If I miss one day of practice, I notice it. If I miss two days, the critics notice it. If I miss three days, the audience notices it.
Ignacy Paderewski, Polish pianist and politician.
Daily pratice is the foundation of progress on any musical instrument. It’s true that you can make some progress with just a few days a week. And realistically, even the best practicers need a break every now and then. But I generally tell students that every day is ideal, and five days a week is usually the minimum for strong and steady progress.
It’s a little like brushing your teeth. You wouldn’t say: Oh, I don’t feel like brushing my teeth today – I’ll just skip it. You wouldn’t expect to have good dental health if you brushed, say, 2-3 times a week. Yes, perhaps better dental health than if you never brushed at all, but that’s not saying much! Also, practicing every day can become a routine in a similar way. You don’t have to think about whether you’ll brush your teeth today – you just do it! Once you start practicing every day, that can be a similar feeling – it just happens as part of the daily routine.
If you’re a parent helping your kids organize the day, wouldn’t it be great to have practice just happen without argument? Well, the first step is establishing practice as a routine – like brushing the teeth. Build it into the day, let your child know that it’s now a part of the day, and stick to it. Not that it will happen automatically at first, but a good rule of thumb is that if something happens every day for 30 days in a row, it becomes routine – it starts feeling strange if it doesn’t happen. Then you start reaping the rewards of smoother sailing with consistent progress!
While both quantity and quality of time spent on practice are also important to progress, today’s schedules often don’t allow for lengthy practice sessions every day. But going through the motions of getting out the flute each day – even if it’s only for 5 minutes on a particular day (or maybe even less for young children), it can still go a long way in both establishing the routine and also in helping keep muscles in shape for more success in the next day’s practice. And who knows – after 5 minutes, you (or your child) might just get in the groove, start feeling warmed up, realize it’s fun and keep rolling!
