We’ve all done it. We sit down at our instrument all fired up and ready to practise and then look at our instrument and music stand and completely blank out. We don’t know what to do. Maybe you’ve had the opposite happen, you feel overwhelmed by all of the different ideas and elements of your playing you want to improve on and don’t know where to start? Does this sound familiar?
Don’t worry friend, over the next few weeks we are going to look into 4 key things you can do to supercharge your practice time. Getting our practice right is the key to consistent growth in any discipline so the following 5 blogs should give you all the tools you need to start to transform what you do in the practice room.
We won’t be looking at what you practise, but more focussing on how you practise. The practice of practising is a bit of an art in itself and sometimes an under discussed topic amongst musicians. We always just presume we know how to practise. It's easy isn’t it? Just go and repeat something a bunch of times until you can play it, then move on.
Whilst this is one way of looking at it, there are other, more effective steps we can use to optimise and enjoy our practice time.
In this series of blogs, we are going to outline our 4 T’s that are effective and proven strategies to help you improve and grow as a musician. Using one, or more of these methods will supercharge your practise and accelerate your growth as a musician.
The 4 T’s are
Tempo
Timer
Track your Progress
Take a video
Each week, we will go through each of these methods and explain how to use them and improve your practice.
However, before we get into any of these ideas, the first and most important thing you need is a plan. Setting yourself a goal, or several, is a great place to start in your practice. Your goal will serve as your target or compass during each practice session. It will remind you of your ultimate destination and help to motivate you on challenging days (yes, there will be many of these). We would advise setting a goal over a period of 3 to 4 months and use the SMART method of setting this goal.
Specific - write the goal down and go into detail about what you want to achieve. Think about your feel, sound, technique, rhythm, tempo etc. The more specific, the more detail you are giving yourself to work on in the given time period.
Measurable - try and set some sort of externally measurable metric for progress, tempo is an easy one. You may also use something like physical relaxation or tone/sound. You will need these parameters to know if you have improved during the time period.
Achievable - choose a goal that is both challenging and achievable. This may seem a little cryptic at first, but the more you run the 3 to 4 month cycles the more you will get an understanding for what you can achieve. Try to avoid extremes. Don’t pick a goal that will require you to practise 8 hours a day 7 days a week. Most of us don’t have that amount of time. So think about your time available every day/week and set a goal to achieve accordingly.
Realistic - This links to achievable, if you’re new to an instrument maybe don’t pick a grade 8 piece as your goal for 3 months. Pick something that you can achieve with the right work and focus. A good teacher or mentor can help you in working out something specifically for where you are at.
Time sensitive - set an end date. “By this (date), I will be able to do X at Y tempo” is a great and simple sentence to use. You set an end date and put it in your diary. I might be booking an exam or performance, or simply setting a date and time with a friend or teacher to review and check your progress. The date makes it urgent and can create just enough tension to keep us working rather than putting off practising.
Once you have completed a 3 to 4 month cycle, review your progress, celebrate and set new goals. This is how we grow. It does take focus and intention to sit and plan your practice and goals etc, but the price is worth paying when you see, hear and feel the growth.
We hope this short article has been helpful and inspiring. Join us next week as we look into the first of our 4 T’s Tempo.
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