Long term readers of this blog will know that bI have been reviewing books about music aimed at young readers each month for several years now. And I recently decided to add in reviews of books about music for an older audience, for adults or older teenagers. This is my second review of the year of a Music Book for adults, and this book is squarely aimed at parents. The blurb for practice pie by Nicola Canton says:
Music practice arguments in families are seemingly so ubiquitous that it’s become a trope used in sitcoms. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Your child can have a wonderful experience with music and you can enjoy watching their progress without it becoming a battlefield.
In Practice Pie, I’ll teach you how to support your child in their musical journey. I can’t promise it will be as easy as pie (but then, is pie really easy?) but I can promise to make it quick and practical, with a little humour thrown in for good measure.
You signed your child up for lessons because you wanted them to enjoy and appreciate music. You deserve a taste of that fun, too. Let’s get baking so we can take a bite of some delicious music practice pie!
I am sure you have heard people say “if my child liked playing the piano, they would practice it.” I know I certainly have done. But the reality is that just like doing maths or English homework, or learning any other skill really, it takes a lot of work to learn to play a musical instrument. And it takes a lot of work and a lot of time to learn the basics of playing a musical instrument before it becomes something that is fun to do. Especially in the early stages of learning to play an instrument, there are a lot of very dull things that a new instrumentalist has to do – many pieces they learn to play have just one note on repeat, no really tune to speak of. There are also the physical skills involved in learning to play a musical instrument – the way the instrument needs to be held will probably be testing muscles that your child has not used before; maybe your child is learning a wind or brass instrument and they have to learn how to breathe deeply enough to make the instrument make a sound, or to be able to play to the end of a phrase. All of these things are hard work for a new musician. It takes quite a long time to get to the point where your child will be playing something interesting and fun enough that they want to do their practice.
It is unusual to find a child who, especially in these early stages, rushes to their instrument to practice without being encouraged or cajoled into it. I have 2 children, both of whom are learning a musical instrument. My eldest has been playing the trombone for a few years. He loves it and will often voluntarily practice. Now. This has absolutely not been the case for the whole time he has been learning the instrument. We have worked with him to get him into the habit of practising over many years. My youngest is learning to play the violin, and she needs to be encouraged to play for every practice session. She loves her lessons and that she is learning to play the violin, but she is not keen on the idea of doing the practice before it begins.
In Practice Pie, the author Nicola Cantan talks to parents about music practice, about why it is important, why parents need to be at least a little bit involved in music practice to help get their children into the habit of practising, and why practice is so important for developing a child’s skills with their musical instrument and their enjoyment of playing that instrument. She gives you a few tips of techniques you can try to make practice a bit more fun and interesting. And she uses the analogy of baking a pie to discuss music practice with chapter titles such as “Accept Your Apron – Why Bake A Practice Pie?” and “Salt – Goal Setting”. The book is quite a short one, at just over 50 pages long, and each chapter is short, engaging and easy to read. The suggestions Cantan makes for ways to make practice more fun and effective are great, and we have put some of the suggestions she makes into our own practice at home with the children. My youngest particularly loves the little Practice Buddies I bought for her who walk, or waddle, or swim from one side of the music stand to the other when she plays a piece or phrase correctly.
If you are wondering who Nicola Cantan is and why you should listen to her advice, well she is a piano teacher herself, having taught many children. She is also a blogger and blogger with a blog called Colourful Keys where she shares ideas with music teachers for ways that they can make their lessons more engaging for their students. I think she has a fantastic approach to teaching a musical instrument that is very effective with children, and she is definitely someone whose ideas I will very grateful read about and try to use them with my children.
I really liked this book. I thought it had great ideas, was written very well and perfectly pitched for parents. I would very much recommend reading this book, no matter what stage your child is at in their musical instrument lessons, I do think there is something in there for all parents who want to help their children get into good practice habits. And it is particularly good for parents of young children who are just starting out or in their first few years of musical instrument lessons.
Practice Pie by Nicola Cantan is available to buy from many book retailers, and at the time of writing is available on Amazon priced at £7.50 for paperback and £5.99 for the kindle edition, though prices can go up as well as down depending on demand on Amazon.
I would give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.
getkidsintomusic.com 
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