Do you know what … a couple of years ago I would have said no. I went to a posh music college … we practised for 6 hours plus a day. My music making was all very serious, classical and stuck-to-the notes with no notion of improvisation or just playing for fun (god forbid!). But things have changed for me in the past few years. We are ALL musical. We are made of music! Out heart beats to a rhythm, we walk to a rhythm … this is music! It's part of who we are. Nearly all of us will listen to music everyday … it's made to be enjoyed! So I don't think music practise is something that should be enforced. A few months ago one of my kids said to me, 'I haven't practised but I've been playing all week.' This have me so much joy! This is what I'm striving for... to help people find their joy in music and express themselves, not sit for hours practising scales (unless that brings them joy!).
Of course also the more you do something the better you'll get. Your fingers will get more flexible, your muscle memory will improved and the concepts will look at will be understood better. For little ones, the patterns we learn will be absorbed more quickly the more they are repeated. And if you or your child want to take exams or make fast progress then practise is definitely necessary to get to a point where you/they are confident and able to pass an exam (for the pre-grade 1 grades that would be 10-15 minutes 5 times a week, then 20-30 minutes 5 times a week for grade 1, and then generally adding 10 minutes a day per grade (obviously the quality of the practise is more important than the quantity … that's another blog post!). But you should only do exams if you really want to do it and have the time to dedicate yourself/your child to it.
BUT... if your/your child's week is totally packed out and you just don't have the time to play in between sessions, I really don't think it's a waste of time taking lessons. You just have to adjust your expectations on progress. I really don't believe music learning should be forced. Music is for everyone and it's meant to be fun!
