With feet dragging and head bent low under the crushing expectations of having to do an hour of practice she trudged to the small cold room at the back of the house, got out her instrument and let out a sigh. Monotony and frustration loomed ahead for the next hour or else she’d bear the burden of feeling guilty for the rest of the day. Or being harassed by her parents.
This is how many of us feel about practice. It can be a word with horrible connotations that makes our insides bunch up and guilt descend like an evil genie. It’s a word I try to avoid using with my students. The ones who feel excited for practice see it as My Violin Time and these are the people who stick with playing through thick and thin and grow and develop for a lifetime!
You want you or your child to feel like this: like your music time is a chance to open up to a world that fires up your curiosity, expresses your inner music and positively challenges you.
IMAGINE IF YOUR MUSIC PRACTICE TIME COULD BE:
- A fun exploration of your instrument
– This means that making mistakes is part of practice. Making mistakes, figuring out why you made it and trying something different.
– This means that not only should you work on tech work and pieces that your teacher sets, but try branching out into improvisation, transcribing a favourite piece for your instrument, composition – creating your own music
- Like mini-yoga
- Short bursts of focused attention – setting challenges and meeting them, increasing the effectiveness of your practice.
- Imagine approaching your instrument and your pieces from a fresh angle every practice.
I’m trying to make this happen and spread the word that practice does not have to be dull and frustrating by with my blog which will turn into an ebook later this year.
Subscribe for some fresh inspiration for your playing.
Erin Lancaster 
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