*Seattle JazzED Director of Education, Kelly Clingan*

What happens after camps let out? How do you make sure you’re not slipping on all those skills you’ve honed?

It turns out music learning never stops! And our resident expert, Director of Education, Kelly Clingan, has made it her mission to make sure all young musicians are equipped and encouraged to keep growing in their skillset. Scroll down to walk away with three key tips to keep the music flowing.

Let’s explore three learning strategies that Clingan suggests for learners of all ages. If you can utilize these methods or share them with the musicians in your lives and encourage how to use them on their own, all will stand a much better chance of increasing success.

1. Keep your instrument out of its case where you can access it every day.

Often, the hardest part of practicing each day is gathering the will to say, “I’m going to do it!” We all know that repetition is extremely important for every musician, but sometimes, it can be difficult to take that leap. An easy way to take away some of that difficulty is to keep your instrument outside of its case in a place where you frequently can see or have access to it. If your instrument is sitting within close reach, you’ll be more inclined to feel inspired. Both myself and my daughter are trombonists and make it a habit to always have at least one trombone in full view at home. If we feel inspired, we can pick it up and play away!

In a quiet space where practicing at loud isn’t easy? We at Seattle JazzED have practice mutes to help filter out some of the sound and can loan to them to families (for free) for brass and percussive instruments!

2. Make a “play date” with friends and jam together.

If all went according to plan, you or your student made some friends at summer camp, or your siblings or cousins attended with you. Now it’s time to take what you learned and reinforce what’s already in your bag of tricks. Gather some friends and play music together. Try to make similar sounds with your instruments and slowly progress towards creating similar patterns.

Are the creative juices not flowing just yet? Don’t fret, we have just the thing to get you started. Check out our online daily guided practice videos and give it a try with friends. We have twenty-minute daily practice videos for every skill level and for every instrument we offer at JazzED. The idea is that routines are healthy! Some people start their day with a cup of coffee, others with a five-mile run. Every musician starts their day with some form of the same thing, their musical routine.

3. Learn your favorite summer jam by ear.

Have you ever heard of the term “transcribing”. To transcribe something generally means that you are taking audio and figuring it out using your ears and what you know about your instrument to play it. Taking it a level up means sometimes writing it down as well. We model this behavior in all of our classes. Often, we listen to a song, then sing it aloud together, and then use those experiences to play the song.

Try out that activity with your new favorite jam! Play the tune, sing along, and then pull out your instrument to begin matching notes. Making sure you’re starting on the right first note is the main thing. Then, rewind it as many times as you need to. This should be fun as it’s like a music puzzle. If you get frustrated, walk away, and come back another time.

And if all else fails…keep trying.

A lot of playing an instrument is muscle memory, so that’s part of what we’re doing. Much like a marathon runner would stretch every time, we’re keeping our body remembering what it feels like to play, in our face, in our hands, and in our body overall.