thoughtful thoughts on how to practice

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one word that strikes fear into the hearts of winter-break enjoying students..

SCHOOL

its that time again, school is back in session, practice rooms are full, campuses are flooded, and parking spots are nowhere to be seen. i am already feeling the weight of the semester, however its a welcoming weight. don’t get me wrong, i love my times to watch netflix from 8 AM to 11 PM, but i’m the kind of person that HATES wasting time. wasting time is like being given a sandwich and deciding that the sandwich is best served in a couple days. but we are going to eat that sandwich IMMEDIATELY this semester with some great practice!

HOWEVER

as my college journey comes to an end, I’ve been able to examine practice habits from all levels of musicians. freshman. doctoral students. master students. professors. and all of them seem to have different levels of how practice. things are common between different levels, for example doctoral students and professors, but i believe that there is only way to practice and that’s to practice thoughtfully. how do we practice thoughtfully? let’s first define what thoughtful means. from merriam-webster defines thoughful as: “absorbed in thought” or “characterized by careful reasoned thinking” and if we take this information and apply it to practice, we can gather different conclusions. knowing this, lets ask that question again.

how do we practice thoughtfully?

  1. Game Plan. having a plan BEFORE we hit the practice room is necessary to the success of us as aspiring professional musicians. i bet you all the money i have (not a lot) before the Lakers play a game, the team comes up with a game plan before the game on what’s going to happen. they don’t walk into a court expecting everything to just go their way, they plan ahead of time and accordingly. we have to treat this mindset the same in the practice room. BEFORE you enter the practice room, keep a journal of what you need to do. write down what your game plan is going to be, for example: “i have 30 minutes before my next class, i’m going to spend 10 minutes warming up, and the next 20 fixing the problems i have at Letter P to Letter R.” having a mindset like this before you walk into the practice room will enhance how you practice and what your results look like from that practice session. i guarantee it.

  2. Eliminate Distractions. there are distractions EVERYWHERE. our phones. our iPads. our watches. video games. friends. distractions are EVERYWHERE. and to practice thoughtfully we have to eliminate those distractions. focused practice is good practice, and good practice is focused. that means leaving your phone outside the practice room, turning off the wi-fi on your iPad, and really submersing yourself into your repertoire. i guarantee you once, you start eliminating those distractions, you’ll see your practice improve and as a result your music will be much better!

  3. Practice Effectively. remember that game plan we talked about? there is no point in have a game plan if you’re not going to use it. that means staying on track with what you decide beforehand. staying true to what you say especially applies to the practice room. buy a timer, buy a non-smart watch. use that to keep time on your practice. do not practice things that aren’t going to help you in your repertoire. i as much as anybody love showing off how fast i can do triple-lateral strokes, but what’s the point in showing that off if i can’t apply it to any of my music? instead, find patterns in your music that you can apply to technique exercises or your warmup. you’ll find that the more you do that, the easier you’ll be able to learn music, and you’ll be able to throw another technique on your technique tool-belt. stay true to what you say, and use your practice time effectively! even if you only have 15 minutes.

  4. Have Fun! what’s the point in doing something if you’re not enjoying it? practice time should be fun! it should not be this weight that you have to put on everyday because you have to, but it should be something you’re excited to get to do! we don’t practice because we have to we practice because we want to. the more excited you are to practice, the more exciting your music is going to be to the audience. another aspect of practicing i think is very important is decompractice. we decompress everyday when we get home, maybe that’s taking a walk, or watching another episode of “the Office” on netflix, we should do the same in the practice room! set aside 20 minutes of a practice room and do something FUN! don’t worry about your repertoire, but get in that drum-set room, turn on your favorite “Vulfpeck” album and jam away!

practicing is 90% of what we do as musicians. performance is that sweet 10% that we enjoy so much. now get in that practice room and go win the practice game. someone is always beating you in the practice room, get in there and become that practice room winner.

hi everyone! i’m going to be posting on this blog once a week, and i would love to hear feedback from you on what you want to see more of! music reviews? practice tips? personal happenings? what do you want to see! leave a comment!

- hunter