The Confident Musicianing Podcast
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The Confident Musicianing Podcast
3 Tricks for Cultivating Practice Motivation
Need a little extra practice motivation? Here is how you can cultivate it in your sessions.
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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:As musicians, we all struggle with practice motivation. I think it depends on kind of what phase we are in, what stage we are in, but I think every single musician has felt this feeling of not being motivated to practice, and I think something that I've heard being passed around and being said that I think is really, really helpful when thinking about motivation is that we don't have motivation and then we practice. Motivation comes from momentum. We need to start the thing and then when we see our progress or we see, you know, like we see our, our start, then the motivation will come after that. So I think in today's episode we are going to be talking a lot about trying to get that motivation, three ways to boost your practice, motivation. But as you are listening to these three things, I think it's really important to kind of remember that. About motivation, it doesn't necessarily come from the beginning, it comes from once you have that start and then you'll keep going with motivation and you'll keep going with your practice.
Speaker 1:I think our practice as well looks different for everyone. For instance me. Two years ago I had a practice set up where I practiced three hours a day and each day I would have one hour session in the morning, one hour session in the afternoon and one in the evening really worked for me, it worked for my schedule, it worked for like how much I could actually play the instrument at a time. But now my life has changed and I have kind of a different schedule and also I am learning a different kind of oboe playing. That is more fatiguing because it's a whole new setup and I guess I'm like training muscles in, like my embouchure that aren't used to being used, and so an hour at a time for me is a lot and so now I break it out into smaller, more frequent chunks, so things like that. Everyone's practice is different. So kind of going into this episode. I think it's important to remember these things.
Speaker 1:So, without further ado, let's get into it. So three ways to boost your practice motivation whatever that looks like for you, because we all practice differently but if you are feeling a little like maybe you need a bit more motivation in the practice room. That's what this episode is for. So the first thing that helps me at least, is the 10 minute trick. You might have heard about this or you might not have. Either way.
Speaker 1:Basically, the 10 minute trick is this idea of if we are struggling to start something, especially if it is a big thing, and we're like, oh my gosh, this thing is going to take so long, or you know, by the time we finish this thing, it'll already be this specific time or whatever it is Just say to yourself I'm going to do this for 10 minutes, I'm going to take 10 minutes, I'm really going to focus, I'm going to like really get my head in the game, I'm all in it for 10 minutes, and that makes it so that it's not as big and scary. And then, once you've gotten to the 10 minute mark, if you want to keep going, then keep going. If you want to stop, then okay, stop. But if you want to keep going, then keep going. And this goes kind of into the idea of motivation being not when you start something but when you're going into it, because if you don't have motivation before those 10 minutes, you feel kind of like I don't really want to do this. But then maybe by minute seven, when you're really getting into it and you're having fun, and then maybe minute eight, it's even more fun, and all of a sudden the motivation is coming after 10 minutes, and then you're like oh, actually I could continue this for another 10 minutes, maybe another 20 minutes, maybe only another five minutes, but it is an extra five minutes. Do you know what I mean? So I think that this trick is really helpful and it really kind of ties into the idea that motivation does not come at the beginning. It comes as you are doing something, and I think that that goes for more than just practicing. But but that's something good to remember when practicing.
Speaker 1:Okay, the next thing kind of goes into this, this idea and the 10-minute trick. I feel like all of these things kind of weave into each other. But that is analyzing your schedule. Okay, are you putting too much on your plate? Right? Are you doing too much Now? Sometimes we can't control how much we're doing.
Speaker 1:Right now I am, um, I am preparing for not only an exam, an exam reset, but also a recital, and so I have a ton of music. I have two pieces of music like full on pieces three movement long pieces right. Full on pieces, three movement, long pieces, right. And then I have like many extracts, different extracts, from six different pieces of music, but like each piece of music has at least like five-ish extracts each give or take. And then I have scales and then two etudes. So all of these things I am doing are just it's a lot, really it's a lot. And a lot of times when I wake up and I'm like, oh my gosh, I have so much to do obo-wise, it can be very, very stressful and very overwhelming, to the point that I'm like how am I gonna do this right? And then that motivation's like plop, it's just like out the window, we're done right.
Speaker 1:So when we think about our schedule, even if we can't say, for instance, okay, I'm just not going to practice this at all, because you need to practice it, but think about how you are scheduling your practice and if it is a lot. So, for instance, if you are doing how I did two years ago and two years ago this worked for me, but now it doesn't, so it's a bit different. But if I did three one hour sections where I just did all that, and then if, if that's maybe what you're doing and it doesn't seem to be working for you, maybe try doing um four to six half an hour sessions, or maybe you get like in the morning, maybe maybe you practice the best in the morning, so you do two hours in the morning and then maybe an hour in the afternoon or maybe three hours. Isn't what like good? Like it doesn't work for you. So maybe you do one hour in the morning and then two half an hour sessions in the afternoon, in the evening. Whatever works for you is um, it's what's going to work for you.
Speaker 1:And I think the most important thing when thinking about analyzing your schedule, especially when it comes to motivation, is not comparing yourself to others, because other people might be able to do different things, but um, that doesn't, that doesn't pair up to you. Do you know what I mean? Like it, it. It's not good to compare these, these two things, and I think especially like, for example, recently I was in a class with some other music students and we were chatting about our practice and one of the things that I honestly was like it's such an eye-opener for me was the other students. They practiced, a lot of them practiced well, they all. They all practice differently, right? So for me at the time I was like okay, I'm not practicing the way I did two years ago where I did, you know, one hour sessions three times a day. Instead, I'm doing it more frequently and less, because I need more breaks, because I'm changing styles and it, you know, it's more fatiguing, um, for me at this point, and I often felt like okay, that means, you know, I like I compared myself to other people because I assumed that they were practicing like probably a lot, and the thing about it was when I was talking to them, they had their own things. So some of them practiced in one hour chunks, but a lot of them were like me, where they were like okay, actually half an hour chunks are much better for me and I do them more frequently, and it was so good to see everyone like how they do their practice differently, and so I think, when we analyze our schedules, make sure that that schedule is good for you, right? If it doesn't matter what someone else's practice schedule looks like? If this schedule works for you, then it works for you. But if you are struggling with motivation, maybe asking yourself is it because I am scheduling my practice in a way that isn't serving me and that means that my motivation is going down? So looking at that is a really great way to do that and something about that.
Speaker 1:When I recently was kind of changing my practice schedule, working through this, because I have recently switched oboe styles and I am needing more frequent practice sessions that aren't as long because of fatigue, I am training my embouchure to do something different. One thing that has really helped me is planning my practice, and not only planning my practice, but also reflecting on how these things worked. That way, I can try a practice schedule and then reflect on how I thought it went, and then the next day I can try a practice schedule and then reflect on how I thought it went, and then the next day I can try a different one, or maybe the next week I can try a different one, and I have it all in one place so that I can look and be like okay, I did this type of schedule and this is what I thought of it, and so I can have that. And one of the things that has really helped me with that is a notable practice journal. If you've never heard of notable, you're in for a treat, because notable's practice journals really seriously have changed the game for me at least with practicing seriously. So what it is is it's a journal where you can plan your practice. So you plan out what you're going to do and this helps you in the practice room to have effective and focused sessions. And it also means that you know when you're done right, you know when you're done practicing because you've completed everything that you set out to do. And that also can help with the motivation as well. Having a checked off list right, we all love a checklist. And then there's also areas to reflect. So not only just reflect on your everyday practice, but also at the end of the week you can do some reflection and there's reflection questions in there. And this is perfect if you are analyzing your practice schedule, if you try a schedule, and then in the reflection section you can be like okay, you know, doing this, that and the other at these times really helped me, but maybe doing this other thing wasn't as good, and through that you can create your own practice schedule, which is great for all of us. So, honestly, a notable practice journal has seriously helped me in my practice organization and effectiveness, and I think you know it's just so helpful.
Speaker 1:And as soon as I found out that this journal was helping me, I knew that I needed to tell you about it and I knew that I needed to give 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 nice practice journal. We all deserve a nice practice journal. You know me, I don't ever recommend anything that I don't absolutely love. This code is an affiliate code, which means I do receive a commission with no extra cost to you. All right, let's move on, shall we?
Speaker 1:The next thing is getting inspired by other people. Getting inspired by other people, so we can do so many things with this, because motivation can not only come from us, but it can also come in the form of inspiration. If we take inspiration and then we turn it into motivation for our own practice. That is a great way to kind of create the motivation as well. So that means going to the symphony, playing with other people. So these are two different things. So if we go to the symphony, we're watching the symphony, right, and maybe you know if you I remember like all the time if I went to go see like a, like an oboist play the oboe at the symphony, you know if they're doing like a, the Mozart oboe concerto, for instance, I remember one time I went to go see the Mozart oboe concerto being performed and I went away from that concert being like, oh my gosh, I all I want to do is practice. This is so cool. Oftentimes I find, especially when I go see my instrument being performed, I'm like all I want to do is practice. So that's a great way of doing it.
Speaker 1:Another great way of getting inspired by other people is playing with other people. So if you set up, you know, like a group with some friends and you just play, and even if it's honestly not serious, like if it's just for fun, you just download some music somewhere and just like, do whatever that can be so fun as well, right, and then you can come back home and be like, oh my gosh, I, I want to. I want to practice, because that was really fun and that can be really inspiring as well. So, whatever that looks like to you, whether you, you know, can play with others, maybe you want to get a group together, maybe you want to go to the symphony.
Speaker 1:Even I found even watching the ballet has helped me in my motivation to practice, because oftentimes and I think this is a completely other conversation that I want to touch on but oftentimes when I play the oboe, I imagine ballerinas. I feel like the oboe is very much a. It can be quite a poised instruments, it can be quite like delicate and detailed and all of these things that I find ballerinas are. And so I found, like, even just in my free time, I will watch like. There are ballet rehearsals that you can watch on YouTube with, like the Royal Ballet, and I will watch those and then when I practice, I feel more motivated to like sound, the way that they dance, and that's that's a whole another story that we can get into. But maybe something like that for you. Maybe it's not ballet, but maybe you know you play an instrument that, in your mind, reminds you of something and that can help you motivate or get motivated to practice. So all of these things are different ways to help you get motivated to practice, because we, all of these things are different ways to help you get motivated to practice, because we all need that little kick of motivation.
Speaker 1:Let's do a recap, shall we? The first thing is the 10-minute trick. If you feel not motivated and you're like, ugh, I don't want to practice, just practice for 10 minutes and then, when 10 minutes is up, be like do I want to keep going? Chances are you might. The next thing is analyze your schedule. Are you putting too much on your plate? And if, even if you aren't putting too much on your plate, are you doing it in a way that isn't serving you.
Speaker 1:Maybe big practice sessions aren't as good as, maybe, shorter, more frequent ones. Maybe it's the opposite. Maybe you are just doing 20, 30 minute, 40 minute sessions and you're like, actually, I just want to wake up in the morning and do two hours and or three hours in one sitting and that's it. And if that works for you, that's great. That would never work for me, but I'm an oboist, right that I would get so fatigued, maybe if you play an instrument where you can do that. Maybe that's what you'll do, right? So just find that schedule balance for you and a great tool to plan your practice, analyze your practice and analyze that schedule is a notable practice journal. You can use my code. It is in the description and the show notes and I will also put the link to where you can get your journal as well in the show notes, in the description as well.
Speaker 1:And the last thing is getting inspired by other people, whether that is other people, by going to the symphony, maybe that is playing with other friends, like other students, other musicians, or even doing something as kind of strange as going to the ballet, and that really works for me. Whatever works for you, it might not be the ballet, but something that just whatever, gets you inspired. Doing more of that and getting inspired by other people. All right, that is about it for this episode. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did enjoy this episode, please do show her all the love. Like, subscribe, follow, comment, share this episode with all of your musician friends so we can all be motivated in the practice room and I will see you in the next episode. All right, take care, bye.
