Are your children/students lacking motivation?

This is a new publication which has a revolutionary and yet deceptively simple approach to practice through the use of inspirational stories rather than external rewards (which are now being shown by research as being demotivating over time.)

Feedback from teachers and parents is that the principles can equally apply to many areas of life; not just music.

Written by an experience NZ music teacher, Ron Ottley. "Practicing is vital. It is more than just an important ingredient in the learning process. It is the learning process. It is the only way to acquire the skills needed to play a musical instrument.

The problem is that many children don’t like doing their music practice and this is quite understandable. Practising requires a substantial investment in time and energy for what is often perceived to be little reward or little progress.

Also practising is perceived as being an unsocial and lonely activity. Furthermore, the onus is entirely on the student. Teachers and parents can provide instruction and encouragement but ultimately the student is the only one who can train their own body.

Parents and teachers however, know the huge rewards and enrichment for those who persevere with practising and learning to play their instrument, and we will do all we can to get the students in our lives to stick at it. We have probably all used at least some of these strategies.
We praise and encourage them.
We threaten them.
We bribe them.
We blackmail them. (sometimes we get desperate)
We coax them and try to jolly them along.
We make deals.
We offer rewards.
We try to make it fun.
We try logic.
We try convincing arguments.

Although these methods help, they usually don’t work for long, especially with a reluctant learner . A child will go through the motions to earn a reward, but if their heart is not in it they will soon give up. Sometimes these methods just result in conflict, stress and unhappiness.

Change the student’s attitude

Probably the only way a reluctant student will become an enthusiastic student is if they have a change in their attitude. This would get at the very root of the problem.

Whether a music student succeeds or not depends almost entirely on their attitude. Those with a good positive attitude to learning music and practising will not only make good progress, they will enjoy the process. As Sondra Anice Barnes said
“It’s so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to”

So, is it possible for a reluctant student to have a change of heart and to change the way they feel about learning music? Is it possible for an unwilling or bored student to become an enthusiastic student? Is it possible for a student with an uncooperative or irresponsible attitude to become a student who practises because they want to?

Yes, of course it is possible because it does happen. The trigger is often an emotional experience or an emotional connection to music. It is our emotions that can cause us to change. It is our emotions that can motivate us to act in a certain way.

The goal of Now I Love Music Practice is to touch the students emotions and to inspire them. Its aim is to generate an understanding of, and a love for music practice. In spite of perceptions to the contrary there really is a lot to love about music practice."

Suitable for teachers and children up to about 12 years