Climbing the Ladder to Success!
Each year I develop a unique practice incentive for my studio. I spend the month of August, among other things, working out the details of the incentive so that we’re ready to roll when I start teaching again in September. While a structured incentive program isn’t the sure-fire cure for lack of practicing, I have found it to be incredibly motivational to many of my students. It gives them a goal to shoot for and keeps them enthusiastic about progressing in their musical abilities. Plus, I love having something new to do each year! It helps keep me enthusiastic! 
Over the years, I’ve had a number of people request that I make these practice incentive programs available for purchase, so I’ve decided to give it a try. Last year’s practice incentive – Climbing the Ladder to Success – was one of my students’ favorites, so I’ve compiled all of my materials into one packet that will be easy to implement in any music studio.
Here’s a brief overview of the Climbing the Ladder to Success Practice Incentive Packet (this is what I included in my summer newsletter last year to announce the new practice incentive for the year):
HOW IT WORKS
* A ladder with ten rungs is displayed on the studio wall.
* For every ten pieces a student learns, they will advance to the next rung of the ladder.
* In order to qualify, each piece must be played excellently: note and rhythm accuracy, continuity, dynamics, articulation, phrasing, balance, voicing, etc. as appropriate for the student’s level of ability.
* Out of the ten pieces, at least two must be memorized.
* Out of the ten pieces, up to one is allowed to be an original composition.
* Out of the ten pieces, up to one is allowed to be a lead line/fake book arrangement.
* Out of the ten pieces, up to two are allowed to be an improvised hymn accompaniment.
* Out of the ten pieces, the student may select two to three to be recorded and burned onto a CD.
INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY!
All of this practicing, perfecting and recording experience will pay off next May when students have the opportunity to take a trip with me to a professional recording studio! In order to be part of the group that is invited to participate in this special event, each student will have to demonstrate a commitment to work diligently throughout the year. To measure this in a tangible way, students will have the opportunity to earn DILIGENCE DOLLARS (DD) at each lesson. (see below for specific ways to earn DD.) It will cost each student $250 DD to participate in the recording studio trip. DD will be tracked each week on the assignment page in a checkbook register format (this way no one has to worry about losing anything!).
Once at the recording studio, each student may play and record one piece of their choosing. These will then be compiled and burned onto a CD. Each student will receive their own copy of the CD.
DILIGENCE DOLLARS
Students may earn DILIGENCE DOLLARS each week at their lesson as indicated below:
1. All books present at the lesson=$1
2. Practice record filled out and signed=$1
3. Each assignment from the previous week that is completed=$1
4. Practicing at least 5 days in one week=$1
5. Practicing all 7 days in one week=$4
6. Learning a new piece on your own and playing it excellently=$3
7. Participating in a group class, recital, festival or other qualifying music event=$5
The details of the practice incentive are easy to adapt to each studio. I’ve included in my packet the wall display materials and all the custom designed pages that were compiled into each student’s Assignment Book so that they could track their progress from week to week. The packet includes 13 files and 2 pictures and is available for immediate download following payment. Purchase of the packet includes the right to make as many copies of each document as you need for your studio. The total cost of the packet is $12. This is the first time I’ve tried this and I’ve attempted to include everything necessary so that individual teachers have a ready-made, practice-inspiring program that can be implemented in their studios. I am more than happy to offer additional support or help in any way I can to make this program a success in your studio. If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment below.
Climbing the Ladder to Success Practice Incentive Packet
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The main problem with our barbershop singing incentives is the bottleneck in testing.
A few years back we offered badges for learning eight songs in different parts than our usual ones.
Unfortunately that means four quartet members for each test (one keeps silent and judges the person singing his part) so a bottleneck soon develloped.
We had to have special evenings dedicated to testing, and we managed to have three rooms with people being tested at the same time, but we still couldn’t get through all the tests.
It did result in people learning parts very well, but those who missed out on testing felt hard done by.
That would present a challenge! I wonder if you could do it as a group challenge where every member of the quartet would swap parts and then the whole quartet would sing for the other quartets who could rate their performance? There would be positive peer pressure, so to speak since those wanting to participate would be encouraging other members of the quartet to do so as well. Not sure if this would work with the setup that you have, but it’s an idea I thought of…
Natalie,
Are the files in your Climbing the Ladder to Success” package modifiable? I like the concept, but if I bought it I would want to change some of your requirements.
Thanks!
Roxane Lee
Hi Roxanne~
All of the files are in a pdf format to provide proper transmission of format, layout, etc. You can easily copy the text to a MS Word document and revise it. Or, if there is a particular page (or pages) that you think would be easier to work with in an original MS Word format, you can just send me an e-mail and I’d be happy to send you the original file. Let me know if you have any other questions!
natalie I want to orderclimbing the ladder to success, but as Roxane says can it be modified ( a couple of things) to my requirements?
Yes, you are welcome to modify it however you’d like in order to make it work for your studio!
I’m unclear on what you expected from your students in an improvised hymn accompaniment. Do you have the students sing a hymn and improvise on the spot? Or is this something they work on outside of the studio, a self-taught piece, so to speak?
The hymn improvisation is in there for those students who like to work on accompaniments for congregational singing. They could work on it throughout the week and then play it for me at the lesson. I suppose it’s not truly an improvisation, but it’s them using the 4-part hymn to create a piano accompaniment.
Hi Natalie,
I am very interested in using your climbing the ladder incentive program, but have a few questions.
How did the recording studio visit go? How many students actually participated? Was it ALL of your students? How much time did it take in the studio and how much did it cost you?
You said that it would cost $250 DD for a student to go. Was there something else they could purchase with extra funds earned or something for students that did not meet the $250 DD requirement?
What happens if someone earned enough money, but had a scheduling conflict on the day you were going to the recording studio?
Hi Margaret~
The recording studio trip was fabulous! I think it was 10-12 of my students that ended up earning enough to attend. We spent 2 hours at the studio – the first hour, the owner gave us a tour, and the second hour was for the recording. The total cost for me was maybe $100-$150. I didn’t have any alternative option for the DD that year – it was an all or nothing proposition. We didn’t run into any conflicting schedules, so I’m not sure how I would have handled that! I had the date on the studio calendar from the beginning of the year, so everyone knew about it and could plan ahead. Of course, you are welcome to adapt everything as necessary to meet the needs of your studio. You could certainly opt to have other things available or to make allowances for scheduling conflicts.
Hope this helps!
~Natalie