A system that will help you make the most of your practice
By Daniel Nistico
One thing I find fascinating about our behavior towards practice is that we very often know what we should do, but we don't do it.
Basic fundamentals (tone, rhythm, and dynamics) are very often neglected in practice, even though we know they're some of the most important facets of playing.
I want to give you a system of practicing that can make working on the fundamentals an automated process.
This process will eventually turn into a habit, meaning that practicing your necessary daily skills will be a natural and automatic part of your work.
I want to share with you the system that I have used everyday for years. I've experimented with a lot of ways to practice and find this the most effective. I've given this to students and colleagues and they have testified that it worked very well for them.
Turn off all possible distractions (phone, tablet, computer, etc.)
Distractions suck and they happen very often in this age of digital machines that constantly beep. By taking these distractions away, it allows us to give our 100% attention to our given task/s. It gives us a peace of mind that we won't get led on to answering emails or taking calls or seeing what our friends posted on Facebook. Let's face it, do those really need to be addressed immediately? Will it really do any harm to wait 45 minutes max to answer that email or phone call or check that Facebook post?
Set a timer for 45 minutes
Setting a timer is honestly one of the most valuable habits I've learned in regards to practice. It makes us value the time we have and strive to make the most of it. I've found 45 minutes to be an ideal amount, it's not too long to create fatigue or lose concentration and not too short, which allows us to get into a flow, get warmed up and have enough time to work with ideas.
15 minutes to work on the basics
I've found that working on the basics for 15 minutes before I work on pieces to be golden.
This is akin to athletes who have routines or warm ups as a standard part of their training.
30 minutes to work on pieces and more advanced things
I have found this amount of time just right. It's long enough to get into a flow and get really involved in your pieces, but short enough so that you don't waste time or feel like your practice is aimless.
Once the timer chimes, stop practicing immediately
It's important to stop when the timer chimes so that we don't get into the habit of playing past our allotted time.
Reward yourself with a nice 5 - 10 minute break.
Rewarding yourself is more important than you might think. It makes you addicted to the thing you just did to reward yourself.
You want to get addicted to practicing, right? I recommend doing something fun, relaxing and non-music related.
All of these steps are important - taking one of them out or drastically altering them can take away the system's effectiveness.
I recommend doing this system at times of the day when you're less likely to get really important emails or phone calls.
I also recommend doing this for general health reasons and happiness - set aside times during the day where you switch off all distractions; TV, phone, tablet - all of it. This will take away stress and make you a happier person.
Try this system right now, today!
But also, please be patient and give it at least a few days for the benefits to become really obvious.
Let me know how it worked for you! Can you think of other areas in your life that you can apply a similar system?
By Daniel Nistico
One thing I find fascinating about our behavior towards practice is that we very often know what we should do, but we don't do it.
Basic fundamentals (tone, rhythm, and dynamics) are very often neglected in practice, even though we know they're some of the most important facets of playing.
I want to give you a system of practicing that can make working on the fundamentals an automated process.
This process will eventually turn into a habit, meaning that practicing your necessary daily skills will be a natural and automatic part of your work.
I want to share with you the system that I have used everyday for years. I've experimented with a lot of ways to practice and find this the most effective. I've given this to students and colleagues and they have testified that it worked very well for them.
Turn off all possible distractions (phone, tablet, computer, etc.)
Distractions suck and they happen very often in this age of digital machines that constantly beep. By taking these distractions away, it allows us to give our 100% attention to our given task/s. It gives us a peace of mind that we won't get led on to answering emails or taking calls or seeing what our friends posted on Facebook. Let's face it, do those really need to be addressed immediately? Will it really do any harm to wait 45 minutes max to answer that email or phone call or check that Facebook post?
Set a timer for 45 minutes
Setting a timer is honestly one of the most valuable habits I've learned in regards to practice. It makes us value the time we have and strive to make the most of it. I've found 45 minutes to be an ideal amount, it's not too long to create fatigue or lose concentration and not too short, which allows us to get into a flow, get warmed up and have enough time to work with ideas.
15 minutes to work on the basics
I've found that working on the basics for 15 minutes before I work on pieces to be golden.
This is akin to athletes who have routines or warm ups as a standard part of their training.
30 minutes to work on pieces and more advanced things
I have found this amount of time just right. It's long enough to get into a flow and get really involved in your pieces, but short enough so that you don't waste time or feel like your practice is aimless.
Once the timer chimes, stop practicing immediately
It's important to stop when the timer chimes so that we don't get into the habit of playing past our allotted time.
Reward yourself with a nice 5 - 10 minute break.
Rewarding yourself is more important than you might think. It makes you addicted to the thing you just did to reward yourself.
You want to get addicted to practicing, right? I recommend doing something fun, relaxing and non-music related.
All of these steps are important - taking one of them out or drastically altering them can take away the system's effectiveness.
I recommend doing this system at times of the day when you're less likely to get really important emails or phone calls.
I also recommend doing this for general health reasons and happiness - set aside times during the day where you switch off all distractions; TV, phone, tablet - all of it. This will take away stress and make you a happier person.
Try this system right now, today!
But also, please be patient and give it at least a few days for the benefits to become really obvious.
Let me know how it worked for you! Can you think of other areas in your life that you can apply a similar system?