Category Archives: Caring for yourself

Tiny Snowmen

Posted on by
8

Tiny Snowmen

We’re having our first measurable snow today. After a 2-year hiatus, we are having a visible bit of winter. Like so many other things, snow happens whether you love, like, hate, or ignore it.

But one of my favorite things that has come out of our (barely) measurable snow days is the local Small Snowman contest, run by a local meteorologist (not shilling, just sharing).

It makes me giggle (which I won’t be doing later when I’m tired from shoveling the snow that is still to come!).

What do Small Snowmen have to do with anything? Well, they remind me of other things that I love about this including the attitudes of 1. Make a fuss over small but fun things, and 2. Work with what you have, and 3. Find the beauty and celebrate the small.

Make a fuss over small but fun things – It’s so easy to slide into cynical and to stop valuing the fun things that bring you a mote of joy each day. We focus on what went wrong with our practice rather than rejoicing over the small wins. Whether it’s finally remembering the phrase or nailing the fingering, these are the little successes that move our playing along.

Work with what you have – these tiny victories occur no matter what your level of play. They are really obvious when you start. Each practice you have “aha” moments, more control over your fingers, and a better idea of what’s going on! As you mature as a musician you might feel like these events get fewer and farther between (which likely they are) so instead enjoy your ongoing growth and appreciate that your changes are far more subtle but just as important. You might have to look harder, but enjoy that you now have to look hard for the incremental improvements.

Find the Beauty and Celebrate the Small – sometimes we wedge playing our harps between homework and dishes and dusting and making dinner. That means that we might not necessarily be thinking only about what we’re practicing – but “thinking ahead” to what we have to do next. Don’t. Focus on your practice so that you can find the things that are beautiful. Some of the best compositions or improvisations come from recognizing a “mistake” that is a gorgeous addition (and then building on it)!  Be present so you find those and then celebrate. And never minimize those steps you make. Cheer for you!

As you do these things (and put away cynicism) you will get better at identifying and enjoying your successes, no matter how small. And that will give you something else to celebrate!

More later.  I’ve got to go make a Small Snowman – quick before we get more snow!  How are you celebrating your small achievements? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

 

Silly Warmups and Stretches

Posted on by
7

Silly Warmups and Stretches

When it’s time to sit down and practice, do you plop down on the bench and start flailing away at something you’ve been working on?  Or do you ease gently into the hard work of playing your instrument?  Do you start by banging away or with silly warmups and stretches?

I hope you do start with warmups and stretches, but if you don’t, I hope to change your mind (and your approach).  And if you have typically started right in with the hard work, I hope you’ll consider these suggestions.

There are plenty of good reasons to begin each practice by performing warmups and stretches.  Leon Fleischer, the concert pianist who overcame a potentially career ending overuse injury was quoted as saying,

“Musicians are athletes

of the small muscles.”

And he was completely correct! While traditional athletes are best known for their use of their largest muscles in the body to play football, basketball, baseball, curling, hurling, fencing or other sport, we musicians leverage our numerous smaller muscles in the hands and arms.  Don’t be fooled – we also use our large muscles, but differently than sport players do.  Just as there are pregame warmups for sports, we need to get ourselves warmed up and ready to go before we work hard to.

First let’s also distinguish between physical warmups and technical warmups.  Today we’re talking about physical warmups.  Physical warmups are gentle movements to increase blood flow to the muscles and stretches to limber up.  They help your body prepare to work and also help you avoid injury and overuse.  Technical warmups are active playing to strengthen a particular technical skill (e.g., scales, arpeggios, exercises).*

There are loads of warmups and stretches you can do but I wanted to share a few of my favorites for hands and wrists here.  I call these silly because when I use them with kids, they giggle.  Adults aren’t as inclined to giggle – but they should!  I also made a brief video (5 min) for you.  Remember that, like all athletes, we start small and work our way into greater gains.  Don’t overdo your warmups.  Do each of these only as long as you need to feel the muscles warming and getting more pliable before (or after) you play.  Take care of you!

The first is the simplest – wiggle your fingers.  Yup, just wiggle your fingers.  Start small but as you go on, make sure your wiggles are getting bigger and that each finger (including thumbs) is getting in on the action.  After you begin to feel warmer, straighten your arms out to the side and continue to wiggle your fingers.

Next throw and catch water – this will make more sense when you watch the video, but the point is to contract your hands quickly (gather into fists) and extend just as quickly (like you’re flicking water at someone).  Then go about catching the water being flung at you.

Now, make baby waves!  This is the motion of closing that I learned when I started to play the harp.  If you didn’t learn this, it’s a great way to help new people understand the movement we strive to make while playing.

Let’s move onto wrists – close your hands and make circles with your wrists.  After a bit, try extending your arms to your sides to deepen the stretch.

Now clasp your hands together and make figure 8s. Go slowly enough that you can make it through your entire range of motion.  If you’re hands and wrists are tight this will be difficult but will get easier with practice.

Finally, we’re going to be superheroes!  Watch the video to learn how to do these.  These may be difficult at first but they will definitely help you loosen up with practice.   And they’re fun and may make you giggle!

As I said, there are loads of silly warmups and stretches.  These are just the tip of the iceberg.  Consider adding them to your daily practice routine as a way to get started.  Start small and grow as you gain flexibility and strength.  And always take care of you – discomfort as you learn and grow are teaching you about your body but pain is a message to stop.

Which of these do you like?  Which ones were hard?  If you did them every day, which seemed to maybe start to feel like they were getting easier?  Do you have any stretches or warmups to share?  Let me know in the comments!

 

 

*  If you’d like to talk about technical warmups another time – let me know!

What’re you doing?

Posted on by
5

What’re you doing?

Do you ever feel like your practicing has fallen into the trap under the sink. It can be really easy to get caught in the comfortable swish of the U joint.  Just be and don’t move.  Don’t practice, or barely practice, or practice but don’t actually change or learn anything.  Loll here in the dark and wait.

Maybe you don’t fall into that trap, but I sure can – especially in “between times” like now – too early for the holidays but after the buzz of the summer.  It could be so easy to stay in the trap because there is so much stuff that needs to be practiced that it can be daunting.  Stuff to be dwelled upon.  To think through.  To work out.  To review.  So much stuff! 

Or maybe we’ll just stay here in the dark (so little motivation). 

Fortunately, playing is more like a diamond ring.  When it’s caught in the trap, it isn’t as enjoyable!  It is totally worth the work of disassembling the drain to rescue it so it can glitter and sparkle. 

No, staying here in the dark isn’t ideal, but sometimes we just need a push to get moving out of the trap. How do we get moving? Well you could start by asking – what’re you doing?  If there’s no succinct answer to that question, the right answer is focus!  On what? Well, how about:

Start small.  Settle on one thing to work on.  Maybe it’s sight reading? Or counting? Or refreshing stuff you were playing but set aside?  The point is to focus on one thing rather than trying to work on everything all at once.

Count the things.  Figure out what needs to be done.  Maybe this should be the first thing – how can you focus on just one thing if you haven’t figured out what the pool of all things is, prioritized them, and then selected one?

Set an end.  After all, you’re breaking out of a trap so while you’re going to focus, it’s not an unending focus!  Figure out how long you want to work on the thing you selected to be first.  Will it be a timeline of a week or a month? Or will it instead be an accomplishment like playing at tempo or steadily or accurately? When you define the end, you will know when you are going on to the next thing.

Keep track.  You knew I’d get around to this.  You won’t know you’ve gotten to the end if you’re not tracking your progress.  This doesn’t have to be elaborate, just note what you did and how you did it.

Compare.  This one can be tricky.  Because you’re not going to compare your progress to anyone else, only to YOURSELF.  You will never know how someone else got to what you’re looking at, but you can know where you were yesterday (or the day before or the last time) and compare yourself to the you before, not someone else ever.

Be consistent.  Pick your timing.  Help yourself by not only doing the thing as you decided (every day, every other day, whatever you determined) but also by sticking to the same time of day every day.  Or tie your time to another event (for example, always practice right after you walk your iguana (or some other event of your day)).

Be nice. You’re not striving for perfection.  In fact, if you do it perfectly, you won’t learn anything.  By the same token, by remembering that mistakes help you learn, you can be your own biggest cheerleader!  (bonus tip – I find that sometimes I need to let the mistakes I make simmer before I can really figure out what I’m learning there, so I write them down so I don’t forget what happened)

Focus!  Don’t “task share”, don’t pick up your phone (unless you’re adjusting your metronome app!), don’t pet your fish, don’t drink your tea.  Just focus on what you’re doing while you practice.  You can do all those other things when you’re done.

What’re you doing?  Do you ever get caught in that sink trap?  If so, how do you get yourself out?  If not, how do you maintain your equilibrium?  Let us know in the comments!

 

 

 

Summer Doldrums…. I’m Bored!

Posted on by
3

Summer Doldrums…. I’m bored!

It’s the middle of the summer.  Where I live the summer took forever to start.  But once it did start, it came with a vengeance.  So, we were suckered into thinking we would have the kind of summer that was pleasant and easy.  But it’s not.  And that leads to hanging around inside, in the air conditioning, avoiding the 3H weather (hazy, hot, and humid) that comes with living in a reformed swamp. 

When this happens, it’s easy to start to feel stifled and bored. So what should we musicians, artists that we are, be doing about being bored? 

Here are a few ideas.

  • Acknowledge that the weather (and our desire for creature comfort) are stifling and making us a tad cranky.
  • Identify some tasks or activities you’d like to do.
  • Note that these tasks and activities will pull us away from the harp.
  • Be ok with that.  After all, the doldrums don’t actually last that long and shortly you’ll be back to it, preparing for the autumn.

What would those tasks look like?

     1. Do some “meaningful tasks”.  This is a good time to make a list of the holiday music you’d like to start when the autumn comes.  You can make sure you have good sources so that when you’re ready, you’ll be ready.

    2. Do some harp maintenance.  Does your harp need regulation? You could do that now (or cause it to be done).  Sort through your strings and make sure you have a full set of spares.  Update your string chart.  Clear out the pocket of your case. You know, house keeping-y stuff that needs done but is easy to put off.

     3. Play some music games.  Whether it’s Rhythm Bingo or Crazy 8ths, have a little silly fun that is still edifying.  Don’t have those on hand?  Look online for fun music activity games.  Try Eurythmics in your pajamas. Laugh a little.

     4.  Go do a good deed. Go to a local care home and put on a performance.  Everyone descends on them at the holidays, but are less likely to go during summer, so they might enjoy some entertainment in the boring part of their own summer doldrums.

     5. Do a different art. Make a craft, paint, draw, make a video, write poetry.  It doesn’t matter.  What does matter is that a little creativity will go a long way to supporting your harp playing!

There are so many things you can do to weather the summer weather!  Give yourself permission to do something different.  Give yourself a break and come back to your harp refreshed and ready to go!  What will you be doing during the doldrums?  Let me know in the comments!

 

Sit Up and Take Notice 2

Posted on by
6

Sit up 2

Last week we talked about how the rest of your life (you know – work, home life, hobbies, etc.) can impact your harp playing, possibly leaving you injured or in pain and unable to play.  And that this can happen even if your harp technique is really good.  We talked about being ready to play by maintaining strength, flexibility, and good posture.  This week let’s move from talking to what you can do about it.

We know that at the harp, we need to close, have good space for movement, that the arm must move to support the wrist, and that we will improve with practice (which will include some repetition, no matter how you dress it up).  But do we apply this same thinking and discipline to our other tasks in life?  The sad answer is that most do not.  So, what can you do to overcome all this? 

Here are some suggestions that are all over the place.  You can treat this list as a pick and mix or you could acknowledge that this is a wide problem and needs a wide solution. Here goes:

  • Pay attention. It is challenging to pay attention to your posture when you’re in the middle of solving a problem, typing a masterpiece, or reading a good book.  It is important though, to take a short break to check on yourself – and make corrections if you have lapsed.  If you need help, set a reminder to poke you into paying attention.
  • Don’t sit like a shrimp! Don’t slouch at the harp, at the dinner table, at the desk.  Just don’t. If you already do, sit up. Notice your posture.  Also notice the fatigue you might feel after you do sit up.  This is a sure sign that you need to strengthen your back muscles to help you sit upright.  Practicing sitting up will make it easier (seem familiar?).
  • Don’t be the hipster. Sit in any Pete-bucks (really any coffee shop with free wifi) and see how many people you can find that are not sitting curled up, head forward, neck in a weird curve, staring at a screen.  As I look around, I see – zero people sitting with healthy posture*.  See those bowed curved shoulders?  That’s those strong chest muscles overpowering the back muscles.  Remember too that your head weighs about 15 pounds (even for airheads) and your neck is a very weak set of joints, so keeping your head centered over your body is a good idea.  Keep your ears over your shoulders.
  • Leave room for expansion – sitting up will straighten your spine which will also give your ribs room to expand….and then you can breathe! Novel concept.
  • Practice like a pro. Do you think (your favorite athlete or performer) just runs out on the field or stage to play?  NO – they warm up and stretch.  You might not see them do it, but they do. So should you.  It doesn’t have to be an elaborate routine – wiggle your fingers, stretch your hands, arms, and shoulders.  Warm up your legs, hips, and back.  You’re going to be doing a lot of work, might as well prepare for it.
  • Get up. When you’re practicing, don’t plant yourself for the duration. Plan to get up.  I break my practice into segments (warm up, technical, learning, working, polishing, improv or composing, and then fun) and set a timer for each.  Sometimes I ignore the timer – if I’m working and good things are happening, I’ll ignore it (actually I’ll reset it because my plan is to do the work but not to overdo the work).  I use different times for different things – I might work for 45 minutes but only warm up for 5.  It also depends on the day and what I’m hoping to accomplish – but it’s all informed by my self-knowledge and experience.  
  • Get up too. Getting up isn’t just about keeping your mind sharp and giving yourself a break.  It’s also an opportunity to practice some back care.  Your back is a long chain of bones and connects with your ribs, hips, shoulders, arms, and legs.  All that sitting can lead to stiffness or pain that feels like your back but could be more.  Get up, stretch, move, strengthen your body so you can not only sit (comfortably, correctly) but also so you can get up!

We don’t often think of playing the harp as a rigorous activity but you do need to have a basic level of strength so you can be successful and resilient.  You might be wondering 1. do you do these (bad) things? or 2. how do you know if you’ve stopped doing them?  I have an answer for that too – record yourself.  I know, there are still people who don’t want to see themselves on video (even after years of covid).  Get over it – there’s too much to be learned to get stuck in a hangup.  Besides – you use a tuner, don’t you? And you use a tuning wrench, right?  Well, your phone recording is just another tool, so stop arguing.  Set it up on your music stand, push record and do the thing.  Do it for a while to capture your real self and see what you need to work on…and what you don’t.  I am always delighted to see that my thumbs are up, for instance.  Most importantly, when you’re done learning from the video – delete it!

These are all good ideas, but it is very important that you remember that if you have an injury – acute or chronic, any type really – seek medical help.  Not Dr. Google.  Don’t shake it off.  Go see a real physician, chiropractor, or physical therapist. 

Do you have other challenges or solutions? Let me know in the comments!

 

* Now you know my little secret writing spot.

Sit up and take notice

Posted on by
8

Sit up and take notice

It’s May, which is a lovely time of year.  It is daylight longer, the temperatures are fairly palatable, and we are ready to emerge from the winter (and to escape spring cleaning).  It’s also a time that many think about our general health and fitness – and how fortunate we are to have (generally) good health while being fit enough to do the things we love (like play the harp).

And yet, as I write this, I have three students in treatment for various hand and arm overuse injuries and more that are preparing to seek help for sore forearms, tired fingers, tightness in the palm, neck pain, and more.

Yikes!

This bothers me because 1. I don’t like to see anyone in pain (except maybe that mean girl from 8th grade), 2. It interrupts their practice and our lessons, and 3. As a Human Systems Integration expert and a Certified Music Ergonomist it is painful for me to watch these things develop.  I will say that, although these students are feeling the effects in their playing, they have done me proud by working on their technique so that we can be assured that it is not the harp that is the problem.  However, the same cannot be said for the rest of their lives and there are still problems that have to be addressed.

A long time ago I heard/read someone say that it didn’t matter if you spent 30 minutes every day in the gym strengthening your abs if the other 23 and half hours of every day you let them slag off! (can’t remember where I got this, but it stuck with me)

This is so true for our harp playing body (and for all your other muscles (and fascia and tendons)).  You can have brilliant technique and practice habits at the harp, but if the rest of your day is not similarly managed, you can develop issues that will spill over into your harp life.  We don’t focus on our bodies while we sit at our computers, tablets, phones, paperwork, stovetops, or in front of the television.   Working from home, our current world, and busy minds have all contributed too. 

Contributed to what? Primarily poor posture and long periods of stasis – sitting still.  Age also works against you as you calcify ingrown habits as well as losing both flexibility and strength.  There may be some truth to those people who say their day job is killing them!  Let’s not let us be one of them!

If you’re a kid (define that as you wish), you might think that’s a problem for other people.  That it won’t happen to you. That you’re different.  Go on telling yourself that. <deep sarcasm>  Whatever – of the eight billion people on the planet, a very large proportion of those grow to older adulthood and along the way they lose strength and muscle mass, experience reduced flexibility, and develop age related injuries.  It would be good if we maintained good posture, strength, and flexibility to avoid injury and loss.

This week, think about this and the relationship of (the other parts of) your life to your ability to play.  Next week, I’ll give you some things to work on to assure that pain, injury, or loss of mobility don’t derail your harping!  Are you experiencing any of these things?  Let me know in the comments!

Practice Hacks

Posted on by
7

Practice Hacks

Everyone is passing along hacks for everything that happens in life.  Whether it’s a no-brainer like putting a paperclip under the tape so you can find the end the next time or a head scratcher like using Doritos as kindling when you need to start a fire (think that one all the way through), hacks are advertised as little things that make life easier (and the implication is that you should have thought of it already).  By extension, they make you smarter (for doing the weird easy thing).

There are even people talking about Practice Hacks.  But here’s the thing –

There are no practice hacks!

Yup, I said it.  There are no practice hacks.

Wait, before you become forlorn because I’m not going to give you cheap and easy ways to improve your practice, and before you start looking for ways to prove I’m wrong…

While there are no practice hacks, there are a number of ways to make your practice better!  These are all easy and cheap (or free).  And nothing I’m about to reveal should be a surprise! 

What are these mysterious methods that aren’t hacks?  How do you make your practice better? Here are a few things you can do/try/add to your daily practice:

  • Think – Structure your practice time so you spend a little bit of time thinking about what you want to do, what you need to do, and what you left to do from the last time before you actually start to work.
  • Plan – Based on your thinking, plan what you are going to do while you practice. Don’t leave it to chance.
  • Write – A practice journal in some form allows you keep track of what you have done, how it went, what you should do next, questions to ask at your lesson, and any other thoughts you have during your practice. This really is just for you so feel free to write anything you like here.
  • Listen – When I first started playing, I was working so hard to play the notes that I didn’t actually hear them! I had to learn to listen while I play – and you can learn that too. Sometimes when I practice, I focus on making the sounds and sometimes I set aside time to focus on listening so I can hear what I’m doing.  If you find you run out of brain space before you get to listening, then use your phone to record and listen to it separately – you’ll be amazed by what you learn!
  • Be present – Practice is often painted as drudgery.  But really, your practice time is time you’re spending on you with you. And you deserve it.  So be there for you. Put your phone away, turn off the tv, close the door, and be present for yourself.
  • Be prepared – If at all possible, have your instrument ready – out of the case and in front of the bench. It is always amazing to me how off-putting the harp can be if it’s enrobed in its case!  Also, have your journal, some pencils, pens, and post-its at the ready.  Make your tea ahead of time.  Preparedness is not just for Boy Scouts and the Coast Guard!
  • Be (time) Wise – Don’t think you must have 2 hours every day to make progress. Even if you only have 10 minutes here or there – those 10 minutes can add up.  And on “those” days if all you get is 10 minutes – use it!  Don’t talk yourself out of practicing because you don’t have a long stretch of time available.  By the same token, don’t write off an entire week because you missed a day or two.  Although we think about time in days, weeks, and months, these are artificial constructs.  In this case those constructs are not helpful.  The reality is that time is continuous – so you can continue too!
  • Chill – It is easy to get caught up in comparisons. Everyone you know has already learned that tune.  Or everyone is playing it way faster than you can. Or you have a simple arrangement, but everyone else’s is complicated.  Chill – it’s not a race! You do your thing, enjoy the successes of others, and play!
  •  Actually Practice – Practicing can encompass a lot of things, but the one thing it must include is that it is a time to knuckle under and do work. Focus and pay attention and do the things you need to do.  As mentioned above – it is time you are investing in you, so make it worth your while!

Like I said, there are no hacks.  There are no short cuts.  There are no ways to avoid the work.  But there are ways to use your practice time well and make progress – but you probably already knew that!  What are your “practice hacks”?  I’d love to hear – let me know in the comments!

Put it away

Posted on by
5

Put it away

Do you have those tunes that seem to be made of rubber?  The kind that, no matter how hard you work on them, bounce right out of your head.  Boing – right out of your hands!  In fact, these tunes seem to have some sort of negative charge – the harder you work on trying to learn them, the farther from being learned they get.  Or maybe it’s just me that has worked and worked and worked and when I can’t stand it anymore, I <still> can’t remember or play it.  Grrr.  Worse – it’s almost always a tune you really want to play. Double grrr.

Like everything else, when you have this challenge, it’s good to have a strategy to overcome it.  But the “obvious” approach might not be the one you want to use.  Because when, as you sit on your bench, you feel like you should be able to play something, but you can’t – despite a great deal of brain work.  That’s when you might think you should double down and keep working.  Don’t!

It’s the perfect time to put it away.  Yup. Set it aside.  Put it out of your mind.  Don’t give it a thought. And definitely don’t work on playing it.  I don’t mean just a day or two – let it sit for a while.  Let it marinate.

How long is a while? Well, that depends on you.  I know for me it’s more than a couple of weeks.  If I can, I let it wait until it pops up in my head (uninvited – no fair “prompting” it!) and makes me crazy trying to identify it!  But when I sit to play it, I’m often pleasantly surprised!  Most surprising is that the tune that was just not going into my head is quickly worked up – like there never was a problem to begin with. 

So, the next time something’s giving you trouble, put it away and come back to it later.  Have you tried this?  Let me know in the comments!

Makin’ a List

Posted on by
8

Makin’ a List

Since the end of the year is coming, many people are spending a moment taking stock (which is a great idea, BTW!).  My own led to a list of random thoughts that I, of course, felt compelled to share with you!

1. If you need gift ideas (or hints?) I stand by this list for ideas. I should have added index cards to keep a running collection of tunes you have learned (I talk about that here).

2. Regardless of whether you play for your own edification, the cat and the curtains, your church, paid audiences, or you’re opening for the Rolling Stones, never lose sight of the reality that you not only have a gift, but you sharing that gift with others simply magnifies it. Playing music is never a waste of time or resources.

3. Take care of you. Beyond basic self-care, never play through pain or in pain.  Use good techniques, use the tools your teachers have shared with you – placing, fingering, posture, etc.  But no matter how long you practice each day, there are still the habits of the other hours of your day that can gang up on you – darn day job!  If you are developing discomfort or if you have allowed that discomfort to grown into pain, of if something else is impinging on your playing (I’m looking at you desk job keyboard un- functional posture) seek help from a Certified Music Ergonomist – like me*!

4. Take time to enjoy. Even as the hustle and bustle, the premanufactured stress of the season, the actual stress of life, and the chores pile up – you play the harp!  Play the tunes you like (or those that come easily to you).  Really listen, feel, and resonate with your instrument and draw some peace to you, in you, and around you.  If it’s midnight and you’re keyed up, sit for just a moment and put a little disturbance into the air.  Let the ick of stress, etc., ride those sound waves right out of you!

5. Is it possible to say thank you enough? I doubt it.  So, sincerely, thank you for sharing your year with me.  I really enjoy your thoughts, observations, and comments, and I remain delighted and grateful for you and your willingness to share!

Told you, just a jumble of thoughts.  What’s on your list?  Let me know in the comments!

 

 

* Shameless plug.  But seriously, if not me, let me point you in the right direction~

Bzzzztzzzztzzzzzzzzz

Posted on by
6

Practice Improvement

Do you ever feel like your practice needs fixing?  Like you should be doing something more but you’re not sure what?  After all, you do all the things (as the meme says).  And it’s our busy season coming, with friends, family, church, civic organizations, even strangers on the street, all asking for music for events or just to create a holiday vibe.  It is a gift to share your gift.  So the question is, is your practice ready or is your practice static?

Practice Improvement

Unfortunately, we can’t just wrap bows around our hands (or our brains!) and be ready to present our gift. So we practice.  And practice. And practice some more.  We listen to the gurus (I’m going to be presumptuous and add myself to that list!) and try to follow their advice.  We do the technical work, and we write down everything, we make recordings, we do repetitions, we make exercises from fumbles, we repeat and repeat and repeat.  Just like the “people who know things” tell us to.

But sometimes even all that might leave you feeling like you still don’t quite have it. Like all that practicing you should be doing isn’t getting you where you want to be.  Ever feel like that? Oh, it’s just me? Ok, well…yeah, I didn’t think so.

There’s just one problem with what I’ve described, and with “doing as your told” in general.  And that is that you can’t be static – not moving, not changing.

You have probably cobbled together (from all that guru advice) that you should do your technical work, then do your learning, then do your polishing, then play for fun and call it a day, invariantly, in that order.  But that may be where your unease is coming from!

You can’t always practice the same way all the time.  Mostly because you don’t always need the same thing from your practice each day.  There are so many factors that go into what you need to practice each day –

  • what you’re working on
  • what you’re working toward
  • what you’re doing the rest of the day
  • how tired you are
  • and more – all those things that impact everything in your day

So how should you practice? Well, start by knowing that, just like your learning, your practicing cannot be static. It has to change to fit what you need. 

But how do you know what you need? Well, as a beginner you might have to depend on your teacher to tell you – after all, you’re a beginner so you probably don’t know where to start and a teacher will certainly help with that.  But as you become more accomplished, you will be able to notice what works for you (and what doesn’t).  Before we go on, noticing what works is not the same as convincing yourself that practicing all the easy stuff is good and working on something you don’t want to do/don’t feel comfortable doing/is challenging can be skipped…these are usually the things you most need to work on (don’t ask me how I know this).

Practicing is the time to find what works for you – and what doesn’t.  It’s the opportunity to try different approaches to your music – play faster, play slower, try shoving your way through, break everything down, listen to a recording, read the music, listen to a recording while reading the music, work backward, work phrase by phrase, walk away and come back with a clearer head, sit until you get it, repeat 3 times, 10 times, 100 times, sing it, play it on another instrument (all things some guru has probably suggested to you before).

What do all of these approaches have in common?  They require that you pay attention.  No formulaic, mindless practicing!  Be critical (but not self-critical!).  Note what seems to help you move forward for each of a variety of situations.  Be open to changing as needed – and as the situation requires.  Follow your progress like it’s your favorite facetictweegram influencer!  Remember to start with your goals in mind so your can modify your process to get there  Focus on your progress and don’t be static!

What have you noticed impacts your practice success?  How do you modify your practice? How do you keep track of what you’ve done that worked and what didn’t?  Let me know in the comments!