November 25, 2025 • 20 mins
I recently went to Edinburgh to do an event where I shared the oboe with younger students. Here's what I learned from it and what it taught me about creating joy in playing.
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.
I only recommend things I love. This contains an affiliate code which means that I receive a commission -- with no extra cost to you! 😊
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Confident Musitioning
(00:02):
Podcast.
My name is Eleanor and I am aBritish American oboist studying
at the Royal Conservatory ofScotland.
Literally my dream school.
And it took me a long way to getthere.
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 come with me as we go on thisjourney together.
So sit down, pull up a chair,take a seat, or if you're on the
go, welcome to the ConfidentMusitioning Podcast.
Hello, hello, and welcome backto another episode of the
(00:48):
Confident Musitioning Podcast.
I am so excited to be sharingthis moment with you.
I'm so glad you're here.
It is in Scotland at least, sucha sunny day.
This never happens.
We've had so much rain and windand just kind of really muggy
(01:08):
weather.
Um, and today it is really sunnyand it's kind of got my mood up,
and I'm really excited to spendthis time with you.
I have literally just finishedbaking, well, not baking, um,
making homemade pizza.
I usually make homemade pizzaevery Saturday.
(01:30):
Uh, and that was Saturday wasyesterday.
Today, as of filming, it is aSunday.
Um, and last night I was goingsomewhere and I didn't get a
chance to finish the pizza.
I finished one that I ate, but Icouldn't finish um another one
that I usually use forleftovers.
Uh, and so that just went in thefridge, not finished, um, and I
(01:53):
just finished making it in theoven.
So the room smells like freshpizza, um, which is a really
lovely smell, and that is what Iam experiencing right now, and
it is making me very happy, andI am very excited to talk to you
today.
Because today we're gonna betalking about something that was
(02:13):
really cool that I recently did,um, that kind of turned into
some thoughts that I have aboutfinding that joy in playing.
I think as musicians, we focusso much on getting things right,
perfection, you know, playingthings perfectly or good enough,
(02:34):
or was that good enough?
You know, all of these things.
And sometimes we forget why westarted playing our instruments,
what that little or smaller oryounger, that's the word,
younger version of us, umwanted, and and why they decided
to to start the instrument thatwe now play.
(02:56):
Um, and this kind of thesethoughts came from an experience
that I recently had.
I recently was part of or a partof this event that was like a
workshop with younger students,with younger Obo students.
And I got to meet like primaryschool students, so like eight,
(03:17):
nine years old, um, as well aslike older students as well, so
like you know, in their in theirteens, like 13, 14, 15, 16.
Um, and so basically justchildren meeting them and
basically sharing the joy of theoboe, and it kind of reminded me
(03:38):
of some things and put somethings into perspective.
I performed a piece for them, Iperformed some Benjamin Britton
um for them on on Oboe, and itwas honestly so much fun.
I really enjoyed playing forthem because their eyes,
especially the younger ones,their eyes just lit up, you
(03:59):
know.
Because I was, I mean, I wasplaying Britain um and the piece
that I was playing, it was SixMetamorphoses after Ovid, the
first two movements, they areextremely kind of magical.
There's so much you can do onthe oboe with them.
There's harmonics.
Um, the the eyes of the studentswhen they heard the harmonics on
the oboe, like they were soextremely excited about that.
(04:22):
Um, and then there's like areally kind of articulation bit
that's like da da da da da, andthey really like that too.
And so it was an amazingopportunity to just bring
something that I love to thesepeople and to show them look,
this is what you can do with theinstrument.
Do you know what I mean?
And then um, we kind of did likea workshop thing.
(04:47):
I performed with them, um, and Iworked with them, and it was
just an amazing opportunity.
So let's get into kind of thethe takeaways that I have from
this and the kind of things thatI've taken from this to put in
my own um life, in my ownpractice, and that I am hoping
(05:09):
will be helpful for you as well.
Because one thing that I reallynoticed about these students was
the pure joy that they got fromplaying their instruments, you
know, and these children, someof them had been playing the
oboe for like a month, and likethey got so much joy from that.
(05:32):
Do you know what I mean?
They they were so happy and soexcited that they were learning
this new thing, and and thatwhen they got the noise they
wanted, they were like, oh mygosh, it was so amazing, and so
they had that joy, and it itkind of forced me to contrast,
compare and contrast what I doin my own playing because I
(05:55):
often have those oh my goshmoments, um, and I also have
those moments where I get sofrustrated, you know, where we
get frustrated and we're like,why can't I do this passage
correctly, or why am Istruggling with this or
struggling with that?
And I think it's so important toto think about what can I like
how can I cultivate that joy,you know?
(06:17):
Even when I am struggling with apassage, how can I cultivate
that joy?
And so that's what today'sepisode is all about.
So let's dive into three things.
The first one is in ourpractice, remembering to just
play.
Practicing is so important.
I mean, we know this, practicingis so important, and you know,
(06:40):
metronome practicing, rhythmpracticing, long tones, you
know, vibrato practice,articulation practice.
You know, this this changes ifyou're a string player or or
whatever, you know, instrumentthat you play.
But it's the same idea.
Practicing is really important,you know, getting in a practice
room with a metronome andputting in the time to really
(07:02):
focus on something and reallykind of get better at something,
that is super duper duper duperduper important.
But if that is all we do, thenthat's gonna kind of get old.
You know what I mean?
Um, it's kind of like actually,okay, let's put it in a
different term.
It's kind of like if you werelearning a language.
(07:25):
I love learning languages, sothis is kind of a metaphor for
that.
And let's say you're learning alanguage and all you do is just
grammar tables, right?
You learn how to conjugate averb, or you learn how what you
know, you do vocabularypractice, things like that, but
you never actually have aconversation with someone in
that language.
(07:46):
After a while, you might belike, is this all there is?
I just do grammar.
What?
You know what I mean?
Like, um, huh.
Or, I mean, I'm not really kindof like a sports person, but if
you I assume if you kind of justpractice technique with sports
but never actually play a game,you might be like, uh huh, what
(08:09):
is this?
What is this?
It is just it's just kind oflike practicing, but not
actually playing.
Do you know what I mean?
And so, you know, we perform,and that's great, but what about
performing for yourself?
What about playing for yourself?
Do you know what I mean?
Like, so at the end of apractice session or at the
beginning or in the middle,whatever you want, um just make
(08:34):
noise.
Just let your instrument makenoise, see where that takes you.
Noodling around on an instrumentis so crucial.
You know what I mean?
I it's just I it's so easy to tolook at it and be like, uh it's
not all that, it's not all that,you know, because I'm just
making noise.
But that noise is so importantbecause that noise is part of a
journey, and you don't knowwhere that journey is gonna take
(08:55):
you.
Do you know what I mean?
Like, noodle, seriously, justnoodle and and make noise and
and see where that journey takesyou because it is so important.
So, yes, practice withimaginome, practice
intentionally, have focus.
This is so important, andincorporate playing in there as
well.
Okay, if you're like, oh, Ireally love this tune, I really
(09:17):
love this song, I just want tomake noise to it, put it on,
make noise to it, okay?
That is joyful.
Do you know what I mean?
That is that is where it whereit is, and it it makes it feel
so much better.
And and when I do it, I'm like,oh my gosh, I love the oboe.
Do you know what I mean?
Like, I'm just like, yes, thisis amazing.
So, yeah.
Okay, the next thing is kind ofsimilar to that, but it is
(09:40):
working with other people fromdifferent backgrounds.
So, one thing that thisexperience working with the
younger students taught me wasum, well, the thing about okay,
backpedal bit, the thing aboutthe younger students was that it
wasn't just younger students,there were also teachers and
coaches there.
And so we had a wide range ofkind of abilities and also ages.
(10:05):
Um, and I thought I think it wassuch an amazing experience
because I worked with people whoare older than me, people who
are younger than me, people whoare much better than me, people
who are just starting out.
Um and being able to kind ofcreate music with these
different, you know, thesevarying levels of expertise, um,
was just such an amazing thing.
(10:26):
You know, it really was.
And I I know like when I workwith someone who is much better
than I am, it brushes off on me,you know, and you might get this
feeling as well, um, especiallynow that I mention it, when you
do when you work with someonethat's like more um experienced
than you are, you might noticethis.
But for me, I just like tend tobe more aware of my playing, but
(10:48):
like in a more kind of refinedway, if that makes sense.
Like, I'm like, oh, you know,they they do it like this, I
want to try that, or they dothis, I want to try that.
Do you know what I mean?
And kind of getting ideas.
Um, and so working withdifferent people of different,
you know, levels and and ages isso important, and not
necessarily just working withpeople who are more experienced,
(11:10):
but also the opposite.
Working with people who havejust picked up that instrument
and who, you know, are like,this is the coolest thing, you
know, this is the new thing inmy life, and I just want to make
some noise.
Do you know what I mean?
Um, and you uh maybe you've justfinished, you know, a practice
(11:31):
session um where you've donelots of metronome practice,
you're like, Oh my gosh, yes,let's just make noise, you know.
I just like did all the all thehard stuff that I have to do.
Let's just make noise now, youknow?
And like it's an amazingexperience.
So I highly recommend justperforming, playing, practicing
with whomever, regardless oftheir age, regardless of their
(11:55):
ability on the instrument, justjamming.
Seriously, it's so so helpful,and it it kind of lends so much
goodness both ways.
You know, when you're workingwith people who are more
experienced versus lessexperienced, both of those
things, you know, are sovaluable in their different
(12:17):
ways.
Okay, then the third thing.
Oh, and also you can, I mean, ofcourse, when you're working with
people who are less experienced,you can, you know, lend some
knowledge, and that's amazingtoo, because then you know they
might be like, How does thiswork?
Actually, I remember there was astudent, there was like a
really, really young likeprimary school student who was
(12:37):
struggling to get the bell ofher oboe onto the bottom joint.
Um, she was struggling to putthe bell onto onto her oboe, and
she came up to me and she waslike, Can you help me with this?
And I showed her, and I waslike, You twist it on, and she
was like, Oh, because she waskind of just pushing it on, and
you do have to do that twist umto get the bell on the oboe, and
(12:59):
like even that, you know, shelearned something new, and I was
like a little puddle of like Idon't know, just like like I was
like, oh my gosh, like this thatthat was so cute, you know what
I mean?
Like, I was just so it was justso wholesome.
I was just like, my heartmelted, you know what I mean?
(13:21):
Like, I was like, oh my gosh,that was amazing, that was so
sweet.
So that is another kind of thingthat comes out of you know
working with people of differentum levels and ages.
Okay, the next one, the thirdthing.
I love this tactic, and Iactually recently talked about
it on the podcast.
Um, but it is picturing youryounger self when you do hard
(13:45):
things or focus sessions.
So hard things, I mean, okay,let's let's unpack that because
not everything, not everythingbig is hard, and not everything
hard is big.
But um so for instance, Irecently did a performance class
at my conservatoire, and therewas like a switch up last
minute, and I long story short,ended up with a week less than I
(14:09):
thought I would get to prepare.
So I was like really kind ofnervous to to perform.
And one thing that really helpedme was to imagine my younger
self and what she would think,you know, my the the my
nine-year-old self um who wasjust starting out on the oboe,
(14:33):
my 14-year-old self, you know,who was who had just gotten a
brand new oboe and was soexcited about it, you know, my
17-year-old self who wasapplying to universities and and
conservatoires and musicschools, and you know,
wondering, is it all gonna workout?
Like, can I do it?
You know, like you know, all ofthese these people, uh versions
(14:56):
of me, what would they say towhat I'm doing right now?
You know, I am going to performin a class at my conservatoire
that I got into that I am soexcited to be at every single
day.
You know, I think nine-year-oldme would just be so excited.
So ex 14 year old actually, allof the versions of me would be
(15:17):
so stinking excited for me, andthat just filled me with joy,
pure joy.
Like I was like, oh my gosh, Iam living my nine-year-old
version of me's dream.
Do you know what I mean?
And you know, I'm workingtowards it like like it's still
it's still a journey, right?
I haven't figured outeverything, but like definitely
(15:38):
not, like, I 100% have notfigured out everything, like I
am I am working through this,and I think that that's what
makes this this thing so magicalbecause every day we are working
through what we are workingthrough, and it might feel like
oh my gosh, this is so hard.
Am I actually getting anywhere?
But if we take a look at what ifI told younger me what I'm doing
(15:59):
right now, would they be like,oh my gosh, like that's so cool!
Then you know you're gettingsomewhere.
Do you know what I mean?
Like, there there is growth,there is growth happening.
Um, and it just it's pure joy,honestly, pure joy, right?
And so I think that that is soimportant because when I was at
(16:20):
the event with the youngerstudents, I honestly pictured my
younger version there, like theyounger version of me there, the
the nine-year-old who had juststarted out on the oboe.
She would have loved this event,and she would have probably been
so excited that I was performingat it.
Do you know what I mean?
And I like I just imagined likeyounger her in the audience, and
(16:46):
it just made me so full of joy.
And so this is a great trick,you know.
What would they say?
What would they say if you toldthem what you were doing?
You know, they'd probably belike, Oh my gosh, I never
thought we could do this, youknow?
Like, oh wow, it's it's so sogood.
So yeah, there is that as well.
(17:06):
Before we pack up, pack uprecap, you know, the yeah,
before we end, um, I want totell you about something that is
really, really helpful forpracticing.
Um, so we have, you know, thiskind of joy thing.
Now, how do we take the joy andput it in the practice?
Oh, that's important.
(17:27):
Well, something that is reallyhelpful with practicing is
focus.
You know, focus practice leadsto efficient, effective results.
And um, you know, it's it'sreally, really helpful.
And so, one thing that I use inmy um focus sessions is a
practice journal.
And that is to help plan mypractice.
(17:50):
And the practice journal that Iuse specifically is a notable
practice journal.
This thing is so so helpful.
Not only can I plan my sessionso I know exactly what I'm gonna
do, I also can reflect on themso that I know what went well
and what didn't, so that everysession can be like better than
the last.
Do you know what I mean?
(18:10):
And I also plan in time to justplay.
If you look at my schedules,there will be schedules where
it's like, oh, okay, etudes,extracts, you know, scales, and
then just a jam session.
I just I write it in, I scheduleit so that it does happen.
Um, yes, and it is this thisjournal is so extremely,
(18:32):
extremely helpful for my focusand for the effectiveness of my
practice.
As soon as I realized that thiswas helping, I knew I needed to
tell you about it, and I knewthat I needed to give you a
code.
So use code Eleanor15 for 15%off your journal.
That is E-L-E-A-N-O-R 15 for 15%off your journal.
(18:56):
And get yourself a journal andstart like planning that
practice.
It is so so helpful.
I only recommend things that Iabsolutely love.
This code is an affiliate code,which means I do receive a
commission with no extra cost toyou.
Okay, let's do a Wii recap.
So the first thing isremembering to just play in the
(19:19):
practice, right?
Just play, like have that time,jam, make noise, like you know,
experiment, do do it, do all thethings.
Um number two is working withother people from different
backgrounds, younger people,older people, people who are um,
you know, just started out ontheir instrument, people who
have been playing for almost alltheir lives.
(19:40):
Do you know what I mean?
Like this is it's so importantto to have that.
Um and then the last thing ispicturing your younger self when
you do all the big things, evenif it's not the big things, like
you could you could tell youryounger self, I am currently
practicing in a practice room,you know, I'm preparing for this
(20:01):
exciting thing, or I am doingthis, or doing you know, like
even the smaller things um ofjust the practice sessions can
be can can you can use that withit as well.
So so those are the threethings, and then of course the
notable practice journal.
Um, the link for uh your journalwill be in the show notes in the
(20:21):
description.
Um, and so will the code writtenout.
Alright, that is about it forthis episode.
Thank you so much for hangingout with me.
Um, if you found this episodehelpful, please do like,
subscribe, comment, and sharewith all of your musician
friends because we all need thatlittle bit of joy in our
(20:43):
playing.
And yeah, these are some thingsthat have helped me find that.
Alright, take care.
Bye bye.
Hello and welcome to the Confident Musitioning
(00:02):
Podcast.
My name is Eleanor and I am aBritish American oboist studying
at the Royal Conservatory ofScotland.
Literally my dream school.
And it took me a long way to getthere.
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 come with me as we go on thisjourney together.
So sit down, pull up a chair,take a seat, or if you're on the
go, welcome to the ConfidentMusitioning Podcast.
Hello, hello, and welcome backto another episode of the
(00:48):
Confident Musitioning Podcast.
I am so excited to be sharingthis moment with you.
I'm so glad you're here.
It is in Scotland at least, sucha sunny day.
This never happens.
We've had so much rain and windand just kind of really muggy
(01:08):
weather.
Um, and today it is really sunnyand it's kind of got my mood up,
and I'm really excited to spendthis time with you.
I have literally just finishedbaking, well, not baking, um,
making homemade pizza.
I usually make homemade pizzaevery Saturday.
(01:30):
Uh, and that was Saturday wasyesterday.
Today, as of filming, it is aSunday.
Um, and last night I was goingsomewhere and I didn't get a
chance to finish the pizza.
I finished one that I ate, but Icouldn't finish um another one
that I usually use forleftovers.
Uh, and so that just went in thefridge, not finished, um, and I
(01:53):
just finished making it in theoven.
So the room smells like freshpizza, um, which is a really
lovely smell, and that is what Iam experiencing right now, and
it is making me very happy, andI am very excited to talk to you
today.
Because today we're gonna betalking about something that was
(02:13):
really cool that I recently did,um, that kind of turned into
some thoughts that I have aboutfinding that joy in playing.
I think as musicians, we focusso much on getting things right,
perfection, you know, playingthings perfectly or good enough,
(02:34):
or was that good enough?
You know, all of these things.
And sometimes we forget why westarted playing our instruments,
what that little or smaller oryounger, that's the word,
younger version of us, umwanted, and and why they decided
to to start the instrument thatwe now play.
(02:56):
Um, and this kind of thesethoughts came from an experience
that I recently had.
I recently was part of or a partof this event that was like a
workshop with younger students,with younger Obo students.
And I got to meet like primaryschool students, so like eight,
(03:17):
nine years old, um, as well aslike older students as well, so
like you know, in their in theirteens, like 13, 14, 15, 16.
Um, and so basically justchildren meeting them and
basically sharing the joy of theoboe, and it kind of reminded me
(03:38):
of some things and put somethings into perspective.
I performed a piece for them, Iperformed some Benjamin Britton
um for them on on Oboe, and itwas honestly so much fun.
I really enjoyed playing forthem because their eyes,
especially the younger ones,their eyes just lit up, you
(03:59):
know.
Because I was, I mean, I wasplaying Britain um and the piece
that I was playing, it was SixMetamorphoses after Ovid, the
first two movements, they areextremely kind of magical.
There's so much you can do onthe oboe with them.
There's harmonics.
Um, the the eyes of the studentswhen they heard the harmonics on
the oboe, like they were soextremely excited about that.
(04:22):
Um, and then there's like areally kind of articulation bit
that's like da da da da da, andthey really like that too.
And so it was an amazingopportunity to just bring
something that I love to thesepeople and to show them look,
this is what you can do with theinstrument.
Do you know what I mean?
And then um, we kind of did likea workshop thing.
(04:47):
I performed with them, um, and Iworked with them, and it was
just an amazing opportunity.
So let's get into kind of thethe takeaways that I have from
this and the kind of things thatI've taken from this to put in
my own um life, in my ownpractice, and that I am hoping
(05:09):
will be helpful for you as well.
Because one thing that I reallynoticed about these students was
the pure joy that they got fromplaying their instruments, you
know, and these children, someof them had been playing the
oboe for like a month, and likethey got so much joy from that.
(05:32):
Do you know what I mean?
They they were so happy and soexcited that they were learning
this new thing, and and thatwhen they got the noise they
wanted, they were like, oh mygosh, it was so amazing, and so
they had that joy, and it itkind of forced me to contrast,
compare and contrast what I doin my own playing because I
(05:55):
often have those oh my goshmoments, um, and I also have
those moments where I get sofrustrated, you know, where we
get frustrated and we're like,why can't I do this passage
correctly, or why am Istruggling with this or
struggling with that?
And I think it's so important toto think about what can I like
how can I cultivate that joy,you know?
(06:17):
Even when I am struggling with apassage, how can I cultivate
that joy?
And so that's what today'sepisode is all about.
So let's dive into three things.
The first one is in ourpractice, remembering to just
play.
Practicing is so important.
I mean, we know this, practicingis so important, and you know,
(06:40):
metronome practicing, rhythmpracticing, long tones, you
know, vibrato practice,articulation practice.
You know, this this changes ifyou're a string player or or
whatever, you know, instrumentthat you play.
But it's the same idea.
Practicing is really important,you know, getting in a practice
room with a metronome andputting in the time to really
(07:02):
focus on something and reallykind of get better at something,
that is super duper duper duperduper important.
But if that is all we do, thenthat's gonna kind of get old.
You know what I mean?
Um, it's kind of like actually,okay, let's put it in a
different term.
It's kind of like if you werelearning a language.
(07:25):
I love learning languages, sothis is kind of a metaphor for
that.
And let's say you're learning alanguage and all you do is just
grammar tables, right?
You learn how to conjugate averb, or you learn how what you
know, you do vocabularypractice, things like that, but
you never actually have aconversation with someone in
that language.
(07:46):
After a while, you might belike, is this all there is?
I just do grammar.
What?
You know what I mean?
Like, um, huh.
Or, I mean, I'm not really kindof like a sports person, but if
you I assume if you kind of justpractice technique with sports
but never actually play a game,you might be like, uh huh, what
(08:09):
is this?
What is this?
It is just it's just kind oflike practicing, but not
actually playing.
Do you know what I mean?
And so, you know, we perform,and that's great, but what about
performing for yourself?
What about playing for yourself?
Do you know what I mean?
Like, so at the end of apractice session or at the
beginning or in the middle,whatever you want, um just make
(08:34):
noise.
Just let your instrument makenoise, see where that takes you.
Noodling around on an instrumentis so crucial.
You know what I mean?
I it's just I it's so easy to tolook at it and be like, uh it's
not all that, it's not all that,you know, because I'm just
making noise.
But that noise is so importantbecause that noise is part of a
journey, and you don't knowwhere that journey is gonna take
(08:55):
you.
Do you know what I mean?
Like, noodle, seriously, justnoodle and and make noise and
and see where that journey takesyou because it is so important.
So, yes, practice withimaginome, practice
intentionally, have focus.
This is so important, andincorporate playing in there as
well.
Okay, if you're like, oh, Ireally love this tune, I really
(09:17):
love this song, I just want tomake noise to it, put it on,
make noise to it, okay?
That is joyful.
Do you know what I mean?
That is that is where it whereit is, and it it makes it feel
so much better.
And and when I do it, I'm like,oh my gosh, I love the oboe.
Do you know what I mean?
Like, I'm just like, yes, thisis amazing.
So, yeah.
Okay, the next thing is kind ofsimilar to that, but it is
(09:40):
working with other people fromdifferent backgrounds.
So, one thing that thisexperience working with the
younger students taught me wasum, well, the thing about okay,
backpedal bit, the thing aboutthe younger students was that it
wasn't just younger students,there were also teachers and
coaches there.
And so we had a wide range ofkind of abilities and also ages.
(10:05):
Um, and I thought I think it wassuch an amazing experience
because I worked with people whoare older than me, people who
are younger than me, people whoare much better than me, people
who are just starting out.
Um and being able to kind ofcreate music with these
different, you know, thesevarying levels of expertise, um,
was just such an amazing thing.
(10:26):
You know, it really was.
And I I know like when I workwith someone who is much better
than I am, it brushes off on me,you know, and you might get this
feeling as well, um, especiallynow that I mention it, when you
do when you work with someonethat's like more um experienced
than you are, you might noticethis.
But for me, I just like tend tobe more aware of my playing, but
(10:48):
like in a more kind of refinedway, if that makes sense.
Like, I'm like, oh, you know,they they do it like this, I
want to try that, or they dothis, I want to try that.
Do you know what I mean?
And kind of getting ideas.
Um, and so working withdifferent people of different,
you know, levels and and ages isso important, and not
necessarily just working withpeople who are more experienced,
(11:10):
but also the opposite.
Working with people who havejust picked up that instrument
and who, you know, are like,this is the coolest thing, you
know, this is the new thing inmy life, and I just want to make
some noise.
Do you know what I mean?
Um, and you uh maybe you've justfinished, you know, a practice
(11:31):
session um where you've donelots of metronome practice,
you're like, Oh my gosh, yes,let's just make noise, you know.
I just like did all the all thehard stuff that I have to do.
Let's just make noise now, youknow?
And like it's an amazingexperience.
So I highly recommend justperforming, playing, practicing
with whomever, regardless oftheir age, regardless of their
(11:55):
ability on the instrument, justjamming.
Seriously, it's so so helpful,and it it kind of lends so much
goodness both ways.
You know, when you're workingwith people who are more
experienced versus lessexperienced, both of those
things, you know, are sovaluable in their different
(12:17):
ways.
Okay, then the third thing.
Oh, and also you can, I mean, ofcourse, when you're working with
people who are less experienced,you can, you know, lend some
knowledge, and that's amazingtoo, because then you know they
might be like, How does thiswork?
Actually, I remember there was astudent, there was like a
really, really young likeprimary school student who was
(12:37):
struggling to get the bell ofher oboe onto the bottom joint.
Um, she was struggling to putthe bell onto onto her oboe, and
she came up to me and she waslike, Can you help me with this?
And I showed her, and I waslike, You twist it on, and she
was like, Oh, because she waskind of just pushing it on, and
you do have to do that twist umto get the bell on the oboe, and
(12:59):
like even that, you know, shelearned something new, and I was
like a little puddle of like Idon't know, just like like I was
like, oh my gosh, like this thatthat was so cute, you know what
I mean?
Like, I was just so it was justso wholesome.
I was just like, my heartmelted, you know what I mean?
(13:21):
Like, I was like, oh my gosh,that was amazing, that was so
sweet.
So that is another kind of thingthat comes out of you know
working with people of differentum levels and ages.
Okay, the next one, the thirdthing.
I love this tactic, and Iactually recently talked about
it on the podcast.
Um, but it is picturing youryounger self when you do hard
(13:45):
things or focus sessions.
So hard things, I mean, okay,let's let's unpack that because
not everything, not everythingbig is hard, and not everything
hard is big.
But um so for instance, Irecently did a performance class
at my conservatoire, and therewas like a switch up last
minute, and I long story short,ended up with a week less than I
(14:09):
thought I would get to prepare.
So I was like really kind ofnervous to to perform.
And one thing that really helpedme was to imagine my younger
self and what she would think,you know, my the the my
nine-year-old self um who wasjust starting out on the oboe,
(14:33):
my 14-year-old self, you know,who was who had just gotten a
brand new oboe and was soexcited about it, you know, my
17-year-old self who wasapplying to universities and and
conservatoires and musicschools, and you know,
wondering, is it all gonna workout?
Like, can I do it?
You know, like you know, all ofthese these people, uh versions
(14:56):
of me, what would they say towhat I'm doing right now?
You know, I am going to performin a class at my conservatoire
that I got into that I am soexcited to be at every single
day.
You know, I think nine-year-oldme would just be so excited.
So ex 14 year old actually, allof the versions of me would be
(15:17):
so stinking excited for me, andthat just filled me with joy,
pure joy.
Like I was like, oh my gosh, Iam living my nine-year-old
version of me's dream.
Do you know what I mean?
And you know, I'm workingtowards it like like it's still
it's still a journey, right?
I haven't figured outeverything, but like definitely
(15:38):
not, like, I 100% have notfigured out everything, like I
am I am working through this,and I think that that's what
makes this this thing so magicalbecause every day we are working
through what we are workingthrough, and it might feel like
oh my gosh, this is so hard.
Am I actually getting anywhere?
But if we take a look at what ifI told younger me what I'm doing
(15:59):
right now, would they be like,oh my gosh, like that's so cool!
Then you know you're gettingsomewhere.
Do you know what I mean?
Like, there there is growth,there is growth happening.
Um, and it just it's pure joy,honestly, pure joy, right?
And so I think that that is soimportant because when I was at
(16:20):
the event with the youngerstudents, I honestly pictured my
younger version there, like theyounger version of me there, the
the nine-year-old who had juststarted out on the oboe.
She would have loved this event,and she would have probably been
so excited that I was performingat it.
Do you know what I mean?
And I like I just imagined likeyounger her in the audience, and
(16:46):
it just made me so full of joy.
And so this is a great trick,you know.
What would they say?
What would they say if you toldthem what you were doing?
You know, they'd probably belike, Oh my gosh, I never
thought we could do this, youknow?
Like, oh wow, it's it's so sogood.
So yeah, there is that as well.
(17:06):
Before we pack up, pack uprecap, you know, the yeah,
before we end, um, I want totell you about something that is
really, really helpful forpracticing.
Um, so we have, you know, thiskind of joy thing.
Now, how do we take the joy andput it in the practice?
Oh, that's important.
(17:27):
Well, something that is reallyhelpful with practicing is
focus.
You know, focus practice leadsto efficient, effective results.
And um, you know, it's it'sreally, really helpful.
And so, one thing that I use inmy um focus sessions is a
practice journal.
And that is to help plan mypractice.
(17:50):
And the practice journal that Iuse specifically is a notable
practice journal.
This thing is so so helpful.
Not only can I plan my sessionso I know exactly what I'm gonna
do, I also can reflect on themso that I know what went well
and what didn't, so that everysession can be like better than
the last.
Do you know what I mean?
(18:10):
And I also plan in time to justplay.
If you look at my schedules,there will be schedules where
it's like, oh, okay, etudes,extracts, you know, scales, and
then just a jam session.
I just I write it in, I scheduleit so that it does happen.
Um, yes, and it is this thisjournal is so extremely,
(18:32):
extremely helpful for my focusand for the effectiveness of my
practice.
As soon as I realized that thiswas helping, I knew I needed to
tell you about it, and I knewthat I needed to give you a
code.
So use code Eleanor15 for 15%off your journal.
That is E-L-E-A-N-O-R 15 for 15%off your journal.
(18:56):
And get yourself a journal andstart like planning that
practice.
It is so so helpful.
I only recommend things that Iabsolutely love.
This code is an affiliate code,which means I do receive a
commission with no extra cost toyou.
Okay, let's do a Wii recap.
So the first thing isremembering to just play in the
(19:19):
practice, right?
Just play, like have that time,jam, make noise, like you know,
experiment, do do it, do all thethings.
Um number two is working withother people from different
backgrounds, younger people,older people, people who are um,
you know, just started out ontheir instrument, people who
have been playing for almost alltheir lives.
(19:40):
Do you know what I mean?
Like this is it's so importantto to have that.
Um and then the last thing ispicturing your younger self when
you do all the big things, evenif it's not the big things, like
you could you could tell youryounger self, I am currently
practicing in a practice room,you know, I'm preparing for this
(20:01):
exciting thing, or I am doingthis, or doing you know, like
even the smaller things um ofjust the practice sessions can
be can can you can use that withit as well.
So so those are the threethings, and then of course the
notable practice journal.
Um, the link for uh your journalwill be in the show notes in the
(20:21):
description.
Um, and so will the code writtenout.
Alright, that is about it forthis episode.
Thank you so much for hangingout with me.
Um, if you found this episodehelpful, please do like,
subscribe, comment, and sharewith all of your musician
friends because we all need thatlittle bit of joy in our
(20:43):
playing.
And yeah, these are some thingsthat have helped me find that.
Alright, take care.
Bye bye.
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