5 Tips For Better Practice

1. Be comfortable! Set up a practice corner with good light, good heat, a supportive chair, and a spot for your favorite beverage.
2. Try a new warm-up. Always start with scales? Try some new scale variations. Usually focus on left hand intonation? Spend some time on bow technique and tone. Do you always play Wohlfahrt or Kreutzer etudes? Play these etudes by Dancla or Fiorillo.
3. Set a specific short-term goal. Want to play faster? Get out your metronome and set the goal of going up one click every day.
4. Switch up your repertoire. Is there a piece you’ve always loved? Set a goal to just tackle the first four lines. Do you usually only play classical music? Lighten the mood by playing an Irish folk tune, a Bluegrass fiddle tune, or a pop song!
5. Incorporate a new gadget. This could be as simple as a new tuner, a better stand light, or a different shoulder rest or endpin holder. It could also be something like playing from your ipad and using a page-turning pedal.

The bottom line- practicing should be fun! After all, if you’re enjoying yourself, you’ll want to go into the practice room more often.

Obstacles to motivation

• Obstacle: Listening to your inner critic. Banish negative self-talk by replacing it with manageable goals.
  Solution: Change “I’m so bad at shifting” to “I’d like to feel more comfortable when I’m up high. I’ll try playing a shifting exercise for 5 minutes each day and see if that helps.” 
• Obstacle: Comparing yourself to others. There will always be someone out there who is better than you, or who learns something more easily. 
  Solution: Stay focused on your own journey! You have your own unique strengths that no one else has. The only helpful competition is the competition you have with yourself.
• Guilt. Statements like “I really should be practicing more” rarely result in more practice.
  Solution: Remind yourself of what you love about playing your instrument. Likewise, focus on the positive feelings you get when you play a favorite piece or book. Then, fill in the prompt “I’m excited to practice because…”

When we talk about how to stay motivated to practice, we can’t forget that having fun playing is essential! 

1. Play easy music. As long as you’re playing, you’re getting better! Similarly, go back and play some music that you studied in the past and see how much you’ve improved!
2. Enlist a buddy and play duets, or join a local community orchestra.
3. Make it a habit. Playing for 10 minutes every day is better than one hour, once a week. You’ll feel your fingers really get in shape, and nothing is more fun than being in shape!
4. Keep boredom at bay with more variety. Play some folk tunes, classic rock songs, or even Broadway hits. Furthermore, if you’ve gotten stuck on a piece and you can’t bring yourself to practice it anymore, give yourself permission to take a break from it. When you come back to it in a few months, you’ll play it in a new way.
5. And finally: Be kind to yourself! You are doing an amazing job and you are creating sound; that’s a truly wonderful addition to this world. You sound great!