March 25, 2025 • 16 mins
What makes a good music student? There are so many thoughts around this -- and even the question about what is "good," but here are 3 things that I have found make me a better music student in my day to day life studying at a conservatoire.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing
Podcast.
My name is Eleanor and I am aBritish American oboist studying
at the Royal Conservatoire ofScotland literally my dream
school and it took me a long wayto get there.
I applied and auditioned for 12schools in three different
countries.
It was a lot of hard work but,oh my gosh, so worth it.
(00:24):
I want you to have theconfidence to work hard in
achieving your goals, so comewith 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 ConfidentMusicianing Podcast.
What makes a good music student?
(00:45):
I feel like that question isvery subjective.
What is a good music student?
How can we quantify good?
To be honest, I'm not sure, butthese are things that I have
found from my first year so farstudying music at the Royal
Conservatoire of Scotland.
I have found a few things thathave helped me become a better
(01:08):
music student, and when I wasthinking of ideas for this
episode, I came up with so manythat this is going to be part
one and we're going to have parttwo because there's just so
many.
But today I want to bring toyou some things, some qualities,
some skills that I think havehelped me become a better music
(01:29):
student and can make a goodmusic student.
So, wherever you are, whetheryou are a music student, whether
you're thinking about being amusic student, whether you just
want to get better at music,let's dive into what makes a
good music student.
Alright, let's dive into it.
I'm excited.
(01:49):
The first thing is the abilityto adapt.
Now, that's very vague, solet's go into it.
I recently performed Beethoven'ssecond piano concerto.
Obviously, I played the oboe, Idid not play the piano, but I
was putting it last minute andbasically we had like a
rehearsal and then we had aperformance and, after being
(02:11):
honest with myself about whetherI could actually do it, because
you know, when I was asked todo it, I had to think you know,
can I actually do this?
Can this fit in my schedule?
After I realized you know whatI think it can, I had to adapt
really quickly to the piece, toperform it.
When you know, in the firstrehearsal I was like the new
person, because I was asked abit late and everyone else kind
(02:35):
of already knew what they weredoing.
I really had to adapt and, ifyou know, for instance, the
whole orchestra did a bigdiminuendo and I didn't know
that we were doing that becauseI wasn't in the rehearsal before
.
I had to quickly take note ofthat, write it down without
anyone telling me.
You know what I mean?
Like just being really, reallyadaptable and understanding
(02:57):
about this.
Adapting is an integral part ofbeing a musician.
In general, we have all adaptedat some point.
I am sure that every one of us,if we think about it, we can
think about maybe an example ofus adapting.
For me I was also.
So I was recently in arehearsal and I had to play the
choir anglais, the English horn,and I was asked to do that like
(03:18):
two days before the rehearsal,and so I was like okay, and the
only reed I had was an Americanscrape.
I have been playing Europeanstyle reads for the past what
eight months, and so I haven'tplayed an American style in so
long.
But since that was the onlyread I had, I had to adapt to it
.
I had to kind of go back in mybrain and remember all of the
(03:41):
things that I learned as anAmerican player and really just
kind of remember that and go forit.
Another thing that happened inthe same rehearsal was.
I borrowed a cor anglais fromthe people who were doing the
rehearsal and I realized in therehearsal that it is a thumb
plate style, which is a stylethat's common in the UK, but it
basically means that thefingering system is completely
(04:03):
different.
So I was basically learning howto play notes in this rehearsal
on a reed that I haven't playedthat style of in eight months,
and it was a lot.
I was very tired at the end ofthat day, but it was me adapting
.
I had to adapt to the reed andI had to adapt to the playing.
You know the fingering style.
(04:24):
Did I make mistakes?
Yes, I did make mistakes, butdid I adapt from those mistakes
and learn from each and everymistake I made?
Yes, and that was the reasonwhy I was able to play this
English horn with this reed.
So that was an amazingexperience.
But learning music andperforming music is all about
(04:45):
adapting.
So I wonder, maybe you couldthink about how do you want to
adapt?
How have you adapted in thepast?
This is something that maybeyou have done and you don't
realize that you've done becausewe just, as musicians, do it.
How do you want to adapt better?
Maybe you go to an orchestra.
You know, know, you play in anorchestra every week or
something, and maybe you couldadapt a bit more to the mistakes
(05:08):
that you've learned.
Maybe you could write more inyour score.
Maybe you know that's the taleis all the time.
Have you brought a pencil?
We all forget to bring pencils.
Um, but this idea of you know,do you learn from the mistakes
that you make?
And we can all learn more fromthe mistakes that we make.
But that's a really greatstarting point to learn how to
(05:29):
adapt.
So I challenge you to thinkabout the mistakes that you make
and think about, maybe, how canyou learn from them more,
rather than maybe just beinglike, oh, I made a mistake.
Be like, oh, I made a mistake,but now I know that that doesn't
work, so let's try it this way,okay, the next thing, number
two, is the ability to check inwith yourself and say if things
(05:49):
are too much for you.
This is a big one, and I failedat this earlier this year.
I was in so many projects.
I was in a wind orchestra, Iwas in the opera, I had personal
music stuff going on, I hadauditions going on, I was
performing things.
I had so much to do and I waspreparing for my technical exam
(06:15):
and I thought that I could doall of those things and it could
be great.
Spoiler alert I couldn't.
And, to be honest, looking backduring that time that I was
doing all of this stuff andtrying to prepare for this exam,
there was a little voice in theback of my head that said
Eleanor, please stop, this isn'tgoing to work, please stop.
But the thing is, I didn'tlisten to that voice.
I did not listen to that voiceat all and I just kept going and
(06:38):
I filled my time with work andI just didn't listen.
And you know what?
I failed my exam filled my timewith work and I just didn't
listen.
And you know what?
I failed my exam.
I failed that exam and Ihaven't really talked about that
on the internet yet and I'mplanning to, but I did and it's
okay.
I am gonna do a reset and I amgoing to learn new skills to be
able to prepare better.
(06:59):
It wasn't because I didn'tpractice enough.
It was because I practiced toomuch and I didn't listen to
myself, or you know, I didn'tlisten to that.
It was because I practiced toomuch and I didn't listen to
myself.
Or you know, I didn't listen tothat little voice when it said
Eleanor, you're doing too much,this isn't going to end well.
So now, every morning I havemaybe I've done a few things
differently I meditate for fiveminutes and I listen to whatever
(07:19):
comes up in my mind.
If I wake up in the morning andI meditate for five minutes and
my mind is saying you are doingtoo much, you're in too many
projects, I'm stressed aboutthis, I'm stressed about that,
it's a great time for me to calmdown but maybe also listen to
those voices.
Now, sometimes those voicesmight be like saying that and we
know that.
We're okay, but sometimes it'sreally good to listen to those
(07:40):
voices and that's what I havebeen doing recently and just at
least acknowledging them,because one of the big reasons
why in earlier this year, myplan to do everything under the
sun and also pass my exam didn'twork was because I did not
listen to myself when I knewthat it wasn't going to work.
I think that's a big thing.
(08:03):
So, if you are in a ton ofprojects or feel like maybe you
are doing too much, try to tuneinto yourself and if you need to
speak to someone about it likespeak up, you know I what, what
I should have done during thistime was went to a teacher or
you know the person who plansthese things and puts me in
these projects and say somethinglike this is too much, I don't
(08:25):
think I can do all of this andalso prepare it for my exam well
and pass it, and that'ssomething that I fail to do.
But in the future, this, thisgoes back to adaptability in the
future, I know that I will beable to do that because I've had
this experience of, you know,not listening to myself and not
doing that.
So I think that's a big one andI challenge you to think about,
(08:48):
maybe, if you are doing toomuch, listen to yourself about
that, because that's very, very,very helpful to think about.
Okay, the last thing for todayand I will be doing a part two
because I have so many things,but the last thing for today is
networking, the networkingability.
Oh my gosh, this is a big one.
(09:09):
So, for me, I have a lot oflectures because I, you know,
I'm in music school and a lot ofthose lectures have guest
speakers, either guest speakersor, if you know, there's a
masterclass, there's a guestperformer, etc.
And they are honestly reallyinteresting people.
One of the great things aboutloving music in a music school
(09:31):
is that you get to meet peopleyou genuinely are interested in
working with or they're doingcool things and you're excited
about their projects doing coolthings and you're excited about
their projects.
And so a lot of times I do goup to these people after the
lectures and introduce myselfbecause I'm really interested in
what they have to say and Iwant to make that connection
(09:51):
because I don't know what couldhappen in the future.
I might want to collaboratewith them on a project and
having those connections can beso helpful.
And I think you know a lot ofthe time I've felt like, okay, I
need to go up and introducemyself to this person and I need
to hit it off and it needs tobe great.
And now we're best friends andwe have five projects.
(10:12):
That is so like so muchpressure.
It can be as simple as hi, myname is.
This was really interesting.
It's lovely to meet you andsome of these interactions are
going to be great and maybe youdo have a great interaction, but
sometimes it's just going to bethat and that is perfectly fine
, having different interactionsat different times and different
(10:36):
levels is great, but havingthose abilities to network is so
, so crucial.
I am also surrounded in my musicschool.
I'm surrounded by musicians whoare potential colleagues, you
know, in future situations I can, you know, collaborate with
them, do gigs with them, recordwith them Maybe I'll be in an
(10:56):
orchestra with them.
Having connections like that isso important.
So, if you are in a musicschool or you're thinking about
being in a music school,connecting with already
professional people is a greatidea.
But also connect with peoplewho go to the music school as
well, because they will be thenext generation of professionals
(11:19):
and that's great to alreadyhave contacts with them, because
then you will hopefully be inthe next generation of
professionals, which sounds soexciting.
So I know that reaching out topeople and networking can be
nerve-wracking and that'ssomething that I still work on.
I you know, not only do Inetwork professionally in like
(11:39):
music situations, but I also sayhi to people in my personal
life, like, just, you know, I'mlike at a coffee shop and maybe
I like someone's top.
I tell them that and that's sostressful because I'm I'm
worried about you know what theymight say?
Well, they think I'm weird,blah, blah, blah, um.
But the reward is so muchgreater and having those
practices can really help me toactually, you know, be a good
(12:01):
networker when it comes to musicand the professional world, so
that's something that can bereally helpful.
You know, just getting outthere and networking, and yes,
it might be nerve-wracking andyes, you might feel a bit weird,
but the reward is so muchgreater than the nerves of it
all right.
So I challenge you talk topeople, network.
(12:21):
It's great.
Just just introduce yourselfand show genuine interest in
what they are talking about.
Only if you have genuineinterest.
Don't fake it, um, but showingthat genuine interest that you
have is so, so, so good.
All right, a bonus before we go, because I gotta tell you about
this.
I feel like when we think aboutwhat makes a good music student,
(12:43):
one of the first things wemight think about is they
practice well, and one of thethings like I really didn't want
to start off the episode withthat, because I feel like that's
obvious.
I want to talk about the thingsthat are really kind of more,
maybe not seen as well, but wedo have to talk a little bit
about practice, because practiceis, you know the thing that we
(13:03):
do as musicians and planningpractice is also so, so
important.
How we plan our practice setsthe whole tone for actually
practicing, and, as a busy musicstudent at a conservatoire, my
practice needs to be aseffective as it possibly can,
which is why I use a notablepractice journal.
(13:25):
This practice journal, thisnotable practice journal,
literally has my whole practiceworld organized in it.
It makes my sessions so muchmore effective, rather than just
me going to a practice roomhaving no plan and just playing
what's in front of me and thenfeeling like, oh, I haven't
actually achieved anything.
When I use a notable practicejournal, I have goals, I have
(13:46):
things that I'm going to do.
I know when I finish mypracticing because I have
completed all the things thatI've planned out to do.
And there's a reflectionsection as well, so that I can
get better in every sessionthrough reflection.
Literally, this is like sohelpful.
And as soon as I figured outthat this was working, I knew
that I needed to tell you aboutit and I knew that I needed to
(14:08):
give you a code.
So use code Eleanor15 for 15%off your journal and, yeah, get
planning your practice.
That is Eleanor15 for 15% off.
E-l-e-a-n-o-r-1-5 for 15% off.
You know that I wouldn'trecommend anything that I don't
absolutely love.
(14:29):
This code is an affiliate code,which means I do receive a
commission with no extra cost toyou.
All right, let's do a bit of arecap, shall we?
Because I feel like I was soexcited to record this episode
because it's so good.
I feel like there's so muchgoodness that I want to share
with you in it.
So the first thing is theability to adapt New projects,
(14:52):
new things, issues in rehearsals, issues in performances, the
ability to look at a situationand be like how can we make the
best of it?
And just adapting is so, so, sohelpful.
The next thing is the ability tocheck in with yourself and, you
know, say if things are toomuch, Don't be like me.
Don't be like me who tried todo everything under the sun and
also passed our exams and failed.
(15:14):
Yeah, check in with yourself,and that's something that I'm
trying to do as well.
So let's keep each otheraccountable with that.
We're both trying to do thattogether, so let's check in with
ourselves.
The next thing is networkingAbility to network, literally
just going up and saying helloto people, making connections,
not putting so much pressure onthat connection as well.
(15:35):
Just let it be what it is, andif it ends up being a
possibility or a collaborationor something, then that is so,
so good.
And the last thing ispracticing well planning
practice and using a notablepractice journal, because this
is like my new favorite thing inmy practice room.
All right, that is about it fortoday's episode.
(15:59):
Thank you so much for listening.
As always, all the things to dowith this episode will be in
the show notes in thedescription, from the blog post
to the link to get your notablepractice journal.
Don't forget to use the codeEleanor15 for 15% off.
Yeah, if you enjoyed thisepisode, please do give it some
love, like, subscribe, share,comment, follow all the things.
(16:22):
Give it some love, like,subscribe, share, comment,
follow all the things and I willsee you in the next episode.
All right, till next time.
Bye-bye.
Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing
Podcast.
My name is Eleanor and I am aBritish American oboist studying
at the Royal Conservatoire ofScotland literally my dream
school and it took me a long wayto get there.
I applied and auditioned for 12schools in three different
countries.
It was a lot of hard work but,oh my gosh, so worth it.
(00:24):
I want you to have theconfidence to work hard in
achieving your goals, so comewith 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 ConfidentMusicianing Podcast.
What makes a good music student?
(00:45):
I feel like that question isvery subjective.
What is a good music student?
How can we quantify good?
To be honest, I'm not sure, butthese are things that I have
found from my first year so farstudying music at the Royal
Conservatoire of Scotland.
I have found a few things thathave helped me become a better
(01:08):
music student, and when I wasthinking of ideas for this
episode, I came up with so manythat this is going to be part
one and we're going to have parttwo because there's just so
many.
But today I want to bring toyou some things, some qualities,
some skills that I think havehelped me become a better music
(01:29):
student and can make a goodmusic student.
So, wherever you are, whetheryou are a music student, whether
you're thinking about being amusic student, whether you just
want to get better at music,let's dive into what makes a
good music student.
Alright, let's dive into it.
I'm excited.
(01:49):
The first thing is the abilityto adapt.
Now, that's very vague, solet's go into it.
I recently performed Beethoven'ssecond piano concerto.
Obviously, I played the oboe, Idid not play the piano, but I
was putting it last minute andbasically we had like a
rehearsal and then we had aperformance and, after being
(02:11):
honest with myself about whetherI could actually do it, because
you know, when I was asked todo it, I had to think you know,
can I actually do this?
Can this fit in my schedule?
After I realized you know whatI think it can, I had to adapt
really quickly to the piece, toperform it.
When you know, in the firstrehearsal I was like the new
person, because I was asked abit late and everyone else kind
(02:35):
of already knew what they weredoing.
I really had to adapt and, ifyou know, for instance, the
whole orchestra did a bigdiminuendo and I didn't know
that we were doing that becauseI wasn't in the rehearsal before
.
I had to quickly take note ofthat, write it down without
anyone telling me.
You know what I mean?
Like just being really, reallyadaptable and understanding
(02:57):
about this.
Adapting is an integral part ofbeing a musician.
In general, we have all adaptedat some point.
I am sure that every one of us,if we think about it, we can
think about maybe an example ofus adapting.
For me I was also.
So I was recently in arehearsal and I had to play the
choir anglais, the English horn,and I was asked to do that like
(03:18):
two days before the rehearsal,and so I was like okay, and the
only reed I had was an Americanscrape.
I have been playing Europeanstyle reads for the past what
eight months, and so I haven'tplayed an American style in so
long.
But since that was the onlyread I had, I had to adapt to it
.
I had to kind of go back in mybrain and remember all of the
(03:41):
things that I learned as anAmerican player and really just
kind of remember that and go forit.
Another thing that happened inthe same rehearsal was.
I borrowed a cor anglais fromthe people who were doing the
rehearsal and I realized in therehearsal that it is a thumb
plate style, which is a stylethat's common in the UK, but it
basically means that thefingering system is completely
(04:03):
different.
So I was basically learning howto play notes in this rehearsal
on a reed that I haven't playedthat style of in eight months,
and it was a lot.
I was very tired at the end ofthat day, but it was me adapting
.
I had to adapt to the reed andI had to adapt to the playing.
You know the fingering style.
(04:24):
Did I make mistakes?
Yes, I did make mistakes, butdid I adapt from those mistakes
and learn from each and everymistake I made?
Yes, and that was the reasonwhy I was able to play this
English horn with this reed.
So that was an amazingexperience.
But learning music andperforming music is all about
(04:45):
adapting.
So I wonder, maybe you couldthink about how do you want to
adapt?
How have you adapted in thepast?
This is something that maybeyou have done and you don't
realize that you've done becausewe just, as musicians, do it.
How do you want to adapt better?
Maybe you go to an orchestra.
You know, know, you play in anorchestra every week or
something, and maybe you couldadapt a bit more to the mistakes
(05:08):
that you've learned.
Maybe you could write more inyour score.
Maybe you know that's the taleis all the time.
Have you brought a pencil?
We all forget to bring pencils.
Um, but this idea of you know,do you learn from the mistakes
that you make?
And we can all learn more fromthe mistakes that we make.
But that's a really greatstarting point to learn how to
(05:29):
adapt.
So I challenge you to thinkabout the mistakes that you make
and think about, maybe, how canyou learn from them more,
rather than maybe just beinglike, oh, I made a mistake.
Be like, oh, I made a mistake,but now I know that that doesn't
work, so let's try it this way,okay, the next thing, number
two, is the ability to check inwith yourself and say if things
(05:49):
are too much for you.
This is a big one, and I failedat this earlier this year.
I was in so many projects.
I was in a wind orchestra, Iwas in the opera, I had personal
music stuff going on, I hadauditions going on, I was
performing things.
I had so much to do and I waspreparing for my technical exam
(06:15):
and I thought that I could doall of those things and it could
be great.
Spoiler alert I couldn't.
And, to be honest, looking backduring that time that I was
doing all of this stuff andtrying to prepare for this exam,
there was a little voice in theback of my head that said
Eleanor, please stop, this isn'tgoing to work, please stop.
But the thing is, I didn'tlisten to that voice.
I did not listen to that voiceat all and I just kept going and
(06:38):
I filled my time with work andI just didn't listen.
And you know what?
I failed my exam filled my timewith work and I just didn't
listen.
And you know what?
I failed my exam.
I failed that exam and Ihaven't really talked about that
on the internet yet and I'mplanning to, but I did and it's
okay.
I am gonna do a reset and I amgoing to learn new skills to be
able to prepare better.
(06:59):
It wasn't because I didn'tpractice enough.
It was because I practiced toomuch and I didn't listen to
myself, or you know, I didn'tlisten to that.
It was because I practiced toomuch and I didn't listen to
myself.
Or you know, I didn't listen tothat little voice when it said
Eleanor, you're doing too much,this isn't going to end well.
So now, every morning I havemaybe I've done a few things
differently I meditate for fiveminutes and I listen to whatever
(07:19):
comes up in my mind.
If I wake up in the morning andI meditate for five minutes and
my mind is saying you are doingtoo much, you're in too many
projects, I'm stressed aboutthis, I'm stressed about that,
it's a great time for me to calmdown but maybe also listen to
those voices.
Now, sometimes those voicesmight be like saying that and we
know that.
We're okay, but sometimes it'sreally good to listen to those
(07:40):
voices and that's what I havebeen doing recently and just at
least acknowledging them,because one of the big reasons
why in earlier this year, myplan to do everything under the
sun and also pass my exam didn'twork was because I did not
listen to myself when I knewthat it wasn't going to work.
I think that's a big thing.
(08:03):
So, if you are in a ton ofprojects or feel like maybe you
are doing too much, try to tuneinto yourself and if you need to
speak to someone about it likespeak up, you know I what, what
I should have done during thistime was went to a teacher or
you know the person who plansthese things and puts me in
these projects and say somethinglike this is too much, I don't
(08:25):
think I can do all of this andalso prepare it for my exam well
and pass it, and that'ssomething that I fail to do.
But in the future, this, thisgoes back to adaptability in the
future, I know that I will beable to do that because I've had
this experience of, you know,not listening to myself and not
doing that.
So I think that's a big one andI challenge you to think about,
(08:48):
maybe, if you are doing toomuch, listen to yourself about
that, because that's very, very,very helpful to think about.
Okay, the last thing for todayand I will be doing a part two
because I have so many things,but the last thing for today is
networking, the networkingability.
Oh my gosh, this is a big one.
(09:09):
So, for me, I have a lot oflectures because I, you know,
I'm in music school and a lot ofthose lectures have guest
speakers, either guest speakersor, if you know, there's a
masterclass, there's a guestperformer, etc.
And they are honestly reallyinteresting people.
One of the great things aboutloving music in a music school
(09:31):
is that you get to meet peopleyou genuinely are interested in
working with or they're doingcool things and you're excited
about their projects doing coolthings and you're excited about
their projects.
And so a lot of times I do goup to these people after the
lectures and introduce myselfbecause I'm really interested in
what they have to say and Iwant to make that connection
(09:51):
because I don't know what couldhappen in the future.
I might want to collaboratewith them on a project and
having those connections can beso helpful.
And I think you know a lot ofthe time I've felt like, okay, I
need to go up and introducemyself to this person and I need
to hit it off and it needs tobe great.
And now we're best friends andwe have five projects.
(10:12):
That is so like so muchpressure.
It can be as simple as hi, myname is.
This was really interesting.
It's lovely to meet you andsome of these interactions are
going to be great and maybe youdo have a great interaction, but
sometimes it's just going to bethat and that is perfectly fine
, having different interactionsat different times and different
(10:36):
levels is great, but havingthose abilities to network is so
, so crucial.
I am also surrounded in my musicschool.
I'm surrounded by musicians whoare potential colleagues, you
know, in future situations I can, you know, collaborate with
them, do gigs with them, recordwith them Maybe I'll be in an
(10:56):
orchestra with them.
Having connections like that isso important.
So, if you are in a musicschool or you're thinking about
being in a music school,connecting with already
professional people is a greatidea.
But also connect with peoplewho go to the music school as
well, because they will be thenext generation of professionals
(11:19):
and that's great to alreadyhave contacts with them, because
then you will hopefully be inthe next generation of
professionals, which sounds soexciting.
So I know that reaching out topeople and networking can be
nerve-wracking and that'ssomething that I still work on.
I you know, not only do Inetwork professionally in like
(11:39):
music situations, but I also sayhi to people in my personal
life, like, just, you know, I'mlike at a coffee shop and maybe
I like someone's top.
I tell them that and that's sostressful because I'm I'm
worried about you know what theymight say?
Well, they think I'm weird,blah, blah, blah, um.
But the reward is so muchgreater and having those
practices can really help me toactually, you know, be a good
(12:01):
networker when it comes to musicand the professional world, so
that's something that can bereally helpful.
You know, just getting outthere and networking, and yes,
it might be nerve-wracking andyes, you might feel a bit weird,
but the reward is so muchgreater than the nerves of it
all right.
So I challenge you talk topeople, network.
(12:21):
It's great.
Just just introduce yourselfand show genuine interest in
what they are talking about.
Only if you have genuineinterest.
Don't fake it, um, but showingthat genuine interest that you
have is so, so, so good.
All right, a bonus before we go, because I gotta tell you about
this.
I feel like when we think aboutwhat makes a good music student,
(12:43):
one of the first things wemight think about is they
practice well, and one of thethings like I really didn't want
to start off the episode withthat, because I feel like that's
obvious.
I want to talk about the thingsthat are really kind of more,
maybe not seen as well, but wedo have to talk a little bit
about practice, because practiceis, you know the thing that we
(13:03):
do as musicians and planningpractice is also so, so
important.
How we plan our practice setsthe whole tone for actually
practicing, and, as a busy musicstudent at a conservatoire, my
practice needs to be aseffective as it possibly can,
which is why I use a notablepractice journal.
(13:25):
This practice journal, thisnotable practice journal,
literally has my whole practiceworld organized in it.
It makes my sessions so muchmore effective, rather than just
me going to a practice roomhaving no plan and just playing
what's in front of me and thenfeeling like, oh, I haven't
actually achieved anything.
When I use a notable practicejournal, I have goals, I have
(13:46):
things that I'm going to do.
I know when I finish mypracticing because I have
completed all the things thatI've planned out to do.
And there's a reflectionsection as well, so that I can
get better in every sessionthrough reflection.
Literally, this is like sohelpful.
And as soon as I figured outthat this was working, I knew
that I needed to tell you aboutit and I knew that I needed to
(14:08):
give you a code.
So use code Eleanor15 for 15%off your journal and, yeah, get
planning your practice.
That is Eleanor15 for 15% off.
E-l-e-a-n-o-r-1-5 for 15% off.
You know that I wouldn'trecommend anything that I don't
absolutely love.
(14:29):
This code is an affiliate code,which means I do receive a
commission with no extra cost toyou.
All right, let's do a bit of arecap, shall we?
Because I feel like I was soexcited to record this episode
because it's so good.
I feel like there's so muchgoodness that I want to share
with you in it.
So the first thing is theability to adapt New projects,
(14:52):
new things, issues in rehearsals, issues in performances, the
ability to look at a situationand be like how can we make the
best of it?
And just adapting is so, so, sohelpful.
The next thing is the ability tocheck in with yourself and, you
know, say if things are toomuch, Don't be like me.
Don't be like me who tried todo everything under the sun and
also passed our exams and failed.
(15:14):
Yeah, check in with yourself,and that's something that I'm
trying to do as well.
So let's keep each otheraccountable with that.
We're both trying to do thattogether, so let's check in with
ourselves.
The next thing is networkingAbility to network, literally
just going up and saying helloto people, making connections,
not putting so much pressure onthat connection as well.
(15:35):
Just let it be what it is, andif it ends up being a
possibility or a collaborationor something, then that is so,
so good.
And the last thing ispracticing well planning
practice and using a notablepractice journal, because this
is like my new favorite thing inmy practice room.
All right, that is about it fortoday's episode.
(15:59):
Thank you so much for listening.
As always, all the things to dowith this episode will be in
the show notes in thedescription, from the blog post
to the link to get your notablepractice journal.
Don't forget to use the codeEleanor15 for 15% off.
Yeah, if you enjoyed thisepisode, please do give it some
love, like, subscribe, share,comment, follow all the things.
(16:22):
Give it some love, like,subscribe, share, comment,
follow all the things and I willsee you in the next episode.
All right, till next time.
Bye-bye.
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