One of the biggest frustrations I’ve had as a private lesson teacher is when students show up for their lesson having spent exactly zero minutes practicing the in the time between lessons.

I get that they’re paying me for my time, but it’s just not as satisfying when they don’t progress. Not to mention how bored I get having to work them through the same lessons over and over and over…

Which is why if we can get students more excited to practice, maybe they will. If we can gamify the practice, perhaps that will make it more exciting! Apps provide convenience, accuracy, and are affordable.

Here are some you can give a try to see if they work for you and your students.

Tonara.

Tonara takes gamification to the next-level by offering rewards to students as they practice. As they play, the app listens and provides feedback. As a teacher, Tonara gives you the ability to create those assignments, develop lessons, and track student progress. There’s even a chat feature so you can send encouraging messages, videos, and even stickers to your students.

Click here to read more about Tonara.

Modacity.

Modacity is developed less for student engagement, and more for tracking personal progress. It tracks practice time, has the ability for students to create a ‘playlist’ for their practice-time agenda, and allows them to listen back to what they just played. Modactiy even has a journal feature where you can create notes and reminders to display during the practice session. Great for the more self-guided student.

Voxercise.

This app is great for vocal lessons! I typically record all of the voice exercises for my students, and send them in a voice memo so they can practice along with them. Voxercise is the next-level! With the built-in tuner, students can see precisely when they are in tune. They can sing along with a piano or voice accompaniment- or fade to somewhere in between!

YouTube.

Okay, I realize that this isn’t a ‘designed for music teaching app’, necessarily, but I seriously use it almost every single lesson. I have my students play echo exercises, long tones, and even scales and drills with a drum beat accompaniment, like you’ll find here. For voice students, I have them practice along with karaoke tracks. You can even use the settings cog to change the speed of the video, and install a Chrome extension, like THIS ONE, to alter the pitch of videos. Plus, it’s free to use, and most students will have access to it. No, it doesn’t track their practice time or provide feedback, but it’s still a useful tool to get them having more fun practicing.

BandMate.

For beginning band students, BandMate is an essential! I get students started the first lesson performing long tones, lip slurs, and register jumps. BandMate allows them to see the exact WRITTEN note for their instrument, while also showing if they are in tune or not. I just tell them to ‘shoot for the green’, which means they’re in tune. We even play around with it- how flat or sharp can they go with just their embouchure changing. For transposing instruments, this app is my favorite.

SmartMusic.

Okay, this one isn’t fully a handheld app, but it is accessible on computer and tablets. SmartMusic is easily the leader in the ‘play-along-and-see-when-your-wrong’ feature, since they came out with it more than 20 years ago. You can create your own assignments, upload one of their free options, or create assignments for your students using one of the many available method books they have accessible. For solos, students can practice with the accompaniment track, change the tempo, create practice loops…and so much more. Plus, SmartMusic does all the practice tracking that you need to see exactly how your students are progressing. And if you’re a school music teacher, SmartMusic has very affordable educational pricing, too!

What are YOUR favorite apps for encouraging student practice? Leave a comment here, or on my Facebook page. I can’t wait to hear what you think!