Manufacturing Motivation
by Daniel Nistico
Are you one of those people who have so much motivation to practice that it is on your mind almost constantly? Is practicing the first thing you think of when waking up and the last thing before going to sleep? Do you even dream of practicing while you’re sleeping?
If like me you answered yes to all of the above, then you could probably be classified as unusual… I probably do obsess about practice a little too much. If you answered no to most or all questions, then congratulations on being a relatively normal person!
But maybe you do want to increase your motivation, so that your practicing is really consistent? Maybe you want to be inspired to practice as soon as you wake up? Maybe you wish to cherish some special moments you had practicing earlier in the day before you go to sleep?
If you do want more motivation, then I believe these habits can help you as they’ve helped students and myself personally.
Manufacturing Method #1: Make your practice space comfortable and easy
1) Make your practice space a place you enjoy being in
Make it comfortable for you. Maybe the acoustics are better in another room, so you enjoy practicing there more. Perhaps there’s a particular smell, charm or aesthetic about one particular room that makes you feel comfortable and stress-free there.
Sometimes changing our practice locations every now and then can be really refreshing!
2) Make sure the room you are in has all the tools you require within easy reach.
This includes but is not limited to your timer, metronome, coloured pencils, scores, music stand, guitar rest, guitar, guitar stand, recording device, nail files and buffers, etc. etc.
3) Tools of self-assessment
Many of these things are tools that we can use to assess ourselves. By having easy access to them, you’re able to give yourself a wonderful lesson and make the practice time more fruitful in the long term, by means of having recorded your thoughts, recorded yourself, kept your tempo on track with the metronome, etc.
A mirror is one of your best teachers
One more important tool of self-assessment that is often forgotten about is a mirror. Now, mirrors are not always the most portable things to carry around. However, in this digital age there is almost always access to a screen. Yes, you can use those distracting devices for good use!
I often use my Ipad (with the screen switched off) as a mirror when I’m travelling. Just put it on the music stand and angle it to see one of your hands. I can also use it to record myself and it sounds pretty decent, so two birds with one stone! You can set it to the ‘do not disturb’ mode or turn the wi-fi off if you are prone to checking those emails and things.
Manufacturing Method #2: Be patient
It’s often said that patience is a virtue; I believe it’s a habit.
Think of practicing like planting a garden. No matter what you do, the plants will grow slowly, never from seed to tree in an instant. So in music, no matter what new information or habits you acquire, no matter how life changing and amazing it is, your garden will always take time to grow. Think of all the new things you acquire as new seeds for your garden. Tend to your garden with love, kindness and discipline and those seeds will slowly but surely grow into wonders beyond your imagination.
Manufacturing Method #3: Study and listen each day
A little bit of reading and listening each day can go a long way. It could be new or old. I often find myself re-listening to my favorite albums and re-reading my favorite books fairly often. Make them easy to access so you won’t have excuses for not reading or listening.
Manufacturing Method #4: Enjoy practicing
Try to keep note on how you feel while you practice. Are you stressed, worried or angry? If you feel negatively towards practice, chances are you will slowly begin to detest it. Here’s my suggestion:
Every time you feel a negative thought emerging, replace it with a positive thought.
This could be non-music related. For example, if you start to feel angry because you’re practicing something and it’s just not working, think of a happy memory you had with a loved one. Or think of an inspirational recording of the piece you’re working on. How did you feel during those moments? Once you change your thinking, your actual practice habits should improve too.
Manufacturing Method #5: Give your practice a goal, even if it’s an illusion
Now, we’re not all concert artists giving hundreds of concerts throughout the year. But we can pretend to be if we wanted to. When I don’t have a solo concert coming up for a while, it can be easy to drift around and practice without a clear goal. One day I’d be practicing one set of pieces and another day brings another set of pieces. Not too long and we can be led far astray. Remember the garden analogy - we don’t want to be growing different gardens all over the place.
Create a mock program and stick it on your fridge
Usually the goal of practice is for a performance (though this certainly doesn’t have to be the case). So when I don’t have a real concert coming up soon, I make a mock program and print it out as though I were really going to have a concert.
Download your simple program template here.
I’d love to see your program, so please send it to me if you like. You can really get the creative juices going in thinking about how your repertoire would work best as a program.
Don’t be afraid to aim high if you want to. Go ahead and write Carnegie Hall as the venue on your program if you like. Your imagination has no limits.
Another plus is that if a concert opportunity does come up unexpectedly, you’re prepared for it!
Or you could turn this illusion into a reality yourself and book an actual venue, date etc.
If you have a great program going that you’ve invested hundreds of hours into, why not perform it for people and share your journey with them!?
Comment below and let me know if any of these points gave you more motivation!
by Daniel Nistico
Are you one of those people who have so much motivation to practice that it is on your mind almost constantly? Is practicing the first thing you think of when waking up and the last thing before going to sleep? Do you even dream of practicing while you’re sleeping?
If like me you answered yes to all of the above, then you could probably be classified as unusual… I probably do obsess about practice a little too much. If you answered no to most or all questions, then congratulations on being a relatively normal person!
But maybe you do want to increase your motivation, so that your practicing is really consistent? Maybe you want to be inspired to practice as soon as you wake up? Maybe you wish to cherish some special moments you had practicing earlier in the day before you go to sleep?
If you do want more motivation, then I believe these habits can help you as they’ve helped students and myself personally.
Manufacturing Method #1: Make your practice space comfortable and easy
1) Make your practice space a place you enjoy being in
Make it comfortable for you. Maybe the acoustics are better in another room, so you enjoy practicing there more. Perhaps there’s a particular smell, charm or aesthetic about one particular room that makes you feel comfortable and stress-free there.
Sometimes changing our practice locations every now and then can be really refreshing!
2) Make sure the room you are in has all the tools you require within easy reach.
This includes but is not limited to your timer, metronome, coloured pencils, scores, music stand, guitar rest, guitar, guitar stand, recording device, nail files and buffers, etc. etc.
3) Tools of self-assessment
Many of these things are tools that we can use to assess ourselves. By having easy access to them, you’re able to give yourself a wonderful lesson and make the practice time more fruitful in the long term, by means of having recorded your thoughts, recorded yourself, kept your tempo on track with the metronome, etc.
A mirror is one of your best teachers
One more important tool of self-assessment that is often forgotten about is a mirror. Now, mirrors are not always the most portable things to carry around. However, in this digital age there is almost always access to a screen. Yes, you can use those distracting devices for good use!
I often use my Ipad (with the screen switched off) as a mirror when I’m travelling. Just put it on the music stand and angle it to see one of your hands. I can also use it to record myself and it sounds pretty decent, so two birds with one stone! You can set it to the ‘do not disturb’ mode or turn the wi-fi off if you are prone to checking those emails and things.
Manufacturing Method #2: Be patient
It’s often said that patience is a virtue; I believe it’s a habit.
Think of practicing like planting a garden. No matter what you do, the plants will grow slowly, never from seed to tree in an instant. So in music, no matter what new information or habits you acquire, no matter how life changing and amazing it is, your garden will always take time to grow. Think of all the new things you acquire as new seeds for your garden. Tend to your garden with love, kindness and discipline and those seeds will slowly but surely grow into wonders beyond your imagination.
Manufacturing Method #3: Study and listen each day
A little bit of reading and listening each day can go a long way. It could be new or old. I often find myself re-listening to my favorite albums and re-reading my favorite books fairly often. Make them easy to access so you won’t have excuses for not reading or listening.
Manufacturing Method #4: Enjoy practicing
Try to keep note on how you feel while you practice. Are you stressed, worried or angry? If you feel negatively towards practice, chances are you will slowly begin to detest it. Here’s my suggestion:
Every time you feel a negative thought emerging, replace it with a positive thought.
This could be non-music related. For example, if you start to feel angry because you’re practicing something and it’s just not working, think of a happy memory you had with a loved one. Or think of an inspirational recording of the piece you’re working on. How did you feel during those moments? Once you change your thinking, your actual practice habits should improve too.
Manufacturing Method #5: Give your practice a goal, even if it’s an illusion
Now, we’re not all concert artists giving hundreds of concerts throughout the year. But we can pretend to be if we wanted to. When I don’t have a solo concert coming up for a while, it can be easy to drift around and practice without a clear goal. One day I’d be practicing one set of pieces and another day brings another set of pieces. Not too long and we can be led far astray. Remember the garden analogy - we don’t want to be growing different gardens all over the place.
Create a mock program and stick it on your fridge
Usually the goal of practice is for a performance (though this certainly doesn’t have to be the case). So when I don’t have a real concert coming up soon, I make a mock program and print it out as though I were really going to have a concert.
Download your simple program template here.
I’d love to see your program, so please send it to me if you like. You can really get the creative juices going in thinking about how your repertoire would work best as a program.
Don’t be afraid to aim high if you want to. Go ahead and write Carnegie Hall as the venue on your program if you like. Your imagination has no limits.
Another plus is that if a concert opportunity does come up unexpectedly, you’re prepared for it!
Or you could turn this illusion into a reality yourself and book an actual venue, date etc.
If you have a great program going that you’ve invested hundreds of hours into, why not perform it for people and share your journey with them!?
Comment below and let me know if any of these points gave you more motivation!
| Recital Program Template.docx |