Approach
Learn by Doing
Playing an instrument is primarily a practical activity — but reaching a high level of practical understanding also requires a great deal of mental preparation and conceptual learning. Before practising a phrase or section with your child, make sure they understand all the concepts involved. Talk it through, make sure everything is clear. Then play.
While playing — whether right or wrong — children should focus entirely on the experience of holding and playing the instrument, rather than getting lost in the intellectual side. This separation of thinking and doing helps remove self-doubt from the process. Every time your child picks up their instrument, you want them feeling happy, confident, and creative. Practising the right emotions is just as important as practising the right notes. Keep practice practical.
Emotion
How Do You Feel When You Practise?
The main aim of practising is to improve — and improvement can happen both directly and indirectly. When we practise, we are essentially establishing habits: patterns of movement and behaviour that become familiar over time. But how you feel during practice also gets internalised and habituated. It is vital that your child practises with a sense of excitement, happiness, and self-expression, and that feelings of boredom or resentment are kept well away from the session.
Performance Mindset
Be in the Moment
Avoid over-focusing and negative emotions during practice — just play. Help your child to imagine being a great musician, to play as if performing, and to visualise the excitement of the stage. Help them stay present in the moment so that each practice session feels less like a chore and more like a performance filled with joy and self-expression.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make music practice more enjoyable for my child?+
The single most powerful shift is to treat practice as play rather than work. Remove pressure around right and wrong notes, join in yourself, and let your child choose a piece they love occasionally. Ending every session on something they can play confidently also builds a positive association that makes them more likely to want to come back tomorrow.
What is a musician's mindset and how do I help my child develop one?+
A musician's mindset means focusing on the process of playing rather than the outcome. It means finding joy in exploration, treating mistakes as interesting rather than bad, and associating the instrument with positive feelings. You can help build this by practising alongside your child, celebrating effort over results, and making sessions feel more like creative play than structured drills.
My child gets frustrated when they make mistakes. What should I do?+
This is very common, especially in children who are naturally perfectionistic. The key is to normalise mistakes — make them part of the fun rather than something to be avoided. Make deliberate "silly" mistakes yourself and laugh about them. Reframe mistakes as information: "interesting, what happened there?" rather than "no, that's wrong." Over time this builds resilience and keeps the emotional tone of practice positive.
Should I sit with my child while they practise?+
For young beginners, yes — your presence makes a significant difference. Children practise better when they have an engaged, encouraging audience. You don't need musical knowledge to be helpful; being present, reacting positively, and occasionally joining in (even just clapping along or humming) is enough. As children get older and more independent, you can gradually step back and let them take ownership of their sessions.
How do I balance discipline with fun in practice?+
Structure the session so there is always a focused element — working on something specific from their lesson — but bookend it with something enjoyable: a warm-up piece they love, or a few minutes of free improvisation at the end. The focused work feels more manageable when it sits inside a session that also feels rewarding and fun.
Does visualisation actually help with learning an instrument?+
Yes — research in sports psychology and music education consistently shows that mental practice and visualisation activate similar neural pathways to physical practice. Encouraging your child to imagine performing confidently, to picture themselves playing a piece well, or to simply feel the excitement of music before picking up the instrument can genuinely improve their focus, confidence, and enjoyment.
