PPP 384: A Little Practice Still Counts [A Piano Plan for Busy Holiday Weeks]

Make a piano plan for the week you actually have

1. Look at the next seven days together. Mark the days with room for regular practice, the days that need a shorter session, and the days you’ll cross off altogether.

2. Ask your teacher what to prioritize. Try, “We’ll be traveling this week. If we only have a little time at the piano, what would you most like my child to work on?”

3. Give practice a cue. Try sitting down after a snack or after breakfast. Leave the music open and a pencil nearby so getting started is easy.

4. Pick one small target. “Play measures five through eight slowly and keep the left hand steady” gives your piano kid a clear job. Ask what they’re listening for, then give them a little space and uninterrupted time to work it out. They can finish with a favorite piece.

5. Make the first day back easy. After a trip or a few days away, start with something familiar and revisit one item from the assignment. It’s normal for a piece to feel a little rusty at first.

If the beginning of a piece always sounds better than the ending, try practicing the last line first. Then back up and play the last two lines. Keep adding a line at a time so the ending gets plenty of attention, too.

Make room for music over the holidays

If you’ll be away from a piano, ask your teacher whether tapping a rhythm, listening to a recording, or reviewing a music symbol would be a good fit. And if your child wants to share music with family, talk about it ahead of time. A duet with Grandma or a song you can all sing together might be just the thing.

Try this with your piano kid

Look at your calendar and finish this sentence together:

“On our busiest day, our piano plan will be…”

Maybe it’s five minutes after breakfast. Maybe it’s the rhythm your teacher circled, followed by a favorite song. If that day is already full, pick the next day you’ll be home and decide what you’ll play first.

Join the free PIANOVEMBER Practice Challenge

Give yourself a tally for every piece you play, every time you play it. New pieces, old favorites, songs by ear, and sections of longer pieces all count. So does that song you play for Grandma! Our shared goal this year is 50,000 practice tallies.

• Download the free 2026 PIANOVEMBER Practice Tracker

• Log your tallies and find the leaderboard at PIANOVEMBER.com

Resources mentioned in this episode

• PPP 107: The First 24 Hours, with Dawn Ivers and Becki Laurent

• All It Takes Is a Goal by Jon Acuff

• James Clear’s guide to habit stacking

Know a piano parent whose calendar is filling up? Send them this episode. And if your family has a funny practice cue, I’d love to hear it! You can reach me at shelly@pianoparentpodcast.com.