Fun Activities for Music Practice Labs

Fun Activities for Music Practice Labs

If you’re looking for some creative ways to make music practice more fun, then these activities are perfect for both music practice labs and home practice sessions.

As part of Rotating Lessons students spend 20 minutes of their weekly lesson working on guided practice. There are a few benefits to including these music practice labs in every lesson:

• Guaranteed practice time: even if students have a super busy week, they’ll get at least one focussed practice session
• Time to review: being able to go over the material covered during their one-on-one lesson time immediately afterwards is great for cementing knowledge
• Opportunity to answer questions: if students are unclear about any practice instructions they can ask any questions straight away
• Chance to catch up on previous tasks: if a student hasn’t finished their practice from the previous week they can start at this station and get it done before their individual lesson time

I always give students specific and concrete practice goals to work through during their practice time, but having an extra fun activity definitely helps to keep them engaged and productive. Here are a few activities that my students love to do during their music practice labs:

Practice Board Games

If your students are struggling with motivation during their practice time, then why not turn it into a literal game? The Practice Plunder and Practice Pursuit board games have been designed to increase the fun of any practice session (whether it’s during lessons or at home).

Students can play these board games by themselves or with another person, and all of the activities are based on the pieces and scales that they’re currently working on which makes them suitable for any level. The games usually last around ten to fifteen minutes, which is perfect for Rotating Lessons and works well for a home practice session too.

Shooting Star Practice Challenge

Another practice activity that students love is the Shooting Star Practice Challenge. I’ve modified this from the original version to include only tasks that can be completed independently within the music practice lab. Examples of some of the activities are:

• Try and play a recent song from memory
• Roll the dice and play a section of your current piece that number of times
• Transpose an old piece into a different key
• Complete five sightreading exercises
• Try improvising on the black keys
• Play through all current scales

Read more about the original Shooting Star Musical Challenge here.

According to my students the best part of this activity is the mystery of picking a new task! So if you’re not keen on making origami stars (I’ll be honest, it is a bit time consuming) then keep it simple with tasks written on folded card instead. Less effort for the teacher, just as much fun for the students!

Extra Practice Ideas

If students finish their assigned practice quickly (or just need a break and a change of focus) then the Practice Ideas Poster has some suggestions for different exercises to try. From playing a piece with closed eyes to figuring out a well known song by ear, there are a range of activities to inspire engaged practice.

If you’d like to download a copy of the Practice Ideas Poster (plus more amazing resources for music lessons!) then sign up to the Music Teacher Resource Library.

Other Practice Resources

There are also a lot of great practice resources created by some amazing music teachers. Here are a few of my favourites (and some on my wishlist):

• Mystery Practice Assignments from Kids & Keys
• Practice Bingo from Colourful Keys
• My Practice Stache from Melody Payne
• Fidgett’s Spinner from 88 Musical Keys
• Practice Tricks Pack from The Playful Piano
• Playful Practice Cards from Colourful Keys

Do you have any fun resources or activities to encourage music practice? I’m always keen for more ideas!