July 22, 2025 • 18 mins
At first it felt overwhelming -- how was I going to direct myself without the guidance of weekly oboe lessons? After a good number of weeks in, I've started to find routine without that guidance, and I've had some interesting realisations about my practice. Here is how I am managing my time without a teacher.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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
(00:45):
of the podcast.
I hope that you are having agood day.
Today.
It is so rainy, like it juststarted raining.
This morning wasn't rainy and Iwent for a nice walk and that
was lovely.
But it has been so rainyrecently in Scotland and it has
just started raining again,which you know what is lovely.
I love the smell of rain.
(01:06):
I don't know if you like thesmell of rain, but I absolutely
love it.
It is the best smell and it isthe perfect time to kind of cozy
up and talk about music, talkabout practicing and all of the
fun things that we talk about onthis podcast.
So today we're going to betalking and diving into
(01:29):
something that I find reallyinteresting and I hope you do
too Basically what my practicelooks like this summer, because
this summer is different fromany other summer I have had as
an oboist, and that is becauseit is the first summer that I
don't have weekly lessons.
Because I am currently studyingat a conservatoire and it's
(01:53):
currently summer, I don't haveweekly lessons, which is a new
thing for me.
It's really exciting.
Also kind of scary, like Ihaven't had a lesson, an oboe
lesson, in like a month.
What it's crazy For me at leastLike I feel very kind of like
this is not something I'm usedto doing usually.
(02:14):
I mean, since I was.
I think I started oboe lessonslike weekly lessons when I was
11.
11.
So since, like I was 11, whichwas a while ago, um, I have been
having a, you know, weeklycheck-in with an oboist every
single week in the form of alesson.
And now you know for thesethree months that I'm not that
(02:38):
that I have the summer.
I don't have that, and so I wasreally worried at the beginning
.
You know how would I keepmyself accountable?
How would I structure it?
I've never had that situation,so I didn't know how I would
kind of react to it and honestly, looking back, like it's been,
it's been about a month of this.
I have, you know, a few monthsor a couple of months still to
(03:02):
go of this, but I thought whydon't we do a little bit of a
check-in with that, like we justhave a little bit of a chat
about it, because I've had somereally interesting discoveries
when I am not in kind of alesson structure and I'd love to
share these things with you.
So, whether you are currentlyhaving lessons and you're just
(03:23):
curious what it's like, or maybeyou're also in the same kind of
situation where you don't havelessons in the summer, maybe
this can help, I don't know, buthopefully it can be helpful and
we can dive right into mytakeaways from what I have done.
(03:45):
So the first thing that I thinkis important is kind of what my
practice looks like, because Ihave full range.
I mean like I have, like Icould just stop practicing if I
really wanted to, but I don'twant to do that.
I love playing the oboe andthat's not something that I want
to do.
So there is to do that.
(04:09):
I love playing the oboe andthat's not something that I want
to do.
So there is kind of that.
I think.
At the beginning it wasinteresting because, you know, I
had just finished my exams andI was absolutely like quite
tired, like I was feeling quiteenergetic and I talk about that
on a previous episode but interms of like oboe playing I was
still feeling quite tired.
It was kind of a double feelingat the same time.
It felt quite weird, but I hadto kind of rest a little bit
(04:29):
from the oboe.
So I took a few days and I justdidn't practice at all and then
I started just kind of gettingback into it slowly, which was
good, and then I started backinto it.
But I think as well I thinkthat's important to note I did
take some time off and it wasn'tthat much time, but it was.
It was a good amount of time tokind of help me reset after the
(04:54):
the craziness that is playingexams.
But now I am kind of in a betterroutine, in a better situation
where I can do this and have abetter kind of form of practice
and layout of practice.
So the first thing that I dowhen I practice is I kind of
(05:15):
have like my meat and potatoes,as you will, kind of like the
main course of my practicing.
You know you eat your broccolibefore you eat your cake, type
thing, and so for me that isetudes, that is warming up
exercises.
I have like fundamentalexercises where I go through
things like vibrato,articulation, dynamics, scales,
(05:38):
all of these things that I doall the time, and then I have my
etudes and those things arereally, really good and that's
kind of like the meat andpotatoes or the main course, if
you will, and I do that everysingle day and it just really
grounds me, because I think oneof the things that I was nervous
about at the beginning of thiswas I was nervous that I
(06:00):
wouldn't stay focused.
I would like all of a sudden,you know I would blink and then
the summer's over and what haveI actually done, you know.
But having this kind of routinewhere I have my fundamentals
that I do every day and then Ialso have my etudes I do that is
a great possibility for me toreally think about my playing
(06:24):
and look at it in a morearticulate way and kind of focus
on my growth as a player andalso not completely derail from
from organization, which I don'tthink I would.
But you know, we all have thatfear sometimes I feel, um.
So that's the first thing thatI kind of do to make sure that I
(06:44):
have that and it really startsmy day off on the right foot in
terms of practicing, because Iknow that I've done that main
course and that it's been, it'sbeen good, and then the, the
next thing that I do, which isreally interesting, and I kind
of consider this more of like adessert, but maybe not like a
complete dessert, but kind oflike another course but not the
(07:07):
main one, and that is kind ofthe things that I didn't have
time to explore during theschool year I can do now.
So, for instance, I like mydegree is going to be like oboe
performance and that's classicalmusic and for me that's.
You know, I'm so excited aboutthat.
(07:27):
That's what I worked on thisentire year.
But I also absolutely love jazz, I love improv, I love things
like that, and I didn't reallyhave time to dive into that
during my year, and so that'ssomething that I am doing over
the summer and it's actuallyreally exciting because I'm like
focusing on that.
I'm looking at different likethings in jazz how jazz is
(07:51):
structured, how it works.
You know, I'm looking at improv.
I'm taking my, the things thatI learned in my theory class,
for instance, during my year,and using them to understand
jazz tunes, things like that.
Like, that's something that youknow is not part of my degree,
but I actually really enjoy it.
So that's something that I havetime to do over the summer,
(08:12):
which is very, very exciting.
It is very exciting and, oh mygosh, like I love, I love jazz.
I don't know if you know thisabout me, but I do absolutely
love jazz, um, as well asclassical music.
So this is just a great thing.
And I've always thought, youknow, I want to do jazz oboe, um
, in some capacity, like I wantto have the skills to play jazz
(08:34):
on the oboe.
So that's something that I'mdiving into and it's really fun.
So I think for for that, youknow, thinking about what, what
is that thing that you havealways wanted to do on your
instrument?
You know that might not havemuch to do with, like, what
you've been doing this past year.
So, like, depending on you know, whether you are like in are in
(08:57):
high school right now, or maybein university studying whatever
it is.
What was that one thing thatyou did not have time to do
during the academic year?
Maybe that you know, summer isthe opportunity to do that and
you know, for me that is improvand kind of learning more about
jazz, but for you it might bewhatever you want it to be,
(09:19):
depending on what you didn't getthe time to work on over the
academic year, just likeexperiment and have fun with it.
I think that's a great thingand that does bring joy.
I did another episode recentlyabout kind of finding joy in
your practice and cultivating it, especially when, um, you might
get stressed from practicing umor or the you know the, the
(09:42):
stress of, of getting thingsright and things like that can
kind of weigh down on you.
Um, when you're practicing,when you're preparing for
something like an audition orperformance, how can we
cultivate that joy and that?
That?
This is also something thatkind of cultivates the joy,
experimenting, leaving room forcuriosity, and that's something
that I do in my practice as well, some takeaways that I've had
(10:04):
like.
So so that's kind of thestructure, what I just talked
about.
That's kind of the structure ofmy practice.
I am also going to beintroducing more repertoire into
my practice.
That's kind of what ishappening right now and I think
that I'm going to introduce morestuff to it, but that's kind of
(10:25):
the current situation.
Yeah, I don't think I've evershared like exactly what I do in
my practice with you guysbefore, so that's very exciting.
But that's kind of what mycurrent focus is at the moment
and I know that I want to addsome repertoire because I have
(10:46):
some things coming up and that'sgoing to be something that I'm
going to add.
But right now that's kind ofwhat I'm focusing on now, kind
of some things that I'verealized and learned from having
this time without and without ateacher um and a and a, a, you
know weekly lessons.
I've learned that I've becomemore focused and critical in my
(11:07):
practice and this this is weird,this is interesting.
I remember I once had a teacherback in the States who said that
the point of having lessons isso that one day I can be my own
teacher and ask the rightquestions of myself, and for me
that is like whoa, that's quitecrazy.
I remember sitting and thinking, oh gosh, that's wild because,
(11:31):
yeah, when you become aprofessional, you know you don't
have weekly lessons.
Do you know what I mean?
Like you have to ask thosequestions of yourself when
you're practicing, and that'ssomething that you know is is
quite when.
When I heard my teacher saythat for the first time, that
was quite mind-blowing to me.
But it is so true and I don'tthink that I'm there yet.
You know, I don't think thatI'm like oh yes, I am asking all
(11:53):
the correct questions, but Ihave noticed that I have been
more focused and more criticalas a student and I've kind of
had the right, not the rightquestion, not all the right
questions, but more focusedquestions in my mind.
I've been able to be moreattuned as to what I am doing
(12:14):
and how I can do it better.
I think that there's there was apart of me when I had lessons
with that was like oh yeah, Ithink there's something that I
could improve with this, but I'mnot completely sure I'll wait
until my lesson, my teacher willtell me.
I think we can all kind ofrelate to that a little bit,
even if it's subconscious.
And I think, because I've hadthis time without lessons, I've
(12:37):
noticed that I think if youasked me this a few months ago
I'd be like no, I don't reallydo that.
But now I'm like, yeah, no, Idid do that because I didn't
realize it was more subconscious.
But now that I don't have alesson to go to and a teacher at
the moment a teacher to say,you know, I am um, like this is,
(12:58):
this is a thing you have towork on.
I have to, um, kind of do thaton my own.
And that's a very excitingprospect because I'm learning
how to do that on my own and I'mlearning how to ask the right
questions, so that next year,you know, when I do have a
teacher, um, I, I can still askthe right questions.
It can be doubly exciting anddoubly focused.
Um, yeah, I think that's reallyexciting.
(13:22):
Yeah, um, and so I think forfor us, when we think about that
, I wonder you asking ourselvesmaybe it could be helpful to ask
ourselves are we waiting for ateacher to tell us what to do?
I think in some stages it isgood to do that, especially if
(13:45):
we honestly have no idea how towork through this.
But are we doing that to thepoint where we could be more
focused?
But it's easier to ask ourteacher, what can we focus on,
and I challenge you in your nextpractice session to kind of
imagine you are in your lesson.
What would your teacher say?
(14:06):
What do you think your teacherwould say, and see if you can
work on that.
Now it is quite an interestingprospect, honestly, to have
those questions already in yourhead, and I am sure there are so
many questions my teacher wouldsay to me that I haven't
(14:26):
thought about.
I think it is so important tohave you know second opinions
and, like you know other thanyour own opinion and have input
from other sources 100%.
But I think you know that'ssomething that I've noticed
about myself.
You know, being able to be morefocused and critical, it's very
exciting.
Able to be more focused andcritical, it's very exciting.
(14:50):
Yeah, another thing that hasbeen helpful in my practice is
actually planning it, and thathas been.
You know that's really helpful,especially when you know I
don't have my weekly lessonsbecause I'm not.
You know it's the summer andthe conservatoire academic year
is not in session, and so one ofthe things that I use in
planning my practice is anotable practice journal.
Honestly, these practicejournals have been so helpful
(15:12):
because there is a space where Ican plan my practice, but then
there is also a reflection spaceand, just like we were talking
about those more focused andcritical questions, that is a
perfect place to kind of be morefocused and critical about my
actual session itself.
And so it's been really, reallyhelpful for my practice and as
soon as I learned or figured outthat it was helping me, I knew
(15:35):
that I needed to tell you aboutit and I knew that I needed to
give you a code.
So use code ELEANOR15 for 15%off your journal and, yeah, get
into planning the practice,because it really does make a
difference.
Um, when, when your practice isplanned out, you know me, I
don't recommend anything that Idon't absolutely love.
(15:55):
This code is an affiliate code,which means I do receive a
commission with no extra cost toyou.
Okay, shall we do a recap?
Let's a recap.
So the first thing that wetalked about was kind of having
your main course in yourpractice.
Especially when I for me, atleast, when I am not, you know,
(16:18):
in the academic year at theconservatoire, I don't have
weekly lessons I need that kindof main course of my practice
and for me that is etudes, forme that is fundamental, like
technique practice.
That has been really helpful.
And then we have the kind ofother courses if we're thinking
(16:38):
of it as a meal and that for meI think it's important to
include time to experiment onthe things that you might not
have had time to experiment withduring the year, and so for me
that is jazz, that is improv,more things like that as well.
That's really good as well, andthen kind of some takeaways is
(17:01):
being like for me.
I've been more focused andcritical.
Critical, which has been reallyexciting, because I think my
brain has just stepped up.
Subconsciously it's like okay,we don't have weekly check-ins
with a teacher, let's just askall the questions ourselves.
And you know, I'm sure I haveI'm not asking all of the
questions, um, that I could beasking, because you know I am a
(17:22):
student and we are learning, um,but it is a great way to ask
more questions than I would havebeen, say, if I hadn't had this
experience of the summerwithout, you know, without
lessons.
So it is very, very, veryexciting, all right.
Oh, and then also planningpractice, which is helpful as
well.
(17:43):
All right, that is about it forthis episode.
Thank you so much for hangingout with me.
I hope you enjoyed it If youdid.
Please do show all the love,like, subscribe, comment, follow
all of the things share, sharewith all of your friends, all of
your music friends.
Yeah, and I will see you in thenext episode.
All right, take care.
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
(00:45):
of the podcast.
I hope that you are having agood day.
Today.
It is so rainy, like it juststarted raining.
This morning wasn't rainy and Iwent for a nice walk and that
was lovely.
But it has been so rainyrecently in Scotland and it has
just started raining again,which you know what is lovely.
I love the smell of rain.
(01:06):
I don't know if you like thesmell of rain, but I absolutely
love it.
It is the best smell and it isthe perfect time to kind of cozy
up and talk about music, talkabout practicing and all of the
fun things that we talk about onthis podcast.
So today we're going to betalking and diving into
(01:29):
something that I find reallyinteresting and I hope you do
too Basically what my practicelooks like this summer, because
this summer is different fromany other summer I have had as
an oboist, and that is becauseit is the first summer that I
don't have weekly lessons.
Because I am currently studyingat a conservatoire and it's
(01:53):
currently summer, I don't haveweekly lessons, which is a new
thing for me.
It's really exciting.
Also kind of scary, like Ihaven't had a lesson, an oboe
lesson, in like a month.
What it's crazy For me at leastLike I feel very kind of like
this is not something I'm usedto doing usually.
(02:14):
I mean, since I was.
I think I started oboe lessonslike weekly lessons when I was
11.
11.
So since, like I was 11, whichwas a while ago, um, I have been
having a, you know, weeklycheck-in with an oboist every
single week in the form of alesson.
And now you know for thesethree months that I'm not that
(02:38):
that I have the summer.
I don't have that, and so I wasreally worried at the beginning
.
You know how would I keepmyself accountable?
How would I structure it?
I've never had that situation,so I didn't know how I would
kind of react to it and honestly, looking back, like it's been,
it's been about a month of this.
I have, you know, a few monthsor a couple of months still to
(03:02):
go of this, but I thought whydon't we do a little bit of a
check-in with that, like we justhave a little bit of a chat
about it, because I've had somereally interesting discoveries
when I am not in kind of alesson structure and I'd love to
share these things with you.
So, whether you are currentlyhaving lessons and you're just
(03:23):
curious what it's like, or maybeyou're also in the same kind of
situation where you don't havelessons in the summer, maybe
this can help, I don't know, buthopefully it can be helpful and
we can dive right into mytakeaways from what I have done.
(03:45):
So the first thing that I thinkis important is kind of what my
practice looks like, because Ihave full range.
I mean like I have, like Icould just stop practicing if I
really wanted to, but I don'twant to do that.
I love playing the oboe andthat's not something that I want
to do.
So there is to do that.
(04:09):
I love playing the oboe andthat's not something that I want
to do.
So there is kind of that.
I think.
At the beginning it wasinteresting because, you know, I
had just finished my exams andI was absolutely like quite
tired, like I was feeling quiteenergetic and I talk about that
on a previous episode but interms of like oboe playing I was
still feeling quite tired.
It was kind of a double feelingat the same time.
It felt quite weird, but I hadto kind of rest a little bit
(04:29):
from the oboe.
So I took a few days and I justdidn't practice at all and then
I started just kind of gettingback into it slowly, which was
good, and then I started backinto it.
But I think as well I thinkthat's important to note I did
take some time off and it wasn'tthat much time, but it was.
It was a good amount of time tokind of help me reset after the
(04:54):
the craziness that is playingexams.
But now I am kind of in a betterroutine, in a better situation
where I can do this and have abetter kind of form of practice
and layout of practice.
So the first thing that I dowhen I practice is I kind of
(05:15):
have like my meat and potatoes,as you will, kind of like the
main course of my practicing.
You know you eat your broccolibefore you eat your cake, type
thing, and so for me that isetudes, that is warming up
exercises.
I have like fundamentalexercises where I go through
things like vibrato,articulation, dynamics, scales,
(05:38):
all of these things that I doall the time, and then I have my
etudes and those things arereally, really good and that's
kind of like the meat andpotatoes or the main course, if
you will, and I do that everysingle day and it just really
grounds me, because I think oneof the things that I was nervous
about at the beginning of thiswas I was nervous that I
(06:00):
wouldn't stay focused.
I would like all of a sudden,you know I would blink and then
the summer's over and what haveI actually done, you know.
But having this kind of routinewhere I have my fundamentals
that I do every day and then Ialso have my etudes I do that is
a great possibility for me toreally think about my playing
(06:24):
and look at it in a morearticulate way and kind of focus
on my growth as a player andalso not completely derail from
from organization, which I don'tthink I would.
But you know, we all have thatfear sometimes I feel, um.
So that's the first thing thatI kind of do to make sure that I
(06:44):
have that and it really startsmy day off on the right foot in
terms of practicing, because Iknow that I've done that main
course and that it's been, it'sbeen good, and then the, the
next thing that I do, which isreally interesting, and I kind
of consider this more of like adessert, but maybe not like a
complete dessert, but kind oflike another course but not the
(07:07):
main one, and that is kind ofthe things that I didn't have
time to explore during theschool year I can do now.
So, for instance, I like mydegree is going to be like oboe
performance and that's classicalmusic and for me that's.
You know, I'm so excited aboutthat.
(07:27):
That's what I worked on thisentire year.
But I also absolutely love jazz, I love improv, I love things
like that, and I didn't reallyhave time to dive into that
during my year, and so that'ssomething that I am doing over
the summer and it's actuallyreally exciting because I'm like
focusing on that.
I'm looking at different likethings in jazz how jazz is
(07:51):
structured, how it works.
You know, I'm looking at improv.
I'm taking my, the things thatI learned in my theory class,
for instance, during my year,and using them to understand
jazz tunes, things like that.
Like, that's something that youknow is not part of my degree,
but I actually really enjoy it.
So that's something that I havetime to do over the summer,
(08:12):
which is very, very exciting.
It is very exciting and, oh mygosh, like I love, I love jazz.
I don't know if you know thisabout me, but I do absolutely
love jazz, um, as well asclassical music.
So this is just a great thing.
And I've always thought, youknow, I want to do jazz oboe, um
, in some capacity, like I wantto have the skills to play jazz
(08:34):
on the oboe.
So that's something that I'mdiving into and it's really fun.
So I think for for that, youknow, thinking about what, what
is that thing that you havealways wanted to do on your
instrument?
You know that might not havemuch to do with, like, what
you've been doing this past year.
So, like, depending on you know, whether you are like in are in
(08:57):
high school right now, or maybein university studying whatever
it is.
What was that one thing thatyou did not have time to do
during the academic year?
Maybe that you know, summer isthe opportunity to do that and
you know, for me that is improvand kind of learning more about
jazz, but for you it might bewhatever you want it to be,
(09:19):
depending on what you didn't getthe time to work on over the
academic year, just likeexperiment and have fun with it.
I think that's a great thingand that does bring joy.
I did another episode recentlyabout kind of finding joy in
your practice and cultivating it, especially when, um, you might
get stressed from practicing umor or the you know the, the
(09:42):
stress of, of getting thingsright and things like that can
kind of weigh down on you.
Um, when you're practicing,when you're preparing for
something like an audition orperformance, how can we
cultivate that joy and that?
That?
This is also something thatkind of cultivates the joy,
experimenting, leaving room forcuriosity, and that's something
that I do in my practice as well, some takeaways that I've had
(10:04):
like.
So so that's kind of thestructure, what I just talked
about.
That's kind of the structure ofmy practice.
I am also going to beintroducing more repertoire into
my practice.
That's kind of what ishappening right now and I think
that I'm going to introduce morestuff to it, but that's kind of
(10:25):
the current situation.
Yeah, I don't think I've evershared like exactly what I do in
my practice with you guysbefore, so that's very exciting.
But that's kind of what mycurrent focus is at the moment
and I know that I want to addsome repertoire because I have
(10:46):
some things coming up and that'sgoing to be something that I'm
going to add.
But right now that's kind ofwhat I'm focusing on now, kind
of some things that I'verealized and learned from having
this time without and without ateacher um and a and a, a, you
know weekly lessons.
I've learned that I've becomemore focused and critical in my
(11:07):
practice and this this is weird,this is interesting.
I remember I once had a teacherback in the States who said that
the point of having lessons isso that one day I can be my own
teacher and ask the rightquestions of myself, and for me
that is like whoa, that's quitecrazy.
I remember sitting and thinking, oh gosh, that's wild because,
(11:31):
yeah, when you become aprofessional, you know you don't
have weekly lessons.
Do you know what I mean?
Like you have to ask thosequestions of yourself when
you're practicing, and that'ssomething that you know is is
quite when.
When I heard my teacher saythat for the first time, that
was quite mind-blowing to me.
But it is so true and I don'tthink that I'm there yet.
You know, I don't think thatI'm like oh yes, I am asking all
(11:53):
the correct questions, but Ihave noticed that I have been
more focused and more criticalas a student and I've kind of
had the right, not the rightquestion, not all the right
questions, but more focusedquestions in my mind.
I've been able to be moreattuned as to what I am doing
(12:14):
and how I can do it better.
I think that there's there was apart of me when I had lessons
with that was like oh yeah, Ithink there's something that I
could improve with this, but I'mnot completely sure I'll wait
until my lesson, my teacher willtell me.
I think we can all kind ofrelate to that a little bit,
even if it's subconscious.
And I think, because I've hadthis time without lessons, I've
(12:37):
noticed that I think if youasked me this a few months ago
I'd be like no, I don't reallydo that.
But now I'm like, yeah, no, Idid do that because I didn't
realize it was more subconscious.
But now that I don't have alesson to go to and a teacher at
the moment a teacher to say,you know, I am um, like this is,
(12:58):
this is a thing you have towork on.
I have to, um, kind of do thaton my own.
And that's a very excitingprospect because I'm learning
how to do that on my own and I'mlearning how to ask the right
questions, so that next year,you know, when I do have a
teacher, um, I, I can still askthe right questions.
It can be doubly exciting anddoubly focused.
Um, yeah, I think that's reallyexciting.
(13:22):
Yeah, um, and so I think forfor us, when we think about that
, I wonder you asking ourselvesmaybe it could be helpful to ask
ourselves are we waiting for ateacher to tell us what to do?
I think in some stages it isgood to do that, especially if
(13:45):
we honestly have no idea how towork through this.
But are we doing that to thepoint where we could be more
focused?
But it's easier to ask ourteacher, what can we focus on,
and I challenge you in your nextpractice session to kind of
imagine you are in your lesson.
What would your teacher say?
(14:06):
What do you think your teacherwould say, and see if you can
work on that.
Now it is quite an interestingprospect, honestly, to have
those questions already in yourhead, and I am sure there are so
many questions my teacher wouldsay to me that I haven't
(14:26):
thought about.
I think it is so important tohave you know second opinions
and, like you know other thanyour own opinion and have input
from other sources 100%.
But I think you know that'ssomething that I've noticed
about myself.
You know, being able to be morefocused and critical, it's very
exciting.
Able to be more focused andcritical, it's very exciting.
(14:50):
Yeah, another thing that hasbeen helpful in my practice is
actually planning it, and thathas been.
You know that's really helpful,especially when you know I
don't have my weekly lessonsbecause I'm not.
You know it's the summer andthe conservatoire academic year
is not in session, and so one ofthe things that I use in
planning my practice is anotable practice journal.
Honestly, these practicejournals have been so helpful
(15:12):
because there is a space where Ican plan my practice, but then
there is also a reflection spaceand, just like we were talking
about those more focused andcritical questions, that is a
perfect place to kind of be morefocused and critical about my
actual session itself.
And so it's been really, reallyhelpful for my practice and as
soon as I learned or figured outthat it was helping me, I knew
(15:35):
that I needed to tell you aboutit and I knew that I needed to
give you a code.
So use code ELEANOR15 for 15%off your journal and, yeah, get
into planning the practice,because it really does make a
difference.
Um, when, when your practice isplanned out, you know me, I
don't recommend anything that Idon't absolutely love.
(15:55):
This code is an affiliate code,which means I do receive a
commission with no extra cost toyou.
Okay, shall we do a recap?
Let's a recap.
So the first thing that wetalked about was kind of having
your main course in yourpractice.
Especially when I for me, atleast, when I am not, you know,
(16:18):
in the academic year at theconservatoire, I don't have
weekly lessons I need that kindof main course of my practice
and for me that is etudes, forme that is fundamental, like
technique practice.
That has been really helpful.
And then we have the kind ofother courses if we're thinking
(16:38):
of it as a meal and that for meI think it's important to
include time to experiment onthe things that you might not
have had time to experiment withduring the year, and so for me
that is jazz, that is improv,more things like that as well.
That's really good as well, andthen kind of some takeaways is
(17:01):
being like for me.
I've been more focused andcritical.
Critical, which has been reallyexciting, because I think my
brain has just stepped up.
Subconsciously it's like okay,we don't have weekly check-ins
with a teacher, let's just askall the questions ourselves.
And you know, I'm sure I haveI'm not asking all of the
questions, um, that I could beasking, because you know I am a
(17:22):
student and we are learning, um,but it is a great way to ask
more questions than I would havebeen, say, if I hadn't had this
experience of the summerwithout, you know, without
lessons.
So it is very, very, veryexciting, all right.
Oh, and then also planningpractice, which is helpful as
well.
(17:43):
All right, that is about it forthis episode.
Thank you so much for hangingout with me.
I hope you enjoyed it If youdid.
Please do show all the love,like, subscribe, comment, follow
all of the things share, sharewith all of your friends, all of
your music friends.
Yeah, and I will see you in thenext episode.
All right, take care.
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