Christmas holiday motivation

It’s that time of year again! Christmas is just around the corner, and with all the excitement and distractions of the holidays, it can sometimes be difficult to keep younger students motivated when it comes to music lessons and practising.

Here are some activities for the Christmas holiday period that will add some festive fun to music lessons and practice sessions.

Write a Christmas song

Try something different one lesson by writing a brand new Christmas song with your student. Just follow these simple steps to write your song:

• Choose a basic song structure e.g., verse-chorus-verse-chorus. Using some simple chords (such as C, F, and G), write a chord progression for a verse and a slightly different chord progression for a chorus.

• Next, write some festive words and phrases on some cards to provide inspiration for lyrics, shuffle the cards for some ideas, and write a chorus and two verses.

• Once your lyrics are complete, compose a melody, then sing it through together. Don’t forget to play your chosen chords as an accompaniment.

• Finally, write your song down by writing out the lyrics then writing the chord symbols above.

Learn some Christmas pieces

What better way to celebrate Christmas than to play some Christmas music? For younger students, simply write out some familiar Christmas melodies, then play some simple accompaniments.

Organise a concert

Christmas is an ideal time to have a concert, and it gives children a fantastic opportunity to perform for family and friends. Encourage your student to organise their own little Christmas concert at home. Suggest that they choose several pieces they enjoy playing, make some programmes and tickets for guests, and decorate the room to create a festive feel. Remind them to bow after their performance. They could even end their concert with a Christmas sing-a-long!

Set a Christmas goal

Some students may not have a lesson during the Christmas holidays. If this is the case, try setting a goal for your student to work towards over the holidays. If they have met their goal by their next lesson in the New Year, give them a special prize.

Have a very merry Christmas!