April 23, 2024 • 8 mins
Ever find yourself staring at the same four walls of your practice room, instrument in hand, utterly uninspired? You're not alone. I've been there too, and that's exactly why I'm sharing three game-changing strategies to reinvigorate your practice sessions and help you tap into your best musical self. From making simple changes to your environment—like standing up to play or adding a touch of greenery for inspiration—to seeking out feedback from fellow musicians, this episode is packed with actionable tips.
This episode is available as a blog post. Check it out here!
Let's celebrate your hard work; get on the Standing Ovation Series! Sign up here.
Click here for the official shownotes.
If you like what you hear, give the podcast a follow!
Happy practicing!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We've all been there, stuck in the practice room with
no motivation.
It sucks.
I'm guessing that you'veprobably been there too because
you're on this episode, or maybeit's going great.
You just wanted to make it evenbetter.
Either way, we're going to jumpinto three ways to freshen up
your sessions.
Let's go.
Hello and welcome to theConfident Musicianing Podcast.
(00:21):
Let's go, hello and welcome tothe Confident Musicianing
Podcast.
I'm your host, eleanor, andafter countless practice
sessions, a ton of broken reedsand seven different music school
acceptances in three differentcountries, I have learned a
thing or two about savoring yourpracticing, becoming your best
(00:41):
practice companion and activelyworking towards your musical
goals, and I want to share thiswith you because I want you to
become your best musical self.
Are you with me on this?
Let's get started.
Hey there and welcome.
(01:02):
Let's talk practice and how wecan actually enjoy it.
Let's dive right in Number one.
We got changing your atmosphere.
Now, changing your atmosphere?
You might be like what do youmean by that?
Let me tell you.
This might seem tough, becauseyou are stuck in a practice room
and you can't reallynecessarily like change or
(01:23):
decorate or rearrange the room,but I mean more like, even in
smaller ways.
Now if you are, say, practicingat home and not in a practice
room, then you can totally dowhatever you want.
You can decorate, you canrearrange if you really want to
get into that.
But for this I'm talking alittle bit more about smaller
ways.
For instance, standing when younormally sit.
(01:45):
I remember one time I felt sonot motivated and tired, but I
knew that I still had it alittle bit in me to practice.
I just couldn't find that.
So I tried something new.
I ditched the chair, raised thestand and stood up on my feet
to practice and, oh my gosh, itmade a huge difference.
All of a sudden I was excitedabout practicing, motivated to
(02:08):
practice, and I finished thatsession strong.
I was, to be honest, soextremely surprised about that.
The trick is to find that foryou.
What works for you?
Maybe for me it was standing up, maybe for you it's something
completely different.
So feel free to experiment alittle bit and like try things
and see how they go.
(02:29):
Maybe it is finding a differentpractice room to practice in.
Maybe you practice in one partof the hallway and maybe you
want to maybe do a differentpart, or even opening a window,
or even something as niche asbringing a tiny plant or like
maybe even like a tiny fakeplant into a practice session,
into a practice room, to livenit up a little bit.
(02:50):
So whatever works for you findthat.
So think about it.
What would be good for you,right, what would be good?
Take a little thought aboutthat, see what you come up with.
Number two we have play for afew people to get feedback.
This is for when you don'treally know what to do in your
practice sessions.
Like we all know too well howstuck we can feel when we are
(03:12):
playing our pieces.
They sound good and we don'treally know what to do to make
them great.
Now, obviously, a lesson wouldbe good for that, right.
But if you are maybe in themiddle of the week or maybe you
don't have your lesson that dayor something, this is a great
way to kind of still get somefeedback.
(03:33):
So get a friend or a fewfriends and say, hey, I'm gonna
play this for you and I'd loveto know your thoughts, even if
it is a recording, like, make arecording on your phone, like
voice memo, and send it to them,or if it's in person, whatever
it is, just send it off to themand see what they say, because
chances are they might saysomething that you didn't think
(03:55):
of before, right, that youdidn't think of before.
And you were like, oh my gosh,yes, of course, of course.
Now, obviously, this is formusician friends, right?
Friends who are musicians.
And so send that off, right,send that off.
Or even maybe, if you reallywant to, and so send that off,
right, send that off.
Or even maybe, if you reallywant to post it on like
Instagram and caption hey, whatare your thoughts?
(04:16):
Right?
Something like that.
Just try and get some feedbackfrom people.
It's really, really, reallyhelpful, because then you're
like okay, I can work on thisand this and this.
It kind of gives you a littlebit of a refresh.
And number three we gotcelebrate your wins.
If you are not celebrating yourwins, then how are you going to
(04:39):
be motivated to keep practicing?
Can we just address that for asecond?
If you're not celebrating yourwins, then how in the world are
you going to be motivated tokeep going, right?
So, even if it's small, likewriting them down in a notebook,
telling a friend or somethinglike that you are celebrating
your wins, where at the end ofthe week, I write all of my wins
(05:00):
, all of the things that wentwell, or all of the things that
I've accomplished that I amproud of and I do it with oboe,
but I also do it in other areasin my life and that way I can go
back and celebrate.
I could be like, oh my gosh, Itotally forgot that on this day
I did this amazing thing.
And it can be so tiny or it canbe big, whatever you want for
(05:21):
you, but that is a small way tocelebrate.
You are acknowledging it andyou, in turn, are telling your
brain we are doing things, weare getting better at things and
we deserve to celebrateourselves.
Right Now, celebrating yourmusical wins sounds like a great
idea, but you might be sayingto me right now, eleanor, that
sounds great, but how do Iactually do that?
(05:42):
I don't really know how to dothat and I don't really know how
to figure out how to do that.
And to that I say I got you myfriend because I bring you the
Standing ovation series.
This series was first launcheda few months ago and it is a
three day series.
Every day, you will get anemail from me celebrating the
hard work that you have donethat day and giving you
(06:04):
insightful things to think aboutfor the next day of practice.
This is just like your personalstanding ovation for three days
.
Heck, yeah, sign me up.
Are you with me on this?
So if you are ready tocelebrate you because I
certainly am click the link inthe show notes to get on that
standing ovation series Because,seriously, I launched this
(06:27):
thing like two months ago or soand the people who did it the
first time had so many greatthings to say.
For instance, we got Kaylin whosaid I got to get back to my
oboe and I sounded quite okayafter a long time of no practice
.
You know the feeling of comingback to your instrument after a
time of rest and being excitedto start back at it again.
(06:50):
That was Kaylin or Nicholas whosaid your standing ovation
series did the trick.
It gave me added encouragementto challenge and surprise myself
.
Heck, yeah.
So if you want to be likeKaylin and Nick, sign up for
that standing ovation series.
It is in the show notes in thedescription below.
All right, let's do a quickrecap.
Number one we got change youratmosphere, whether it is big,
(07:14):
small, standing up, when youused to sit down, bringing like
a plant or something in, ormaybe just opening a window, if
you can, but try to change youratmosphere.
Number two we got playing for afew people to get feedback.
That is so extremely important,seriously, seriously, it is so
(07:36):
important, seriously, seriously,it is so important.
That gives you a chance to seeyour music and a different light
and get lots of exciting andinteresting feedback that you
might not have thought of.
And number three we gotcelebrate your wins.
If you are not celebrating yourwins, then how the heck are you
gonna be motivated to keeppracticing?
And if you're thinking, eleanor, how do I celebrate my wins?
(07:57):
I got you because we got thestanding ovation series, so make
sure you go sign up for that.
All right, that was it for today.
Thank you so much for listeningto the podcast.
As always, all the links to dowith this episode will be in the
description, will be in theshow notes from the blog post
that goes to this episode, tothe link for the standing
(08:18):
ovation series.
Make sure you go check that out.
You know, do yourself a favorand look at these show notes
because, let's be honest, thereare some good things in there
and if you want to support theconfident musicianing podcast.
Make sure you give it a followand I will see you next time.
All right, bye.
We've all been there, stuck in the practice room with
no motivation.
It sucks.
I'm guessing that you'veprobably been there too because
you're on this episode, or maybeit's going great.
You just wanted to make it evenbetter.
Either way, we're going to jumpinto three ways to freshen up
your sessions.
Let's go.
Hello and welcome to theConfident Musicianing Podcast.
(00:21):
Let's go, hello and welcome tothe Confident Musicianing
Podcast.
I'm your host, eleanor, andafter countless practice
sessions, a ton of broken reedsand seven different music school
acceptances in three differentcountries, I have learned a
thing or two about savoring yourpracticing, becoming your best
(00:41):
practice companion and activelyworking towards your musical
goals, and I want to share thiswith you because I want you to
become your best musical self.
Are you with me on this?
Let's get started.
Hey there and welcome.
(01:02):
Let's talk practice and how wecan actually enjoy it.
Let's dive right in Number one.
We got changing your atmosphere.
Now, changing your atmosphere?
You might be like what do youmean by that?
Let me tell you.
This might seem tough, becauseyou are stuck in a practice room
and you can't reallynecessarily like change or
(01:23):
decorate or rearrange the room,but I mean more like, even in
smaller ways.
Now if you are, say, practicingat home and not in a practice
room, then you can totally dowhatever you want.
You can decorate, you canrearrange if you really want to
get into that.
But for this I'm talking alittle bit more about smaller
ways.
For instance, standing when younormally sit.
(01:45):
I remember one time I felt sonot motivated and tired, but I
knew that I still had it alittle bit in me to practice.
I just couldn't find that.
So I tried something new.
I ditched the chair, raised thestand and stood up on my feet
to practice and, oh my gosh, itmade a huge difference.
All of a sudden I was excitedabout practicing, motivated to
(02:08):
practice, and I finished thatsession strong.
I was, to be honest, soextremely surprised about that.
The trick is to find that foryou.
What works for you?
Maybe for me it was standing up, maybe for you it's something
completely different.
So feel free to experiment alittle bit and like try things
and see how they go.
(02:29):
Maybe it is finding a differentpractice room to practice in.
Maybe you practice in one partof the hallway and maybe you
want to maybe do a differentpart, or even opening a window,
or even something as niche asbringing a tiny plant or like
maybe even like a tiny fakeplant into a practice session,
into a practice room, to livenit up a little bit.
(02:50):
So whatever works for you findthat.
So think about it.
What would be good for you,right, what would be good?
Take a little thought aboutthat, see what you come up with.
Number two we have play for afew people to get feedback.
This is for when you don'treally know what to do in your
practice sessions.
Like we all know too well howstuck we can feel when we are
(03:12):
playing our pieces.
They sound good and we don'treally know what to do to make
them great.
Now, obviously, a lesson wouldbe good for that, right.
But if you are maybe in themiddle of the week or maybe you
don't have your lesson that dayor something, this is a great
way to kind of still get somefeedback.
(03:33):
So get a friend or a fewfriends and say, hey, I'm gonna
play this for you and I'd loveto know your thoughts, even if
it is a recording, like, make arecording on your phone, like
voice memo, and send it to them,or if it's in person, whatever
it is, just send it off to themand see what they say, because
chances are they might saysomething that you didn't think
(03:55):
of before, right, that youdidn't think of before.
And you were like, oh my gosh,yes, of course, of course.
Now, obviously, this is formusician friends, right?
Friends who are musicians.
And so send that off, right,send that off.
Or even maybe, if you reallywant to, and so send that off,
right, send that off.
Or even maybe, if you reallywant to post it on like
Instagram and caption hey, whatare your thoughts?
(04:16):
Right?
Something like that.
Just try and get some feedbackfrom people.
It's really, really, reallyhelpful, because then you're
like okay, I can work on thisand this and this.
It kind of gives you a littlebit of a refresh.
And number three we gotcelebrate your wins.
If you are not celebrating yourwins, then how are you going to
(04:39):
be motivated to keep practicing?
Can we just address that for asecond?
If you're not celebrating yourwins, then how in the world are
you going to be motivated tokeep going, right?
So, even if it's small, likewriting them down in a notebook,
telling a friend or somethinglike that you are celebrating
your wins, where at the end ofthe week, I write all of my wins
(05:00):
, all of the things that wentwell, or all of the things that
I've accomplished that I amproud of and I do it with oboe,
but I also do it in other areasin my life and that way I can go
back and celebrate.
I could be like, oh my gosh, Itotally forgot that on this day
I did this amazing thing.
And it can be so tiny or it canbe big, whatever you want for
(05:21):
you, but that is a small way tocelebrate.
You are acknowledging it andyou, in turn, are telling your
brain we are doing things, weare getting better at things and
we deserve to celebrateourselves.
Right Now, celebrating yourmusical wins sounds like a great
idea, but you might be sayingto me right now, eleanor, that
sounds great, but how do Iactually do that?
(05:42):
I don't really know how to dothat and I don't really know how
to figure out how to do that.
And to that I say I got you myfriend because I bring you the
Standing ovation series.
This series was first launcheda few months ago and it is a
three day series.
Every day, you will get anemail from me celebrating the
hard work that you have donethat day and giving you
(06:04):
insightful things to think aboutfor the next day of practice.
This is just like your personalstanding ovation for three days
.
Heck, yeah, sign me up.
Are you with me on this?
So if you are ready tocelebrate you because I
certainly am click the link inthe show notes to get on that
standing ovation series Because,seriously, I launched this
(06:27):
thing like two months ago or soand the people who did it the
first time had so many greatthings to say.
For instance, we got Kaylin whosaid I got to get back to my
oboe and I sounded quite okayafter a long time of no practice
.
You know the feeling of comingback to your instrument after a
time of rest and being excitedto start back at it again.
(06:50):
That was Kaylin or Nicholas whosaid your standing ovation
series did the trick.
It gave me added encouragementto challenge and surprise myself
.
Heck, yeah.
So if you want to be likeKaylin and Nick, sign up for
that standing ovation series.
It is in the show notes in thedescription below.
All right, let's do a quickrecap.
Number one we got change youratmosphere, whether it is big,
(07:14):
small, standing up, when youused to sit down, bringing like
a plant or something in, ormaybe just opening a window, if
you can, but try to change youratmosphere.
Number two we got playing for afew people to get feedback.
That is so extremely important,seriously, seriously, it is so
(07:36):
important, seriously, seriously,it is so important.
That gives you a chance to seeyour music and a different light
and get lots of exciting andinteresting feedback that you
might not have thought of.
And number three we gotcelebrate your wins.
If you are not celebrating yourwins, then how the heck are you
gonna be motivated to keeppracticing?
And if you're thinking, eleanor, how do I celebrate my wins?
(07:57):
I got you because we got thestanding ovation series, so make
sure you go sign up for that.
All right, that was it for today.
Thank you so much for listeningto the podcast.
As always, all the links to dowith this episode will be in the
description, will be in theshow notes from the blog post
that goes to this episode, tothe link for the standing
(08:18):
ovation series.
Make sure you go check that out.
You know, do yourself a favorand look at these show notes
because, let's be honest, thereare some good things in there
and if you want to support theconfident musicianing podcast.
Make sure you give it a followand I will see you next time.
All right, bye.
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