Lesson Lineup

Guide for independent music teachers

How to track student practice between lessons.

You ask a ten-year-old how practice went and get a shrug and "a bit." Then the first five minutes of the lesson go on finding out whether "a bit" meant Monday and Thursday or nothing since last Tuesday. A number written down every week, one you can both look at, gives you those five minutes back.

Log it during the lesson

When your 4:30 student sits down, before the books come out, ask which days she played and for about how long. Type each one in as a session with its date and minutes, and Lesson Lineup files it on her record. With her sitting right there it takes half a minute. If you leave it until the last student has gone home, it turns into a Sunday-night catch-up, and a few weeks later you've stopped doing it.

The record is yours to keep, from what the student tells you, so nobody at home has to remember a login. For a six-year-old, ask the parent at pickup.

Watch the trend over several weeks

One empty week doesn't mean much. A school trip or a cold will wipe out a week for anybody. When the numbers keep thinning for a month or more, something has usually changed. Often the piece is too hard. Sometimes swim team has started on Tuesdays, or the child is losing interest in the instrument. The practice tab on each student shows days practiced this week, days in the last 30 and the average per day, worked out from the sessions you've logged, so you see the slide while there's still time to talk about it.

Bring the number to the lesson

The figures help most in two conversations. With the student: "You've been doing three days most weeks, and this week there's nothing. What happened on Tuesday?" With a parent who asks whether lessons are worth it, you have something firmer than a feeling to point to. The student's repertoire list is on the same record, with a status for each piece. If the log shows four days a week and the sonatina still hasn't moved, look at the assignment. It may be too long, or it may ask for too many new things at once.

When you want practice on paper, for an end-of-term review or a handover to another teacher, run the Practice Log Summary report. For the dates you choose, it gives each student's sessions, days practiced, total time and average session, as a PDF or a CSV file. The sessions themselves, each with its date and length, stay on the student's practice tab.

Questions

Can students log their own practice in Lesson Lineup?

No. Lesson Lineup has no student or parent portal, so you log practice for them, usually at the start of the lesson while they tell you how the week went.

What does Lesson Lineup show per student?

How many days they practiced this week, how many in the last 30, and their average minutes a day, all worked out from the sessions you've logged. Every session is listed underneath, with its date and length.

Can I export practice history?

Yes, as a summary. The Practice Log Summary report gives each student's sessions, days practiced, total time and average session for the dates you choose, and downloads as a PDF or a CSV file, like the other reports. The individual sessions, each with its date, are listed on the student's practice tab rather than in the report.

Where the numbers live

The practice log shares a record with the student's notes and repertoire. The notes guide covers the rest of that record:

  • How to keep lesson notes organized

    Why everything about a student belongs on one record, and how to write notes for each reader.

  • Log practice in Lesson Lineup

    Type in each session as the student describes it, and their days this week and over the last 30 are worked out for you. Try it free for 30 days, no card needed.