The Confident Musicianing Podcast
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The Confident Musicianing Podcast
3 More Traits of A Good Music Student
What makes a good music student? There are so many thoughts around this -- and even the question about what is "good," but here are 3 things that I have found make me a better music student in my day to day life studying at a conservatoire. This is part 2. Click here for part 1.
This episode is available as a blog post. Click here to read!
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Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing Podcast. My name is Eleanor and I am a British American oboist studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland literally my dream school and it took me a long way to get there. I applied and auditioned for 12 schools in three different countries. It was a lot of hard work but, oh my gosh, so worth it. I want you to have the confidence to work hard in achieving your goals, so come with me as we go on this journey together. So sit down, pull up a chair, take a seat or, if you're on the go, welcome to the Confident Musicianing Podcast.
Speaker 1:About a year ago, I was trying to figure out how I was going to move to the UK and start studying oboe at a conservatoire, and when I was doing all of this, there was a little voice in the back of my mind that was like I really want to become the best music student I can be. I hope I can do that. I hope I can become a good music student. Now the idea of a good music student is really subjective, I feel. What even is good? I think that's different for everyone, but now that I am well underway in my first year, I have picked up a few things, a few traits, a few skills, ideas that have helped me become a better music student, and today I want to share three of them with you. This is part two of this idea. Part one has three more traits. So if you haven't watched that or listened to that, please do go do that. I will link it in this description, in the show notes below. But today we're going to dive into three more traits of a music or the music student that I have become in terms of like the traits that have helped me become a better music student than I was, say, when I started studying at a conservatoire. So let's dive right into this. The first thing is being able to take thoughts and criticism from everywhere.
Speaker 1:When I was studying oboe before I studied at a conservatoire I had one oboe teacher and I had a lesson with him every single week and I really enjoyed those lessons and they were great. But that was my only input, I suppose. I mean, I was in youth orchestra as well, but in terms of playing the oboe, that was kind of like my my input, and it was from one person. And now studying at a conservatoire, I have so many inputs. I have my private teacher. But then if I'm in an ensemble class, then there's someone um teaching that. If I'm in a performance class and I'm doing a performance for a group of other students, there is a teacher that gives feedback for that. I get feedback from other students as well.
Speaker 1:There's just so much input, so many places of input, and I think at the beginning I was a bit like, oh my gosh, there's, there's so many voices, there's so much input. How do I, how do I work through it, how do I feed through it? And I think that that skill of being able to take lots of ideas, try them and then decide which ones you want to stick with and which ones you want to maybe let go or put put on the back burner if you need them later, let go or put put on the back burner if you need them later, that's really, really helpful. And I it's interesting as well because I feel like you know my teacher before I moved to the UK. He kind of gave me he gave me lots of really good oboe thoughts and advice and, like I am so grateful for those lessons, so grateful, but I think, a difference between him and the teacher that I study with now, which is not like a good or bad thing, it's just a different way of teaching. But the teacher that I study with now gives me ideas to play with and then I can decide what I want to do. And that still I I'm like, oh my gosh, how do I decide what do I do For me? I think, because I have such a background of kind of learning a specific way, the idea of a teacher giving me two, three ways to do something and then me deciding which one works the best for me was a whole new idea, a whole new idea.
Speaker 1:And so, because of that and also just the input I have, kind of well, I'm starting to develop this ability, this skill of being able to take a lot of different thoughts and filter them and decide which ones I want to do. And a great way of doing that is writing like all of it down, all of it down. So, for instance, um, with my, with my private lessons, you know, or like my lessons through the conservatory with my teacher, um, I write down all of the ideas he has and then I try them out and then, like he asked me to do, I pick which ones work best for me. And I also do that with, say, ensemble classes and performance classes. I get so much input and I just write it all down so I have it all, just in case I want to look back on it.
Speaker 1:I have it all and then I try it out or some of it out, and the stuff that sticks. I try it out or some of it out, and the stuff that sticks. The stuff that helps is is is what helps, and sometimes other things don't stick as much, and that's okay, and it's not necessarily like, oh, this is hard, I'm not going to do it. It's like, oh, you know, this maybe isn't working for me as much in terms of the reads or something like that, or maybe some of the things, um, much in terms of the reads or something like that, or maybe some of the things, um, especially for me, because I I get, um, some, some pain from a chronic illness I have sometimes, um, so sometimes those things don't help me right and because it causes pain. So things like that, just really filtering through, that is a skill that I am learning to do and it can definitely be overwhelming. But I think once we decide, you know, I'm gonna write all of this down and then I'm gonna try it, I'm gonna give it all it's, it's you know it's time, and then I'm gonna decide what fits with me and what doesn't. And that is a really, really, really new skill for me, but it's a very interesting skill.
Speaker 1:I think I kind of had a pre thing for this skill, like a like a pre introduction to it, when I did trial lessons, and I have a few podcast episodes about trial lessons. If maybe that's something that you want to learn more about or maybe it's something you're doing, um, those will be linked down below in the description in the show notes. But a lot of the times when I had trial lessons like I had trial lessons with like 12 different teachers and, of course, if you're going to have a lesson with 12 different oboists, there's going to be kind of conflicting advice, right, someone's going to say one thing and another teacher is going to say the exact opposite, because oboe playing is a spectrum, right, especially because I had, you know, teachers from different schools of oboe playing as well. So, like a lot of that advice, I mean, some of it was just conflicting and so I had to decide what did I want to do, and so that was also a very good way of doing that. So the idea of taking a lot of advice from a lot of different places, filtering it through to create your way of doing things and that can always change, that can always change, all right.
Speaker 1:The next thing is understanding the different types of practice. This, I think, is so helpful for me as a conservatoire student, especially if I have overworked myself or I need to be quiet. You know, I live in a flat and maybe it's late at night and maybe I can't play the oboe. Then I need to understand the different kinds of practice. So if all I did when I practiced was play the oboe, then, to be honest, I wouldn't have grown so much so far. Okay, let me say that again, if all the practice that I have ever done was actually just playing the oboe, then I wouldn't be as far as I am now. It is the incorporation of lots of different kinds of practice some with the oboe, some without the oboe that have helped me become a better oboist. So let's dive into this.
Speaker 1:So when I practice, I tend to play the oboe. I tend to play the oboe, but let's say, if I'm struggling with a tricky passage, I might do it mentally. And mental practice. I have a podcast about that as well, so I'll link that in the description below in the show notes. But mentally, you know, what I do is I put the oboe back in the case and I kind of go through it in my mind. Sometimes I use my fingers so if you're watching this, you can see and I just like push my fingers down or like put pressure on them that would be pushing the keys down and I like practice slowly. And the thing about mental practice for me at least, it's very helpful to make it very slow, because it's not necessarily about playing the instrument very slow, because it's not necessarily about playing the instrument, but it's about making the connection in your mind. So doing it really slow and thinking through can be really helpful for practice. And then when I pick up the oboe, it like your brain. It's kind of like your brain is like solidified and it's like okay, you know, this is what we're going to do and it definitely helps. For me at least, that is something that I really enjoy.
Speaker 1:In mental practice there's also like score study. Score study can be really helpful as well. That doesn't include the oboe, but you know if you're saying trying to memorize a piece and you need to understand how, say, other instruments fit in, then score study is a great way to go if you want to analyze the piece. You know, maybe you're memorizing it and there's a lot of different arpeggios and you just want to remember what kinds of arpeggios that can help you. You know, remember it and maybe you don't necessarily need your instrument for that um, but maybe you'll need it later. So maybe you you do mental practice or you do score study or you listen for a bit, and maybe you do that when you need to be quiet, because it's late in the evening or maybe because your oboe is getting serviced or whatever instrument you play, um, or maybe it's just cause you just need to do this and then in the next session, when you have your instrument, that can really help that session. Right, it's really helpful.
Speaker 1:Um, active listening as well. You know, maybe you're listening with the score, maybe you're not. Maybe you're listening and also kind of fingering through in your mind. Um, maybe you're just trying to get the tempo in your in your mind. Maybe you are trying to understand a rhythm. That's something.
Speaker 1:If, if I struggle to get a rhythm as it's written, maybe something's throwing me off, maybe another instrument is throwing me off. A lot of times I just listen to it, and that can be very helpful as well. Just listen to the same four bars over and over, and over and over and over and over. Maybe I clap through it, maybe I sing through it. Singing can be helpful for me as well. Just sing through it, then I can get it in my head and then the next time I play the oboe it's better.
Speaker 1:So for me, understanding the different kinds of mental practice, or different kinds of practice, including mental practice, can be so helpful and has been so helpful in my, in my practice so far. Because I think if, if I just played the oboe when I practiced number one, I wouldn't be as good, um, and number two, I would have really struggled, you know, kind of pain-wise, like let's let's talk about that, like, let's be honest, like kind of like I would probably have a bit more pain than I do, I'd probably be overworked. So, having that balance and I'm not saying never pick up your instrument when you practice, the bulk of your practice or at least for me, the bulk of my practice is playing the oboe, and then I add these things in as well and that makes it so that I can practice if I don't have my oboe. So, understanding the different types of practice so important. And the last thing is seeing the value in learning things that aren't directly related to playing your instrument. Oh my gosh, this is a really good one.
Speaker 1:I have classes that are about oboe, right, like my lessons, or like ensemble practice or ensemble classes or maybe performance class. All of these things are about playing my instrument and that's very important. That's why I'm at a conservatoire. But I also have classes about music theory, music history, about kind of the professional skills I need to enter into the music world, and I think it can be really easy to kind of put those classes aside, as do we really need them? And I say yes, we really do need them, because maybe I can play oboe so well. I'm not saying that I can Not yet, I'm still working on it but let's say I just focus all my time and attention to oboe, oboe, oboe so well. I'm not saying that I can not yet, I'm still working on it. But let's say, let's say I just focus all my time and attention to oboe, oboe, oboe. The whole time.
Speaker 1:I was at conservatoire and I graduate and I'm like so good, right, um, but if I just devoted all that time to oboe and maybe my oboe skills are are really up high and then my actual professionalism skills are quite low, how am I actually going to survive in, you know, the music world if I don't know how to, you know, write an email, well, etc. So, or have a good biography, or have good promotional materials, or know how to I don't know network things like that. That's really important as well, and I think going to a conservatoire that isn't just a music conservatoire the conservatoire I go to does um, drama, does what else do they do? Jazz? Um, although jazz is music, but like they don't just do classical, they do jazz music, they do Scottish traditional music, they do um drama and acting and ballet and musical theatre and all of these things.
Speaker 1:So it's just a melding, part of so many different things that people are doing, and I think I can learn at least one thing from every single person there. You know, even if they are a ballerina, I can learn something that might help my musicianship through movement, right. So I think it can be really easy to just be like all right, I'm here to practice, I'm going to lock myself in a practice room for the whole day and I'm just going to practice and practice and I'm not going to listen to, like any you know, thoughts or advice from, say, you know someone who doesn't play classical music, and I'm just going to focus on this because this is what I've gotten here for Um and for me I that's just not how I function and I think it's so helpful for me to. Yes, I need to practice and I practice every day and I, you know I make sure that I have those, those hours to practice. But I also find, you know, studying for my, you know, music professionalism classes, just as important. Or understanding the history and the context behind what I'm playing, just as important. Or understanding the history and the context behind what I'm playing, just as important. Or maybe I get coffee with you know a student who is not in my discipline who can offer me you know well, hopefully, hopefully it's mutual um, but who can kind of give me um their like, show me their knowledge and their wisdom in whatever they have to do, and I can learn something from them as well. So I think going to a conservatoire, for me at least, is not just about locking myself up in a practice room. It's about creating connections with people who maybe I wouldn't have created connections with learning from other people, putting value and emphasis in the classes where maybe I don't have an oboe in my hand but I'm learning important skills and advice and things like that. That can be so, so, so important. So I think you know it's so easy to just go, let's just do this, but I think it's so helpful to have all of this information from everyone and to understand that I can learn something from anyone and everyone you know, even if they have nothing to do with playing the oboe. All right, really quickly, before we do our recap, I want to share something with you that kind of ties in with the second point about different kinds of practice.
Speaker 1:Now, I think with different kinds of practice, it can sometimes be a bit nerve-wracking or confusing if we feel like, okay, how much of each practice am I doing? Am I doing too too much mental practice, or maybe I'm not doing enough mental practice, or maybe I'm doing too much, you know, physical practice with the instrument, and I think a great way to work through that and to really find your perfect balance of the different kinds of practice you want to do and also just have effective sessions is to plan your practice, and this is why I want to tell you about Notable. So Notable is a practice. Well, it's a company that sells practice journals and I got my Notable practice journal around like the beginning-ish of my year studying at a conservatoire and, honestly, it has transformed my practice from kind of disorganized, confused, not knowing what I'm actually doing in the practice room, to something that is effective, focused, and I know when I finish my practice because I've checked off everything on my plan. It also has a section for reflection and reflection questions, so I can um know that I am improving every single day and it's a great way for me to understand my personal balance of the different kinds of practice and know, maybe, what I need to work on a little more.
Speaker 1:As soon as I found out that this was working, I knew that I had to tell you about it and I knew that I had to get you a code. So use code eleanor15 for 15% off your journal, that is, e-l-e-a-n-o-r-1-5 for 15% off your journal and get yourself a journal and start effectively practicing. You know that I don't recommend anything that I don't absolutely love. This code is an affiliate code, so I do receive a commission with no extra cost to you. All right, let's do a quick recap. The first thing being able to take thoughts and criticism from anywhere and everywhere and also filter them through so that you can know what you should really work on. And I find it's very helpful to do that if I write everything down, give everything a go and then decide what works for me, and also asking other people as well what works for them.
Speaker 1:The next thing is understanding the different types of practice. We don't have to always be playing an instrument during our practice. We can be doing it, you know, mentally. We can be doing it through active listening, through score study, through all of these things that can help us in the practice room, especially if we are, you know, if we've just come home from I don't know, four hours of of like opera rehearsal and the last thing I want to do is play an oboe, but I need to, you know, memorize this piece of music for a class later. Then I can do it mentally, and that can be just as, if not more, effective than playing the oboe or whatever instrument you play.
Speaker 1:The next thing, or the last thing, is seeing the value in learning things that aren't directly related to playing your instrument, because we got to have skills. We got to have not just, you know, our technique skills or reed making or whatever it is, but we also need to have professional skills. We also need to know how to write a biography very well. We need to know how to network, know something that maybe a coffee you know like getting coffee with someone who is a student, who I don't know, plays jazz or does musical theater or is an actor or something like that they have things that you can learn, you know, even if it's like more professionalism side. They and maybe they have no idea how to play your instrument. They have things that you can learn from. So, understanding that and just being a sponge soaking all of the knowledge from everywhere, all right, all right, that is about it for this episode.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for hanging out with me. I really enjoyed making this and sharing these thoughts with you. So thank you so much for hanging out with me. I really enjoyed making this um and and sharing these thoughts with you. So thank you so much. If you enjoyed this episode, please do let me know, show the love, like, subscribe, comment, follow all of the things. And if you want effective practice sessions, do click the link in the description in the show notes for your notable practice journal and use code ELEANOR15 for 15% off. All right, I think that's about it. Thank you so much for watching and listening and I will see you next time. Take care, bye-bye.
