discipline and practice

[diane-michaels]

I have a framed quote in my teaching studio – which is also my own practice room – that I found in an essay written in a business magazine, intended to motivate corporate types using athletes and musicians as role models.

“Deliberate Practice: An activity that’s explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one’s level of competence, provides feedback on results and involves high levels of repetition.”

As for personal experience: the hardest part of practicing is the first 15 minutes. Just get over it. I love the quote I’ve shared because that’s our job description while practicing. When I sit down to practice, I don’t have to waste time wondering what I’m supposed to do. I spend those sketchy first 15 minutes warming up, reviewing my previous practice session and voila! Every weak finger, every hesitancy to remember a note I thought was memorized, and I have a complete, and for me, friendly and reassuring to-do list.

What it comes down to is that practicing is a job. Some like it, some don’t. Musicians who like the job of practicing are more likely to be devoted to a lifetime of making music at the highest level possible for them.

[elizabeth-palladino]

Thank you for this post. I took piano for nine years and loved it, but really can’t play well.

[Tacye]

Another issue which has not been mentioned is the simple one of ‘working from home’.

[carl-swanson]

it took me a long time to realize that different people take to practicing differently. For me, practicing was always my refuge from a very difficult childhood. When I was practicing, I was in my own world where I could control everything. I have always loved practicing, much more than performing. When I’m in a practicing mood, I can practice for hours on end and never get tired of it. When I get up from the harp after 4 or 5 hours of practicing, I’m already thinking about what I need to do next to advance the piece.

[kreig-kitts]

Elizabeth, I think you’re somewhat entitled to complaint that your teacher didn’t teach you to practice. Practicing is a huge part of playing, and a teacher who doesn’t teach how to practice effectively isn’t doing all of their job. Students shouldn’t have to figure it out for themselves from scratch when there are tried and effective methods already known.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Carlos Salzedo wrote an article a long time ago on the Art of Working, it has been reprinted in the American Harp Journal, it might be of use to you. The basic blocks of practicing are: working in small units like one measure and getting everything right, then piecing them together; then working on the flow and tempo, mood and expression of the whole piece. You need to choose your masters program carefully, and it would help a lot to spend a summer in intensive study at a program like Interlochen where you will not only be sure to learn how to practice, not only from your teacher, but by being surrounded by others who are practicing. I have been there, and you can do it, but you have to find what you need.

[diana-day]

Shakeisha, I can’t really advise you as a professional harpist, but I would like to offer a suggestion from a more personal standpoint. I think it’s only normal to pause and reflect when you’re at a major point of transition in your life.

[Sylvia Clark]

I think sometimes teachers are so skilled themselves that

[S Hawkins]

OMG, i never really thought about that. i really have to start thinking about what is it that i really want to do with harp. so yes, that what i needed to hear. i couldn’t thank you enough.

[mccall-williams]

I’m interested in reading this article. Can you cite the issue it was in?

[mike-c]

just throwing a guess out there, but could it be that now that school is winding down, you’re unprepared to handle an unstructured world where there are no semesters, no tests, and no classes/teachers guiding you to success? A lot of good academics have this problem in other fields. They are great students, get straight As, but have difficulty adjusting from academia to a work environment.

If that’s what your problem is, it’s definitely something you can overcome by setting up plans and goals for yourself.

[carl-swanson]

Mike- What an interesting idea. When I think back on my school years, the scariest time was when I got my Master’s degree and was finished with my schooling. Completely! I had spent the previous 12 years studying the harp and going for degrees, preparing for auditions, final exams, etc. But when I got my master’s, it was over and I had to face the rest of my life without the academic structure of the previous 12 years. It was very scary.

[S Hawkins]

i can’t really say thats what it is because i work as a lobbyist assistant for a part time job.

[unknown-user]

…or it could be a harp burnout syndrome.

[Gretchen Cover]

It could also be a case of needing to change harps.

[Author]

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