3 Ways to Spark That Practice Motivation

Wanna get motivated this autumn? Here are 3 ways to spark that inspiration!

This episode has an accompanying blog post. Click here to read!

Use code ELEANOR15 for 15% off your Notabl_ practice journal, and level up your focus in your sessions! Click here for your journal. 

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Episode Transcript

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.
Hello, hello, hello, andwelcome back to another episode

(00:51):
of the Confident MusicianingPodcast.
Today we are going to bediscussing three ways to get
motivated this autumn for yourpracticing.
Yeah, because it's autumn, itis autumn, autumn.
By the time this episode comesout, it will be September.
September is autumn, I think itis.
I think it is, I think, um, interms, for me, winter is

(01:14):
December, january, february,spring is March, april, may,
summer is June, july, august,and then autumn, fall is August,
september, sorry, september,october, november.
So by that decision, it isautumn, which is very exciting
and kind of to look, lookingahead to autumn and to kind of

(01:37):
what, what we're going to wantto be doing this autumn.
That is what this episode isabout.
But before we get into all ofthose things, let's have a wee
life update.
So this is kind of a newsegment of the podcast which is
talking about kind of anythingand everything that I want to
let you know about what's beengoing on recently.
So for me, I have a little winthat I want to share with you,

(01:59):
and that is I tried a Europeancore on Glide Read recently the
first time and it worked Okay.
So that that's like a statementand I feel like there's more
behind that.
So let me kind of elaborate.
So I last year transitioned fromthe American style of oboe
playing to the European style ofoboe playing.
That is a big deal becausethey're very different.

(02:23):
They are very different styles.
I wasn't sure if I could do it.
I listened to some people whobelieved in me and decided you
know what, let's go for it.
And yeah, this past year hasbeen kind of relearning how to
play the oboe, basically atconservatoire, in the European
style.
But I never had gotten aroundto trying a European cor anglais
read.

(02:44):
Usually o'oists tend to alsoplay English horn cor anglais
For me.
I just had never gotten in asituation where I had to, so I
had never tried one.
And this past week, or this pastmonth-ish ish I went to um.

(03:09):
I played in a in a in anorchestra and I played the cor
anglais.
And I had to to do that.
And it was interesting becauseI did not have access to a cor
anglais before I did this courseit was like a week-long course,
um.
So I didn't have access to acor anglais.
I had to get the reeds, but Ididn't know if they would work.
So I was literally sat in arehearsal like, is this going to
work?
And it did, and so it was alittle nerve wracking.

(03:29):
I was like I don't know if it'sgoing to work, but it did work.
It was good.
There is a there's actually.
I posted on my Instagram and Ithink it's on TikTok as well the
video for that.
I recorded myself trying it forthe first time.
So, yeah, I'm very excited thatit worked.
It could have gone really badlyif I had worked because I was
already in a rehearsal for that.

(03:49):
But yeah, I know it was reallygood and I wanted to share that
with you.
Yeah, because it was a littlewin.
All right, let's get on to thecontent part of the episode,
basically the part of theepisode that you decided to
click on when you read the titleand that is three ways to get

(04:10):
motivated this autumn in yourpracticing, in basically just
your music preparation andpractice.
Okay, the first one is going toconcerts.
This might sound obvious to me.
People always say listen,listen, listen, listen to the
pieces that you're playing andlisten to other people perform

(04:31):
and blah, blah, blah.
I think a lot of people saythat a lot.
But going to a concert, likewith a live orchestra or
whatever ensemble you're goingto go see, going to a concert,
is a surreal experience.
It's like another experience towatch musicians perform pieces
and actually have so much joy.

(04:52):
Oh my gosh, it's the best, itreally is.
I recently went to a concert inthe Edinburgh International
Festival.
I was asked to attend a concertand, oh my gosh, it was amazing
.
The musicians.
You could tell that they werehaving fun, like this piece that
they were playing.
They were playing the BizetCarmen Suite, but it was
arranged for strings andpercussion, so kind of like the

(05:15):
the major melodies of the operaCarmen, just on marimba.
That was really fun.
That was really really fun andyou could tell the the musicians
were having fun and theaudience was like actually
laughing out loud because it wassuch fun.
It was the best.
But it really inspired me andit inspired me to to practice

(05:35):
more and to kind of be moreattentive and to to show more in
in my sessions and in myperforming and so kind of having
that as something that I wasdoing, I just it was.
Yeah, it was a great thing togo and see, and so it reminds me
.
You know, going to concerts isreally, really, really important

(05:57):
if we want to be motivated forthe autumn.
So what concert is happening inyour area, whether that's your
local orchestra or any ensembles, whatever it is like, I
challenge you to get sometickets or a ticket, or, you
know, get tickets to the events,to the concerts in your area

(06:19):
and just go see musiciansperform live.
It is amazing.
The next thing is to creategoals.
Okay, I think that this issomething that maybe you've
heard before, but creating goalscan be really helpful, because
practicing aimlessly is nothelpful, being like, okay, I
want to, you know, really focuson things this autumn.

(06:41):
So I'm just going to practiceevery day, but if you don't have
a goal, if you don't have adirection, it's just noise right
, it's just going to be like youplaying maybe the same thing
over and over again withoutactually having a goal.
Knowing what you're going towork towards is really important
, and that changes the game forpracticing.
So I invite you create threegoals this autumn.

(07:02):
What do you want to improve?
Okay, is it tone?
Is it stamina?
Is it technique?
Is it your trills?
Maybe Is it your vibrato?
You want to get better.
Um, is it maybe a specificpiece?
Maybe you want to schedule somesort of um concert or recital
at the end of autumn.
What if you did that?
What if, you like, took it uponyourself to do a project where

(07:26):
you perform something at the endof autumn and or at the end of
the year, whatever you know, orbefore then, whenever you want
to, but you set that date andyou work towards that.
Then you have some sort of youknow goal.
That's great.
What if you join an ensemblethat you know that there's going

(07:46):
to be some sort of performance,maybe at the end of the season,
and so that's something you canwork towards, something like
that.
Or maybe you have an auditionat the end of autumn.
That's something you can worktowards.
Or maybe the thing you worktowards is just knowing that you
have gotten better at your toneor your vibrato or whatever it
is, and you can also, maybe, inorder to track that, you can

(08:10):
take a video if you're playingnow and compare it to a video of
you're playing, you know, atthe end of the season.
I kind of have to do thatbecause I put my playing on the
internet.
That's something that I do.
So, um, for me it's kind oflike I have to do that Right.
For me it's kind of like I haveto do that.
I have to.
I'm kind of forced to listen tomyself play all the time so I

(08:31):
can kind of progress and mygrowth.
But if you don't do that, thenit would be understandable that
maybe you would have a hardertime kind of seeing that
progress and that growth.
So I challenge you, have thatgoal towards the end.
You know, create some goalsthis autumn, track your progress
, maybe videotape yourselfthrough like little increments

(08:53):
and, yeah, have those goals.
What will your goals be?
Maybe just make one to three.
If you have one big one, likeperform in this recital or
whatever.
That's a bigger goal.
But if you happen to be work onthis, do this and be a part of
this, then you have like threesmaller goals, something like
that.
So just do whatever works foryou, but have at least one goal

(09:13):
this autumn.
And then the last thing is toplan your sessions.
Motivation comes from movement.
I'm going to say that againbecause it's important.
Motivation comes from movement.
You don't get motivated andthen you go do the thing.
Motivation actually comes frommomentum.
It comes from movement.
It comes from already doingthese things, because you're

(09:33):
like okay, I see I've done thesethings.
You know things are moving inthe right direction.
I want to keep going.
That's motivation.
And so planning your sessionsand having good practice
sessions kind of inspires you tocontinue having good practice
sessions.
The more you move, the moremotivated you are to move.
Say that three times fast I'mnot going to try because it

(09:55):
sounds like something that maybeI won't be able to do but yeah,
the more you move, the moremotivated you are to move.
Just let that think in for asec.
So if you have, you know, if youshow up every day for yourself
and you have sessions, the moreyou know you'll want to do more
sessions and you'll want to seemore of that growth, and so for
me, a great way for me to kindof get that motivation for

(10:20):
movement is to have effectivesessions, have effective
practice sessions.
Plan those practice sessions soyou know what you're going to
focus on, you know when you'regoing to end the session and
it's all around.
Quite a good way to do that anda great tool that I use for
planning my sessions is anotable practice journal.
So this is a notable practicejournal.
So this is a notable practicejournal.

(10:40):
It is really helpful for me inmy sessions because not only can
I plan my sessions in it, but Ican also reflect.
So if something goes well, Ican write about it.
If something doesn't go well, Ican write about it as well, and
then the next day I can readthose things and be like, oh
yeah, I want to try this again,or I don't want to do that or
whatever it is, so that everysingle session can be better

(11:01):
planned, more effective and,overall, just a better session.
As soon as I found out that thiswas helping me, I knew I needed
to tell you about it and I knewI needed to give you a code.
So use code ELEANOR15 for 15%off your journal.
That is Eleanor15,e-l-e-a-n-o-r-1-5 for 15% off
your journal.
And, yeah, get yourself anAudible practice journal and

(11:24):
start practicing moreeffectively and have those
planned practice sessions.
There will be a link in thedescription, in the show notes,
for this code.
You know me, I do not recommendanything that I don't
absolutely love.
This code is an affiliate code,which means I do receive a
commission with no extra cost toyou.

(11:47):
Okay, let's do a recap.
Let's do a wee recap.
So the first thing is going toconcerts.
Going to concerts, oh my gosh,that's going to be really
helpful.
That can be really helpfulbecause you see other musicians
in places that you want to be Doyou know what I mean?
Like they are full of joy, theyare performing, they are
confident.
It's like, oh yes, that'samazing.
And concerts have been reallyhelpful, for me at least, to

(12:10):
really get that motivation going.
The second thing is creatinggoals, bigger goals.
What do you want to do at theend of the season?
What are you working towards,whether that's an actual kind of
event or maybe it's just animprovement of something.
Create that goal and track yourprogress.
And the last thing is planningyour sessions.
Motivation comes from movement,so having good, efficient,

(12:30):
planned sessions can help youget that motivation going.
And a great way that I plan mysessions is through a notable
practice journal.
So use that code, eleanor15 for15% off.
Alright, that is about it forthis episode.
Thank you so much for hangingout with me.
I'm so glad you did.
If you enjoyed it, please doshow the love, like, subscribe,
comment, share, follow, sharewith all of your friends.

(12:54):
Um, yeah, and I'm so glad youyou saw this or you listened to
this, and I will see you in sawthis or you listened to this,
and I will see you in the nextepisode.
Alright, take care, bye, bye.