by Ben Clapton
Don’t feel like practicing, but know you should, 'eh? It can be tough sometimes, and we need to be aware of some things that we can do. Here’ are 10 things that I do when I don’t feel like practicing.
- Take a break. No really… just go away and not do anything for a while. You’ll soon feel that you want to practice, especially if you just sit there doing nothing. “OH well, there’s nothing else to do, let’s do some practice.”
- Listen to your favorite artist/piece. For me, I listen to the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. It’s a piece that really gets me wanting to play again.
- Read. Read a book about music, or read the score of the piece that you’re learning. These things can have dramatic effects on your musical understanding.
- Play. I don’t mean pick up and start practicing; I mean PLAY...have fun! Pick up a book of Irish Jigs and have a go at some of them, or put on your favorite pop CD and play along; see if you can improvise a better solo than what is in the song.
- Five minutes. Tell yourself that you’re going to do five minutes. After you’ve done five minutes, you can ask yourself, “Well, do I want to continue, or do I still not want to practice?” If you still don’t want to practice, do five minutes more, and if it’s still a no, then take a break and do something else.
- Reward yourself. Tell yourself that if you do an hour of practice, then you’ll get a treat--some time on the computer, or a piece of chocolate, or something.
- Set a deadline. By setting yourself a deadline, you’ll have something to aim for. You’ll need to practice in order to achieve the goal--whether that’s a public performance, or getting something right for your teacher.
- Find a practice buddy. Someone who’ll challenge you to practice or send you daily messages: “Just finished my hour’s practice. Feeling GREAT! How about you?” If you’re anything like me, having that partner there to urge you on will help a lot.
- Nike. Nike? What’s this sports company got to do with it? Remember their logo? Just Do It. I used this a while ago, put a great big piece of paper over my computer monitor that I would use to cover the monitor each night, so when I woke up, it would say, “Have you done your practice yet? Just ****** Do It” (Yes, I used an expletive; it challenged me more). Just do your practice. It’s not going to kill you.
- Visit the MusicPracticeTips Web site. Ok, so I’m kinda cheating here. But there are lots of good practice tips on here already, so there’s plenty of ideas to keep you going.
Ben Clapton is a violinist, still studying and searching for more effective ways to practice. His Website, Musicpracticetips.com posts tips and tricks for practice in a hopefully engaging manner. He'd love for you to pop over to his site and comment away.
