This year we are practicing for the patients at the Palmetto Health Children's Hospital.  These kids need a second chance in life and together, we are going to make that happen.  By garnering pledges for your practice minutes we will be able to make a difference.  The money we raise will go to enhance healthcare for Palmetto Health's youngest patients and their families. Our support is essential to maintain a level of excellence with new programs, services and equipment. The number of practice minutes adds up, the number of students practicing adds up, the number of sponsors adds up and before long, we have made a lifesaving difference in a littleone's life.  

What do you think?  Would you be willing to practice for this little one?  Do you think you could get at least one person to pledge .01 cent a minute for you?  In addition to the sponsored minutes, the Practice Challenge will also be donating a portion of the proceeds to the Palmetto Health Children's Hospital.

My friends in the music business like what you are doing for these kids so much that they are putting up $2,500 in prizes for the students that practice the most.  They know that you guys are going to be making a big difference for the Palmetto Health Children's Hospital and they want to support that.  

Are you interested in picking up a full size keyboard with weighted keys? How about a Les Paul electric or Takamine acoustic guitar?  Do you play violin?  Would you like to play on a $500 bow?  You can spend the money on any kind of instrument you want.  And yes, violas, drums, and saxophones will also be considered musical instruments.

The top 5 students (based on practice time) will each get a $500 gift certificate.  Yes, you read that right.  You could slack off and come in 5th place and STILL get a $500 gift certificate!  That's a lot of money, this could be your chance to get that new instrument you've been bugging your parents about.  These gift certificates are good for any music instrument related purchase from the following companies:

Wait, it gets better.  My professional friends like what you are going to be doing this year so much that they wanted to be a part of it as well.  If you place in the top five students you get the opportunity to perform with one of the following groups:

These are REAL gigs with REAL professional players.  You can have the chance to share the stage with some of the best players in the area.

There is one more performance related opportunity I need to tell you about, Archer Avenue Studio is putting up TWO $500 recording packages.  If you are one of the top 5 practicing students and you are jonesin' to cut your first EP.  This is your big break.  There are only two of these recording deals available so practice extra hard if you think you are going to want one of them.

We are having a super special event for the students who raise the most in sponsorship money.  There will be local music big shots there, master teachers, recording artists, soloists, entrepreneurs, etc.  You know, the kind of cool people that you only get to meet at uber exclusive parties.

Remember this event is only for the cool people and the 10 students who raise the most in sponsorship for the Palmetto Health Children's Hospital.  

You WANT to be at this party!

The Practice Challenge is giving out TWO $250 cash prizes to music teachers this year.  One $250 prize goes to the teacher / studio / class with the most students registered in the Practice Challenge.  The other $250 prize goes to the teacher / studio / class who has the highest average practice time for their students.

This is cash money (not a gift certificate) that goes straight into the music budget for that teacher and they can spend it on anything.  Here are some examples of what would be considered a teacher group:  Crossroads Middle School Strings, Matthew Smith Guitar Studio, Freeway Music Academy, Pelion Middle School Band, etc.

Just like last year all of your practice time will be recorded and uploaded to the website as proof of your practicing.  All of the files are analyzed for authenticity and the results are displayed in a bar graph just like the one above.  You can see exactly where you stand and exactly what you have to do to win.  

When you register for the competition, you will be given a digital voice recorder to document all of your time.  And ..... YOU GET TO KEEP THE RECORDER!  I've seen these things selling for $28 on Amazon.com so this is pretty cool value to you just for signing up.

There are several improvements this year: 5, no wait ... 10, no ... OMG there are actually 12 prizes this year instead of the measly three that we had last year.  Plus, you only have to practice hard for three weeks instead of the grueling five weeks like last year.  It will all happen on ONE website. You don't have to use separate sites for uploading your files and checking the results like last year.  This means you will have a MUCH smoother upload process.  We also have better scripts to help you organize your files.  Finally, the "cheater checker" script that was written by the Intel programmers has been tweaked a bit by some DOT programmers and it is waaaaaaay better than it was last year. 

To use the website to raise funds for the Palmetto Children's Hospital, and to be eligible for the prizes, you must have completed your registration and paid the registration fee by 3/17.

There is one more detail that you need to know about.  This is a community event.  We are going to be practicing in support of the Palmetto Health Children's Hospital.  Because of that, the music retailers and professionals are going to be supporting us by providing killer prizes.  So ..... in order to be eligible to win one of the $500 gift certificates, you have to get at least ONE person to sponsor your practice minutes.  Their sponsorship level can be for ANY amount.  1/10th of a cent per minute all the way up to .10 cents per minute. 

We at the Practice Challenge feel that this is a reasonable request.  You are getting access to a $500 gift certificate, a professional performance opportunity, and possibly even an additional $500 recording package. With music sponsors putting so much in the game, and with the Practice Challenge donating a portion of the proceeds to the Palmetto Health Childrens Hospital, we feel that asking you to get at least single sponsor for your minutes is pretty reasonable.  They don't even have to be a big sponsor.  Really, .01 cent a minute is totally fine.
 
Since you have a full month to sign up and pay, we won't be taking late registrations.  Also, there are a few details that you need to know about before signing up.  Watch the video below to learn more.

We have room for 5 half scholarships and 5 full scholarships.  If you would like to apply for one, visit the contact page for the scholarship application link.  The applications will be reviewed by the Practice Challenge gift certificate and performance opportunity sponsors.  

Should you be awarded a scholarship you will have to do TWO things:

For those of you gung-ho students out there who play more than one instrument, you can count time on all of those instruments this year.  Last year (2011) you had to pick one instrument and stick with it for the whole 5 weeks.  This year you can switch instruments as often as you would like.  

You could practice guitar for an hour, then switch to piano for an hour, then pick up the violin for an hour.  You could do that every day and count all of the time.  Or, you could focus on the guitar for one week and the piano for the next two weeks if you would like.  (if it was me I would probably stick to one instrument, but you do have the option of 2-3)

They are so amazing that you don't even have to sign up for the Practice Challenge to take advantage of this deal.  Just because you took the time to even look into the Practice Challenge, they want to give you this coupon.  

You can use it any time between 3/1 and 5/31.  They are willing to give you $15 off on any order of $49 or more at their website.  All you have to do to claim it is enter the code (no spaces):  PRACTICECHALLENGE