Countless hours of scales, running arpeggios up and down, and the clock just tiks and toks. The teacher told you to put in those 2 hours of practice, but the time isn’t moving any faster. What to do to make the session more fun and for the time to pass in a blink of an eye? Here are some useful ways to entertain yourself during a tedious practice session.
SHORTER GOALS
Have you ever repeated a passage for hours at a time, and felt that after a while you have reached a threshold? That is because blind lengthy repetition isn’t as effective as a shorter session. Pick something to work on and limit it to 15 minutes. After that switch to a different drill to make the practice session feel fresh.
REWARD YOURSELF
What better way than to feel a sense of fulfillment than getting a prize after reaching a practice goal. Treat yourself with a small treat, or a healthy snack, after finishing a practice set, and you will want to continuously practice with focus and determination.
Why not imagine a knight on a horse galloping towards a castle to spice the narrative a bit? Imagination has no limits-try it!
CREATE STORIES
When practicing a piece of music we often find ourselves simply playing the notes without particular intent. It is proven that storytelling can be helpful in our creative approach to playing. Why not imagine a knight on a horse galloping towards a castle to spice the narrative a bit? Imagination has no limits-try it!
ORDER OF EVENTS
How many of us have tried to keep a practice log, where the sequence of practice sets is exactly the same every day? There’s no rule against switching things up a bit, so perhaps practicing scales can actually wait until after playing your first song. Switch things up a bit–it will freshen up the practice session significantly!
TV IN THE BACKGROUND
It is said that Paco De Lucia always had a football game in the back when practicing scales. Whether or not this is true, when practicing something mechanical we could first make sure that we are set up correctly with good execution, and then turn our focus onto something external such as a TV, while we let the hands do the countless monotonous repeats.
Happy practicing! 🙂