When I was a kid, I did anything I could to avoid having to practice. I didn't really fully understand the point of it and thought it was a major bore. Unfortunately, I'd eventually learn the hard way why practicing was so important once I got to my lesson and struggled to remember what I had learned the week before! If only I had used some tips for practicing at home! Practicing is so important for the development of our musical skills and there is no reason why it can't be fun!
Here are some ways that I have found to get the most enjoyment and benefit out of practicing:
1. Try practicing for short increments of time. If you set a timer for 10-15 minutes and then do that throughout the day, maybe three times, by the end of the day you'll have practiced for 30-45 minutes! It will make practicing go by so much quicker and you'll be more likely to focus if it is for a shorter amount of time. You might even find that you want to keep practicing longer than that, and then that's just bonus!
2. Check your notes from your lesson (if you took them or had your teacher write them down; which is always a good idea!) to make sure that you know what to practice. Often, we think of practicing as just a bunch of repetitions, which ends up just making us go "through the motions" of practicing, rather than really trying to focus on correcting something. If we know exactly what we need to work on, we can dedicate more time to one specific area of our song, or piano piece and can work hard on improving that part. Once we've worked on that part and aced it, we will feel so much better and confident about it and our abilities as a musicians.
3. Ask a friend or a family member to listen to you practice. You can make it like your very own mini concert, in your living room! I'm sure that they would love to hear you play, and they might even have some good suggestions for you too!
4. Set a goal for yourself. Maybe it is an upcoming recital, a holiday where you will see family and friends, a party, or maybe even a random day that you set for yourself; a day that you want to have finished a song, a day that you want to have perfected a set of notes, or a day that you want to be able to perform well enough for an audience. Having a goal in mind can really help motivate you through practicing!
5. Don't forget to reward yourself! After practicing what you've been working on in your lessons, think about trying out a new song; maybe something from a movie or TV show that you love, or even a favourite pop song. Something different to get you into a different headspace. It could even be watching your favourite music video or making up your own song. I bet when you create your own music, you'll really want to practice that and then you can start the practice cycle all over again! ;)
Happy practicing!
- Jessica
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