Articles · Lessons and practice
Summer practice plan for music students: keep skills without a fight
Updated 2026-11-12
A good summer plan is short and steady. Ten to twenty minutes of playing on four or five days a week keeps a child’s pieces and skills ready for September. Set one to three summer goals with the teacher in June, write them down, and plan around the weeks you will be away. Leave room for fun music that is not on any list.
Why a plan helps
A summer with no playing can mean weeks of review in the fall. With a little playing each week, the first lesson back can start close to where the last one ended. Summer is also the one season with time for the things the school year crowds out, such as playing by ear, learning a favorite song, or trying a duet.
How much to play
| During the school year | A light summer plan |
|---|---|
| 10 to 15 minutes a day | 5 to 10 minutes, four days a week |
| 20 to 30 minutes a day | 10 to 20 minutes, four or five days a week |
| 45 minutes or more a day | 30 minutes, five days a week |
These are starting points. Ask the teacher what fits your child. A student with a fall exam needs more.
Set one to three goals in June
Ask the teacher at the last lessons of the year. Good summer goals are small and clear.
- Keep five review pieces ready to play
- Learn one new piece alone
- Play all the scales for the next level
- Finish the theory workbook
- Read one new line of music a day
- Play for a grandparent once a month
Write the goals on the fridge.
An eight-week outline
Week 1. Rest. Put the instrument somewhere easy to reach.
Weeks 2 and 3. Play review pieces. Choose a new piece with the teacher’s help.
Weeks 4 and 5. Work on the new piece in small parts. Add one scale a day.
Week 6. Hold a living-room concert for family or neighbors.
Week 7. Try something different: a duet, a pop song, a piece by ear, or a tune your child makes up.
Week 8. Play through everything from the summer. Write down questions for the first lesson back.
Move the weeks around trips and camps.
A menu for each practice
Pick one item from each line.
- Warm up: one scale, or one line of sight reading
- Keep: one review piece
- Grow: one small part of the new piece
- Play: anything your child likes
On a busy day, do the first and last lines only.
Practice with no instrument
A trip does not have to mean a full stop.
- Listen to recordings of the pieces in the car
- Clap the rhythm of a piece from the music
- Tap the fingering on a table or an armrest
- Sing the tune with note names or solfege
- Do a page of the theory workbook
- Follow the music with a finger while a recording plays
Travel keyboards and practice mutes for string instruments help in hotels. Ask the teacher before you buy one.
Summer lessons
Ask what the teacher offers. Some teach a short set of summer lessons. Some teach online while families travel. See online music lessons for kids. One lesson in the middle of the summer gives the plan a checkpoint.
Camps and group playing
Day camps, music camps, and community programs let a child play with others. Playing with other children can renew a child’s interest. Ask the teacher which local programs suit your child’s level.
Keep it light
- Play outside or in a new room
- Play at a new time of day
- Let your child choose the order
- Use practice games for the dull parts
- Go to a free outdoor concert
- Try the summer listening challenge, with one short piece a day
- Count a family sing-along as music time
Get ready for September
In the last week of summer, play the review pieces once a day. Check the instrument: tune the piano, replace worn strings, and measure a growing string player for the next size. See violin sizes for kids. Book the first lesson and bring the summer list.
If the plan falls apart
Start again with five minutes and one review piece. A short restart in August is worth more than none. Tell the teacher what happened so the fall plan fits.
For a week of playing with others, read summer music camps for kids: how to choose.
Print and play
Color a box for each day on a 30-day practice chart, or start the 100 days of practice chart on the first day of summer. Build a chart with your child’s own tasks in the practice chart maker. For time by age, read how long kids should practice each day. For the wider picture, see the parent’s guide to music lessons.
More from this guide
This article is part of Music lessons for kids: a parent's guide to starting, choosing, and practicing.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.