9 tips to build daily practice into your life
Maybe when you or your child signed up for music lessons, your teacher told you that daily practice was necessary for learning an instrument.
Maybe, when you heard that, your heart dropped a little. Did you have flashbacks to hating your own instrument practice in your childhood? Did you suddenly remember how disappointed you felt, when enrolling yourself in lessons in high school, to realize that you couldn’t find the time to actually practice your instrument? Maybe you and your child have had shouting matches (or at least a frustrating experience) about practicing?
Did you look askance at your schedule, wondering when you’d ever get the time to sit down with your child (or you and your instrument), every day of the week?
This experience is so common when trying to learn an instrument! I certainly experienced it growing up and sometimes do to this day. I experienced the frustration of not wanting to practice, had my mother march me up to my room to practice as a youngster (thank you, Mom!!!), and remember sitting down with my planner and a sinking heart in college, thinking that I’d need 25 hours in a day to get my homework AND violin in, to say nothing of sleep and exercise.
While this struggle is to some degree inevitable, I have 9 tips to make it easier from my 18 years of experience as a practicer! 😉
Tips 1-3: Set up a structure for success
The best advice I can give you is to realize that practice will not magically happen in your life. You need to find a way to integrate it into the habits you and your family already have built. If you relegate violin to your free time, you are not going to see a lot of results. Instead, try these things to set up a practice structure for yourself:
1. Designate a practice space in your home. This can be your or your child’s bedroom, the living room, a basement, den or an office. Ideally, the space should be as quiet and distraction-free as possible. If distractions are inevitable (for example, if you have young children or pets at home), support your or your child’s focus, notify your other family members of the practice time, have young siblings play outside, or break up the practice into small chunks.
2. Be prepared. The practice space is where the instrument and all your or your child’s lesson materials should live: a stand, metronome, music, rosin, practice journal, pencil, etc. I find that my practice is most enjoyable when I am in a space with lots of natural light, few distractions and well-equipped with my necessary materials.
3. Have a set practice time – or a few of them. I find that I keep the commitments I make to myself when I have a set time of day that I do them. Alternately, having multiple slots in your schedule when you or your child could practice allows for flexibility, but be sure to stick to the times you pick. Try not to schedule other activities during the practice time until the habit of practice is established, or your child is old enough to motivate themselves.
Tips 4-6: Motivation
Motivating yourself or your child to practice doesn’t come from sheer, white-knuckled force of will. You can create a routine that is enjoyable and that you will want to come back to!
4. Habit stacking: I learned this technique from the book Atomic Habits. James Clear, the author, has incredible knowledge to share about how to build habits that are life-changing. One easy-to-implement strategy is called habit stacking. Habit stacking involves stacking a new habit on top of an old habit (for example, flossing your teeth right after you brush them). You’re using the momentum you created from executing the old habit to get you going on the new habit. A lot of my students have had success stacking their practice habit on top of dinner or snack time, or sandwiching it between completing homework assignments.
5. Have an enjoyable pre- or post-practice ritual. I do this all the time to motivate myself to practice! I treat my practice time as a time for self-care. Here’s my routine: I make myself a cup of my favorite cozy beverage to sip on while I practice (I’ve been loving hot chocolate lately), pour myself a glass of water, and grab a quick snack. Then, I head up to my bedroom (my preferred practice space), enjoy the natural sunlight from my windows, and do some stretching and light movement. If I’m in a bad mood, I list some things I’m grateful for, repeat some affirmations and do some deep breathing for about 5 minutes while enjoying my beverages and snack. I also write down any nagging thoughts or anxieties that threaten to distract me, promising myself I’ll deal with them later. Then, I practice! After the session, if I feel that my body or mind need it, I try to get outside for fresh air and exercise. If I’m sore or tired, I draw a bath or stretch more. Some students also enjoy practicing with their pet or their favorite stuffed animal, or playing a game as part of their practice ritual.
6. Reward yourself! Practicing an instrument is difficult! It requires energy, focus, stamina, resilience, determination and creativity. Be sure to reward yourself for your hard work, and remind yourself (or your child) of how great it is that you showed up for yourself. In addition to my pre- and post-practice routines, I reward myself for the milestones I’ve hit – I go out for a nice dinner after a concert or treat myself to a latte after taking a violin lesson. My mom used to reward me with a new toy or book after finishing each Suzuki book or a particularly hard piece when I was in grade school. I reward my students with a sticker after a week of consistent practice. It is so powerful to be praised for your hard work.
Tips 7-8: Be efficient
If you’re spending your practice time on strategies that don’t work, or practicing in bad habits, you’re going to need more practice time to get the results you’re looking for. Instead, try these things:
7. Keep notes on your lesson topics and your practice. Perhaps your teacher takes notes on the lesson for you; if not, be sure to take notes during the lesson on what was covered, particular challenges and new strategies to learn. Refer to the notes at home to ensure you’re creating good habits in your practice! Want to get next-level? Audio or video record your lessons! After your practice sessions, write down what came easily to you or your student, any questions that popped up, and what was difficult. Discuss these results with your teacher at your next lesson – your teacher will love the feedback and will tailor their teaching to your questions, strengths, and weaknesses.
8. Use your entire practice toolbox. In my last blog, I talked about the variety of tools you can (and should!) use to learn your instrument. Be sure to use all of them! Not only will using different strategies be more interesting, but utilizing a variety of learning strategies helps your brain learn faster. Faster and more streamlined learning means quicker, more efficient results!
And finally:
Tip 9: Play the long game
My biggest takeaway from the book Atomic Habits was James Clear’s emphasis on the gradual nature of building habits. Like any habit, learning the violin is a long-term process – you can’t expect progress from one practice session a week (even if it’s a longer session), or one month of work. That would be like expecting to drop 50 pounds from one hour of weight lifting a week. Building in the habit of practicing a few minutes every day will yield results, even if you don’t see them right away. James Clear talked about reaching a “critical mass” in a habit. You might not see results from your habit in the first 10, 30, or even 60 days because of the behind-the-scenes learning your brain is busy doing. But, once your brain reaches that critical mass, it will seem like things suddenly fall into place. The same often happens with practicing your instrument: you might work and work at a skill, seemingly without results. Be patient – your brain is still reaching that critical mass, and once it does it will seem like your ability with the violin is exploding!
Finally, a word of encouragement: you might only get 1% better at the violin per day. That doesn’t seem like much, until you consider that getting 1% better at a habit every day translates into 365% improvement over a year – which is exponential!!
I hope these tips give you some inspiration for ways that you can build instrument practice into your or your family’s home life!
Happy practicing,
Vivian