Kaufman Center News Blog
What Does it Take to Grow a Musician? 100 Days of Practice
“I’ve done it! I’ve accomplished it!” —SMS 3rd grader
According to legend, Beethoven’s father was a notoriously harsh piano teacher, forcing his young son to practice for hours on end and punishing him for making mistakes. Teaching methods have fortunately evolved over the centuries, but regular practice—with more positive reinforcement!—remains a crucial part of music education. So how do you get kids to practice? On February 2 and 3, 78 young musicians in grades kindergarten through 5 at Kaufman Center’s Special Music School (SMS) celebrated an important milestone: 100 Days of Practice. The kids cheered as their classmates were called to the front of Ann Goodman Recital Hall to receive a bag of treats and a certificate recognizing their achievement.
The 100 Days of Practice program motivates music students by offering a reward for practicing 100 days in a row each semester and recording each day of practice in a special book. “When kids turn in their completed books, which have to be signed by their music teachers, they’re really excited,” says SMS Music Director Jenny Undercofler. She got the idea of 100 Days of Practice from Mary Jo Pagano, a piano teacher who has done practice workshops for kids and parents. “There’s something about the number 100 that feels just big enough to be big,” says Undercofler.
“The culminating 100 Days celebration is a fun way to acknowledge the accomplishment of the work that our children are expected to tackle on a daily basis,” says Grace Lim, President of the SMS PTA. “It’s wonderful to see the kids’ faces light up when they walk into the recital hall decked out with festive balloons and celebratory music playing." “I’ve done it! I’ve accomplished it!” exulted 3rd grade violin student Max Pierson-Panes. “I feel like I’ve just won a really big prize. It means a lot to practice, and if you practice you learn more and get really good,” says Nina Tompkins, also a 3rd grade violin student, who noted that it was fun to keep track of the days she practiced. “It was kind of hard for me at first,” admitted Cecilia Vogler, another 3rd grade violin student, but it got easier, and she loved getting a prize afterwards. Deborah Bertke, mother of 5th grade piano student Emma Bertke, thinks that 100 Days of Practice has been a great motivational tool. “These kids are motivated to begin with,” she says. “It’s a wonderful way to acknowledge their motivation and hard work.” Are she and Emma looking forward to the next 100 Days of Practice during the spring semester? “Absolutely!” Why is it so important to practice every day? “There’s a physical training aspect of practicing,” explains Undercofler. “You want to be reinforcing elements of posture and movement daily. Another reason is that frequently, solving problems in music is a multi-layered process, and coming at it every day is more useful than leaving it all to the last minute.” Musicians, like great athletes, need to develop consistent habits in order to reach their full potential. “You wouldn’t find that the Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps swam erratically—he spent every day in the pool,” says Undercofler. “Daily practice is a habit that will sustain our students right through college and into their professional lives.”
Nurturing teachers and supportive families are an important part of the equation even for exceptionally talented and motivated students. LaJuana Huebner, mother of kindergarten violin student Ysai Huebner, says, “I dictate the time, but he had complete control of checking the book, and that was satisfying for him.” “It takes a lot of incentive to get a six-year-old to practice every day,” says Emmy Gay, mother of 1st grade violin student Willow Bennison. “Willow has been playing since she was three years old and knows that practice is a part of life, but to get her to do it can be a challenge.” They struggle over small points, like whether she’ll practice before or after dinner, or for how long, “but she always knows it will be done.” For the record, every single 1st grader in Willow’s class completed all 100 days.
Kindergarten piano student Romy Nevo enjoyed the social element of 100 Days of Practice and liked that all of her classmates were doing it at the same time. Her dad, Eyal, plays piano with her and helps her read notes but says that “she doesn’t need any kind of motivation whatsoever.” He observed a cycle that was repeated as each new piano piece was introduced: “The first day is good, she wants to see what it’s about. By the second day she sees that it’s difficult and gets frustrated, then surprises herself that what seemed so difficult yesterday she can do today. Then she gets better and better. Once she nails it, then that’s the new thing she wants to practice until she gets bored with it.”
Music educators and parents everywhere take note: Music is its own reward, but never underestimate the power of chocolate. Students responded especially enthusiastically to the treats they received at the awards ceremony. “She loves the M&Ms,” says the parent of one 5th grader, “but she would have done it anyway.”
Undercofler understands that the repetitive nature of practicing can sometimes make it a challenge for even the most enthusiastic students. A classically trained pianist, she admits to having resisted her parents’ efforts to get her to practice when she was very young. She even tried to read books while practicing—until she got caught. “Unfortunately, most people don’t realize until they are grown up, when they don’t have enough time to practice, that daily practice is a precious commodity.”
