Practicing music is vital to becoming an expert or a least enjoying what music has to offer, however, you may not hove 4 or 5 hours a day to practice music. In order to get the most out of your practice sessions you need to think efficiency. By doing this you will eliminate wasted time.
I've listed 3 ways you can improve your practice sessions. Some of these ideas you may already be implementing but it's a good idea to make sure you are using the tools correctly.
Set Goals
This seems obvious but many music students miss this one. Even the ones who do have a goal in mind many forget to set daily and weekly goals that will help achieve the long term goal. So, before you sit at the piano or open your violin case you need to have a goal in mind for what you want to accomplish in the practice session.
Key point: Setting a goal for each session will keep you focused, but also it will help you judge when you can finish practicing for the day.
Use Proper Methods
I once had a math teacher who would pick a pretend booger out of his nose go around his head with the booger and then put it in his mouth each time we answered a question that wasn’t using an efficient method to answer a question. As weird as this may seem he was right. There is no value in going around your head when your mouth is right there.
Key point: Make sure you are practicing in a way that will help you accomplish your goal. For example, if only one section of a song is causing trouble only work on that section. You can waste a lot of time working on the entire piece when you don’t need to.
Take a Brake
This is biggest mistake that most musicians make. I even see professionals do this. Not only is is slowing down your progress but it is also detrimental to your health. I recommend that you practice for no longer than one and a half hours at a time. Many studies have shown that this is the maximum amount to time the average adult is able to stay focused. Children should practice with shorter intervals.
Key point: Take a walk once in a while and be sure to keep a good rest schedule.
Alright, now pick one of these tasks and work them into your routine. It’ll be a waste of time to implement all of the tips all at once. You need to ingrain them into your habits one at a time for maximum effectiveness.
Jordan Stevens has been instrumental in inspiring people of all ages to learn music and perform at their best. He is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and Mohawk College where he studied piano and composition. Experience, knowledge and a crazy amount of patience is what sets him apart from his peers. To learn more about music lessons and to get a free video music lesson visit http://cjsmusic.ca.
