Practice, practice, practice!

I know, doesn’t it just fill you with dread? Well it used to for me, but now that I have learned how to practise properly and have seen what I can gain, I don’t mind practising at all!

The key is, short and concentrated. Especially as a beginner on piano, oboe, violin and voice as a child my parents nagged me but I still hated practice and never did enough, just the half hour panic practice the night before my next lesson, which is never very helpful.

I am certain that everyone has 5 minutes that they can spare during the day at some point, so why not just think over what your teacher has asked you to do this week, go over that tune in your head, think about the words to that song you were learning, work out the key signature of B minor. You don’t even need to get your instrument out if you really don’t have the time. But actively thinking about your music every day really helps.

If you just don’t practise (like I used to when I was younger) then set yourself the target of 15 mines 4 times a week. Get your instrument out and know what you want to achieve in that time, just look at one piece, or 4 scales, or one exercise. Do the work on it and after 15 mins, just stop and wait until tomorrow. I guarantee you will be so much more confident in your lesson and you teacher will see an improvement, and after a while, you will actually WANT to practice, because you see that it works!

Hope this helps those who are disenchanted with practising!