Why not put all that spare time to good use and brush up on your musical skills? Here are some tips and ideas from musicians and examiners to help you structure your practice and make the most of your time.
Professional musicians Will Franden and Talia Cohen talk about the importance of practice, giving advice on how to get the best results and keep it fun.
Let’s face it, the word ‘practice’ can sometimes fill us with dread – the idea of sitting down on our own and doing the same things over and over is sometimes just not that attractive. But practicing is a really important part of learning an instrument. But practicing is a really important part of learning an instrument and a regular practice routine can help you to develop your playing and music reading skills and finesse your technique.
Musicians who practise regularly are likely to improve their playing more quickly than those who only practise now and then, so if you want to reach your musical goals then practising is going to get you there faster.
“It’s a trite axiom, but practice DOES make perfect. If you want to be a strong swimmer or an accomplished musician, you have to practice.” Anthony Kiedis, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Your practice time is going to be most effective if it is structured and focused, so make a plan and stick to it. Choose a time of the day that works best for you – you want to make sure you’re in the right mood and can concentrate to get the most out of your practice sessions. You’ll also want to make sure your practice environment is right – try to keep it free of distractions and noise.
Set goals so you always have something to work towards and make records of your achievements to look back on for future motivation. Trinity Examiner David Weston says: “The best advice I’ve got from a teacher is to structure your practise so that it’s focused and work on areas that you find challenging.”
“...if everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow.” Beyoncé
Practice isn’t always fun, but it can be. Trinity examiner Adam Barnett says it’s about looking at it a bit differently: “The best piece of advice I ever received was to not view practice as a mundane task, but to view it as music making. This one simple sentence has stuck with me throughout my career.” If you look at your practice time as music making sessions you might find that you’re more motivated to do it and you enjoy it more. James Godfrey, another Trinity examiner, says: “Let music and practice absorb you and the benefits will show remarkably quickly and allow the enjoyment to grow and your talent to flourish.”
“I went to college on a classical piano scholarship. My grandmother made me practice one full hour a day. Every day. Man. I thought all she wanted was for me not to have any fun. Next thing you know, you have a career in music.” Jamie Foxx
So set time aside for dedicated practice with your instrument and give it your full attention – after all, what you’re really doing is making a commitment to yourself and your musical goals. Professional drummer JJ Wheeler says commitment is what makes a musician great. “Whatever you do in music and however you choose to do it, there is one word that sums up a truly great musician for me: commitment. Commit to the style, commit to the hours of practice, commit to listening to a wide range of genres and then use all of this knowledge to commit to the performance.”
Practice Tools:
So now you’ve found a quiet, distraction-free place to practice, you’ll want to think about what you might want to kit it out with. Here are some tools you might find handy:
Practice Apps:
Modacity organises and focuses your practice through practice playlists, tracking, recording, note-taking, goal and reminder features. It also includes a metronome and tone generator. (Apple and Android phones. Free, in-app purchases).
“If you’re any good at all, you know you can be better.” Lindsay Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac
Anytune allows you to slow down the tempo, adjust the pitch and repeat loops of your practice music. (Apple phones, tablets and Macs. Free,premium version available).
MyTractice provides a journal for your practice sessions and includes a scheduler, goal feature, real-time practice analysis reports, metronome, recorder and more. (Apple and Android phones and tablets. Free two week trial, then paid subscription).
“If you say I’m great, thank you very much. But I know what I am. I could be better, man, you know?” Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones
Spotify provides access to millions of tracks and allows you to create playlists and a library of your favourite tracks and albums. (Apple, Android and Windows phones and tablets, and web player. Free and Premium versions available).
Tunable provides a chromatic tuner, tone and chord generator, metronome, and transposition tool. (Apple and Android phones and tablets. £8.99, in-app purchases).
iRecorder Pro Audio Recorder is a quick and easy to use audio recorder app. (Apple phones and tablets. £3.99)
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