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PRACTICE JOURNAL INSTRUCTIONS AND IDEAS

 

 

 

📚 THIS IS A PRACTICE JOURNAL METHOD

SET UP - WHAT DO I NEED

🎹 You need a keyboard.

🥁 You DON'T need a drum - all exercises can be done with hands in the air or on a table or chopsticks on a box, but drumsticks are handy.

📱 You need a dedicated device for practice. Any old phone/tablet will do. Consider this the music text book - it is very important and can't be shared.

💻 🎹 Set up your dedicated device at the keyboard.
📂 Create a folder on your device for each week's journal.

HOW TO USE THE LINKS / TUTORIALS

🔗 The practice journal contains links to video tutorials based on what we did in class that day.

📆 Each week the links will be the same as the previous week while on a project, and until we add a new project, or revise an old one.

🖱️ Click a link to open a folder of tutorials. In most cases, the first one will be the easiest, start there and work through.

🪞 Mirror / copy what the video is doing. If it's a hand on a keyboard, find the keys the hand is on, and play the pattern you see. Same for a drum.

🗣️ In class we will also be saying or singing what we hear on the video - notes, numbers, left or right etc. Do this at home.

​🎧 Audio First: Try to watch once or twice to understand, then focus on your instrument and listen. Only watch when reading or pattern learning is needed.


IF YOU HAVE TIME, BUILD A PRACTICE ROUTINE
One of the best music practice systems is a timed routine.

Households must create these based on your schedule and goals for your child, but a rule of thumb is a 5 to 30 minute routine 3 to 6 times a week.

You need: ⏲️ A countdown timer. All phones have them or buy for $8 from Officeworks or Kmart - but don't use the same device as the practice journal.

You need: 📄 A document to create the routine. This is whatever you work best with - hand written, text on a computer, spreadsheet etc

 

Here is an example of a 15 Minute Practice Routine:

1)  5 min piano etudes or tunes or isometric finger work
2)  5 mins drum rudiments or bilateral coordination patterns
3)  5 mins pitch study or reading music

MORE IDEAS ON HOW TO USE A PRACTICE JOURNAL


YOUNG STUDENTS WILL LEARN BY LISTENING

This system is very hearing based. The practice material is instructive within the material itself. For example, if a tune is sung in the numbers, the tune itself tells us which numbers to use and the pitch numbers of the melody. If you just listen, you will learn and memorise musical principles, even if unable to physically play yet. Students still absorb scales, songs and mathematical patterns simply by listening. Don't feel pressured to immediately play, no matter how complex something is, relax and listen or watch and the track will teach you the content, just like an audio book.

WHAT IF THE EXERCISE IS TOO FAST

An exercise is often too fast to play but not to listen to. In class we call this 'Vox Mode' where we listen to, or say, or sing the pattern.

Musicians must listen to music at all speeds including super fast. Obviously taking care to not overwhelm sensitive kids.

Students can make the mistake of thinking they are meant to play what they are watching, so they want to slow it down - which we do.

However, they must also listen to fast material, and their brain is fast enough to take in the information.

Kids need assurance on this so they don't think they are meant to suddenly perform at high speed, so parents can help them by understanding the principle -’fast patterns prepare the musical brain for speed’. Kids don't have a problem watching a fast dancer or a fast car - music is the same.

If you listen to a fast musical passage several times, the exercise seems to slow down - what was a blur is now coherent.

This is a critical principle because otherwise students will avoid listening to fast passages. Most exercises do have slower and faster versions so if a tutorial is too fast, implore the student to just watch and listen for a while before clicking a slower one.

HOW DO I PLAY DRUM EXERCISES WITHOUT DRUMS?

All rhythm exercises in this course can be played with hands on lap: left lap / right lap (2 DRUMS) or on chest on left / middle / right (3 DRUMS) or using chop sticks on a box. I can also send you a free 'make your own drum' kit by request.

SCREEN TIME DILEMMA? JUST LISTEN!

It's important to note that this training is primarily LISTENING.

Visuals highlight key information such as notes, sections, tempo, and hand placement, but the focus is SOUND.

You can glance at the screen then look at the instrument so you only use your ears. Your hearing is around ten times faster than your sight.

Some tutorials require watching but not the live play tutorials.

UNDERSTANDING NUMBERS IN MUSIC:

It's essential to understand that 'numbers in music' is not a simplified beginner learning approach like painting by numbers. At advanced levels of music theory we use interval and chord numbers through 'Roman Numeral Analysis,' so numeric notation is a study tier beyond conventional reading and represents the mathematical underpinnings of music. While foundational reading skills are presumed, intermediate to advanced musicians predominantly engage with numeric representations. Moreover, in relative pitch training, students develop the ability to discern interval numbers by ear — a sophisticated cognitive skill. 
 

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