Practice Daily
Dear Guitar Friends,
2021 is in sight, and I am looking forward to this new calendar year (aren't we all)! In this month's newsletter, my desire is to encourage us to explore and regain a healthy attitude towards practicing for the coming year.
I think we are all given various passions that can help us stay focused on greater things than the endless worries of life. Sure, presidential elections, pandemics or the appearance of a mysterious desert monolith matter, but do I want them to take up all of my headspace? No thanks, been there, done that. Practicing daily and diving deeper into the world of music has proven a very healthy alternative for me, especially this past year.
Oddly, I rediscovered the joy and benefits of regular practice thanks to a completely unexpected event. A student offered me a good bargain on a cheap beginner drum set, and I thought it might be fun for my children. Ha! Turns out I myself became rather interested in banging on it, which has been quite therapeutic! In a short while, I found myself regularly confined in our tiny, dimly-lit, basement storage room practicing (if you could call it that!) for at least 15 minutes a day. I had no high expectations whatsoever, and yet, I've seen gradual improvement in my playing. That feels good, and I am experiencing childlike joy again! It is important to keep in mind that playing any instrument should be fun and rejoicing in pulling something off can be really rewarding.
However, practicing daily requires motivation and energy. The tricky thing is that we are not always in the mood to practice, and sadly, especially for adults, there are simply times when practicing is just too draining and impossible if our batteries are not charged. Parenting, marriage, work, education and life itself all require enormous amounts of time and energy. There is only so much juice to go around until we run out of steam. However, this newsletter is meant to encourage all of us to practice regularly, no matter where we are at in life.
For younger students, it usually isn't a question of not having enough energy to practice. It is an issue of habit. We all know that developing healthy habits is one of the wisest decisions for our well-being. For a child, learning to play an instrument is, without a doubt, one of the best ways to get acquainted with the concept of discipline and developing a lifelong healthy habit.
This is equally important for all ages, not just children, but for aspiring teenage musicians and adults, the relationship with an instrument can at times become frustrating. We live in an environment of very high expectations, and more often than not, we probably won't reach the standards we (or others) set for ourselves. However, when we give in to these realizations, we lose sight of the long term benefits of daily practice. Taking our minds off unhealthy worry, exercising our brains, strengthening memory skills, nurturing discipline and having plain old fun are just a few of the rewards of regularly playing an instrument.
In order to help our children develop good habits or help ourselves maintain the energy to reap the benefits of our own daily practice, I have a few suggestions for keeping the New Year's goal of consistent practicing.
Commit to all around healthy life choices in order to sustain a high energy level. Kudos to my wife, Hannah, who exemplifies this by sticking to a daily morning walk. She always comes back with a smile saying, "That felt so good!"
Start out with a small practice time commitment like 15 minutes. This is easier to maintain and often leads into longer practice sessions naturally.
Lower the expectations of musical achievements. Reaching a small goal is better than not going for a large one at all, and the small goals will eventually build upon themselves.
Enjoy and rejoice in any progress, regardless of how small. For example, try playing through all different major scales in 1st position or memorizing a short piece of music, and celebrate when you accomplish that.
Listen closely to that curious voice inside us that points our interests to unexpected areas. For example, my recent endeavors with drumming and home recording attempts have led me to a whole new area of interests. Now, I've begun the journey of how in the world does one manage to get a halfway decent recorded drum sound in a root cellar? That's a rabbit hole if there ever was one! However, I am grateful to be pondering this conundrum rather than being consumed by all the problems of the world and giving too much thought to divisive voices out there. Curiosity is a wonderful gift, and it is at the heart of creativity.
Lastly, nurture that curious voice by expanding your musical listening palette. That can only happen by being open-minded. Take up less familiar listening suggestions, and see where your curiosity takes you!
This happened to me; thanks to my wife when she played Shugie Otis's album Inspiration Information for me. Shugie, where have you been all this time? He is an incredible musician and fantastic guitar player. Talk about having discovered one of the most underrated artists ever. I really got a boost of musical inspiration after going through his recordings in chronological order. He was way ahead of his time, and I find the production of the early albums amazing considering he was working with the limitations of analog technology.
As we head into 2021, may you have plenty of energy to practice daily, enjoy lots of musical growth, and be sure to explore all the various music this world has to offer.
Happy practicing for the last month of 2020 and beyond!
Chris
