This article is one part of my Ultimate Parent's Guide to Kid's Guitar Lessons.
How long should my child practice music? You want your child to get the most out of their music lessons, and you know that means ensuring your child practice long enough and frequently enough to master the material. This article will give you age-based guidelines, provide a calculator to help you find the perfect practice sessions, share an example practice session, answer how many days per week your child should practice, and answer the question "Does it matter how long my child practices?"
Your child will get the most out of lessons if the length of their practice session perfectly matches their ability to pay attention. Practice sessions should be about 3 times your child's age in minutes. They'll need to be broken down into sub-sessions that focus on improving a single skill; those sessions should be about your child's age in minute. Remember to focus on improving skills and solving problems and avoid just running down the clock.
How Long Can my Child Pay Attention?
To get the maximum out of your child’s practice sessions, you need to be keenly aware of the limits of their attention span. You will build your practice plan around this limit.
Of course, each person’s attention span varies from day-to-day and activity-to-activity. As such, data regarding the limits of a child’s attention varies. Here are three different guidelines from different researches, listed from shortest to longest:
- Shortest: 2x your child’s age (3 yrs old x 2 = 6 minutes)
- Middle: 3x your child’s age (3 yrs old x 3 = 9 minutes)
- Longest: 5x your child’s age (3 yrs old x 5 = 15 minutes)
Additionally, all professional-level players break their practice sessions into smaller segments, with built-in breaks. Here are some common recommendations:
- 1 hour with a 15 minute break
- 45 minutes with a 10 minute break
- 25 minutes with a 5 minute break.
I've combined these two ideas into the calculator below to help you find the right practice session length for your child. Just put in your child's age age and get your answers! But, before going off with your timer, remember these two things:
- Use different games in each small segment of practice to keep things fresh and hold your child’s attention.
- Solve problems and build skills. This increases motivation and creates a virtuous cylce.
- Avoid running down the clock. This leads to bad practice habits and creates a vicious cylce.