YOUTH WORSHIP TEAM
SCHOOL YEAR PRIORITIES | Vance & Michelle Shepherd
Wow , time flies ! Summer is actually over , and school is back in session already . A full school year with all the extra activities , sports , after school groups , youth group , etc , has the potential to be a detriment to a student ’ s musicality because they don ’ t have enough dedicated time to grow in their musical skill level . When a student first starts taking music or vocal lessons , they generally don ’ t have the desire to become a musician or vocalist to just sing or play in their room for themselves . They typically have hope that they will get the opportunity to be in a band and perform live . But it takes a sacrifice of their time every day , and much dedication and hard work to be able to learn the songs and pass auditions to play live . And students must learn how to manage and focus their practice time to achieve their musical goals . So , what ’ s an effective strategy to help them make the most of their limited time and still move forward ? The answer is time blocking .
TIME BLOCKING can help you focus your attention with your intentions , so you always prioritize the right work at the right time . Time blocking is a
time management strategy where you schedule out every part of your day . With time blocking , you ’ re effectively breaking the school week into bite-sized time slots where students do their homework , work on projects like music , take breaks , and even exercise . Time blocking is so helpful ! Setting up two or three 15-minute blocks of practice time throughout the day , with a particular focus is extremely beneficial , and 30 minutes of completely distraction free time once or twice per day for practice will be amazing for their musical growth . Teaching students how to time block early on will go with them into adulthood and give them crucial time management concepts to set them up for success in whatever they do . What we plan , prioritize , and put on the calendar we will most likely achieve , verses just hoping we ’ ll find the time to practice ( which we never seem to ).
TIME BOXING is another helpful time management strategy that works with time blocking . You take your set amount of time dedicated to practicing in your time block ( 15 , 30 , or 45 minutes ), and you break that down into smaller focused tasks ( example : 5-10 minutes per song if you have a 3 song setlist to learn , running musical scales for 5 minutes , learning a new guitar strumming technique for 10 minutes , etc ). Set a timer for each of these tasks inside the time blocking event , and when the timer goes off , move forward quickly to the next task regardless of how well you feel you did on the previous task . This will ensure that you get to touch on all the things you need to , without spinning out on just one task .
The second key thing is switching up the routine or the environment to keep it fresh . We talk about this a lot in our articles , but anyone that has worked with a professional fitness trainer knows their trainer will switch up their routine after 4 - 6 weeks . The routine needs to be switched after this amount of time because the body adapts to it and the client stops seeing much growth or benefit . The same thing for musicians ! A set routine for practicing can be extremely beneficial for a few weeks but can
become boring or uninspiring .
One strategy I love is practicing outside when there ’ s beautiful weather instead of in my music room . Just being in a different environment promotes creativity , and makes it feel fresh and fun . Also using a different room in your house can be great or switching around your normal practice room so it ’ s a fun or visually stimulating place to practice . Put up posters of your favorite artists , have your sheet music and instruments out of the cases so you can just pick them up and practice quickly , paint the room your favorite color , put things around the room that inspire you , etc .
These strategies will really help you during the hectic school year to prioritize time and keep things fresh all year long !
May you be blessed as you continue to pour into or become the next generation of worship leaders and musicians !
Vance & Michelle Shepherd Founders of The Shepherd School of Music in Las Vegas , NV , where they work with youth to raise up the next generation of worship leaders and musicians . facebook . com / shepherdschoolofmusiclasvegas www . ShepherdStudiosLV . com