 20-30 minutes, practice.
 
Don’t call it quits
It’s easy to lose focus. But don’t give up. This time is dedicated to your instrument and musical growth. Set a timer and don’t call it quits till the timer goes off. Start with a more manageable goal- like 20 minutes (out of your ENTIRE day!). You can do that!
Most importantly- if your timer goes off, you’re being productive and don’t want to stop… Don’t! I encourage you to practice more! The secret to practice is how long you can stay focused and work on things that are improving you.
 
How many days?
To be entirely clear, there’s no limit to how much you can or should practice. I for one know that I can only be productive for about 45 minutes at a given time. But I also have practiced multiple times in a day- one practice session in the morning, another practice session after dinner. In a week sometimes I practice 3 times, sometimes its 10 or more times.
“Sooo…. What about me?”, you’re probably still asking. 5 days. 5 separate days, and once a day at least! It’s important to take a day off from all the things you have to do. You still need to keep your chops up! If you practice more- awesome! You’re going to progress if you practice one day a week, just exponentially slower than if you practice 5 days a week.
 
I encourage you to practice and play all the time! Music never gets boring. I also understand it’s an endless road and we’ve got to rest once in a while.
 
As teachers at Littleton School of Music, it’s our job to help you learn, and also help you find the best practice routine for you. Our teachers love taking on the challenging questions like “how much should I practice?” So if you’re looking for music lessons in Colorado in the Denver area or Littleton area, give us a call, email, or contact us here. We teach guitar lessons, piano lessons, voice lessons, drum lessons, and more!
 
Keep playing, more importantly- keep practicing!