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March 11, 2025 โ€ข 16 mins

When we feel like we aren't improving it can be so discouraging. Let's chat about some ways to work through that discouragement.

This episode is available as a blog post. Read it here!

Click here for the episode on working through frustration.ย 

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

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Put a finger down if you go through phases where you
feel like you have not improvedat all on your instrument and
you feel quite discouraged andyou can't see any improvement
and you're like have I actuallyimproved at all recently?
I feel like we all can relateto this.
Hello and welcome to theConfident Musicianing Podcast.

(00:22):
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.

(00:44):
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.
As musicians, we are constantlythinking about have we improved,

(01:05):
have we gotten better?
And when maybe it's not asobvious, it can be really,
really, really discouraging.
I recently had an Instagram Q&Awhere I asked people to ask me
anything and I love doing thisbecause I love hearing from you
and one person asked for advice.
They had been playing oboe fora while and but they haven't.

(01:28):
They felt like they hadn'timproved much and they were
wondering if I had any advice.
And when I first saw that thatquestion, I was like, oh my gosh
, I need to sit down and recorda podcast episode about this
because I think it could be so,so good to talk about, and so
that's what we're doing here.
So welcome, welcome to anotherepisode, to another video.

(01:51):
If you're watching this, youcan see that I've put some
lights up behind me.
I don't usually do this, butI'm experimenting with fun
visuals.
So if you're listening to this,I have purple lights behind me
and they are very twinkly, Isuppose very like fairy lights

(02:12):
purple fairy lights and they'requite good.
I hoped to record this earlierin the day, if you're watching
this in terms of like the light,but, but that didn't happen,
and I my usual recording time isover the weekend, but this
weekend I'm going to Edinburgh,so I need to record this now.

(02:33):
So we are doing this now, weare getting into this, and I
can't wait to dive into thistopic with you and talk about
ways that we can maybe feel likewe've improved a bit, because
chances are, if you've beenputting in the work every day,
you have improved a bit, I'mwilling to bet.
All right, let's dive intothese three things.

(02:55):
The first thing that has helpedme realize that I've improved,
or that has helped me figure outwhat I need to do to improve
more, is playing for people.
Playing for people can be so,so helpful For me when I feel
like I haven't improved much andmaybe I feel like I need to

(03:18):
find out what I need to do toimprove, because I feel like
there's two sections to this.
There's either I feel like Ihaven't improved much.
I need to do to improve,because I feel like there's two
sections to this.
There's either I feel like Ihaven't improved much I need to
figure out what I need to do toimprove or I feel like I haven't
improved much.
I need to go back and see thatI have.
These are two ways to look atthis question, and so this is
the first way, so finding waysto to improve or to to know what

(03:46):
to improve.
A good way to do that isplaying for people.
So usually what I do is I playfor my teacher, um, I play for
my friends and I just play forfor anyone.
Usually, I mean, I'm onInstagram and you know I'm on
the internet.
I put my oboe, my oboe stuff onthe internet, and so sometimes
I get feedback from people.
Um, and so that is somethingthat you know, sometimes I take,

(04:10):
sometimes I don't, but that'salso some way that I play for
people.
But, for instance, I play.
You know, I go to aconservatoire for oboe and we
have a class where literally,you get chosen to play in front
of your peers and then you getfeedback from them and you know
you're playing for 20-30 peopleand you get their feedback

(04:33):
because they all play yourinstrument or an instrument
similar to yours, and so that isan amazing way, for me at least
, to get feedback.
Now, if you don't, if you're notin a conservatoire or you're
not in a space where you canmaybe do something like that,
playing for your teacher,playing for your friends, can be
so good, and I think a good wayto do this is to understand

(05:00):
where your friends or yourteacher is coming from.
So, maybe thinking about whatyou want to ask them from
playing, thinking about what youwant to ask them from playing.
So, for instance, if you go toyour musician friends and you
say I'm gonna play this for you.
Can I get your thoughts and youplay for them?
They're gonna give you thoughts.
They're gonna give you criticalmusician thoughts and they're

(05:22):
gonna say stuff like yourintonation was not very good in
this section, or maybe you couldwork on your articulation here,
or your tempo wasn't good orwhatever.
But maybe if you go to them andyou're like, actually I think I
just need like someone to saythat I sound okay, then I'm sure
that they can do that as well.
Musicians are great for that.
They can.
They can do both things.

(05:43):
They can give positive andnegative feedback.
And if you I mean I'm guessingyou're a musician if you're
listening to this being able togive positive and negative
feedback, not just likeconstructive feedback, can be so
, so, so helpful as well.
Now, if you play for yourteacher and you say I just want
you to hype me up, maybe that'snot the best thing, your teacher

(06:03):
is literally there for givingyou constructive feedback.
So knowing your audience andknowing what you're probably
going to get from them can bereally helpful when you play for
people.
So think about right now who areyou going to play for, who are
you going to play for and whatoutcome do you want to have from
playing for them?
If you play for, say, yourfamily, you might have a very

(06:25):
different outcome than if youplay for your teacher versus if
you play on the street, likethese are very different things.
So what do you want to get outof playing for people?
And this can really help youwith not only feeling like okay,
you know, the sound I make outof my instrument is good.

(06:45):
People like it it but also itcan give you a very good
direction as to what you need towork on next.
So asking that question beforeplaying for them you know this
is what I want from from you isvery helpful for that.
All right, let's dive into thenext thing.
So the next thing is talkingabout not necessarily finding

(07:05):
things to work on, but realizingthat I have been improving, and
that is taking a video now andthen taking another one in a few
months and comparing them.
This is something that I kindof have to do, because I post on
the internet and I post myplaying, and it's very easy for
me.
I just go on my Instagramaccount and I scroll down a bit

(07:27):
and I get to a video from a fewmonths ago and then I can
compare that to a video that Iposted yesterday and I can very
much easily see what I'veimproved and maybe what I
haven't improved, and maybethat's something that I can work
on, but what I've improved andthat can really give me a little
bit of a confidence boost thatthe things I've been working on
have gotten better.
Now, if you are not onInstagram or on the internet and

(07:48):
maybe you don't post thingslike that, or if you don't, you
know, take videos of yourselfanyway, even if you don't post
them.
Maybe that's a good idea tostart doing that.
So, literally, like today, whenyou get in a practice room,
take a video of you working onthe thing that you are working
on, maybe the thing that's likechallenging for you and maybe

(08:08):
don't listen back to it now,maybe if you want to listen back
to it, that's your decision.
But then for a few months, getinto the nitty gritty of what
you're doing, really practice,really focus, focus, focus, and
then in a few months, recordagain, record that exact same
piece or maybe a different piece, and compare them.

(08:29):
And chances are, if you haveworked through all of the things
that you need to work throughand you've been practicing all
day and you've been putting inthe work, you will see at least
a little bit of improvement.
Tracking your playing, likethat, can be so just like a big
confidence boost when you feellike you haven't improved.
And then you can look at thesevideos and you're like, oh,

(08:50):
actually, maybe I have.
So that's another idea for you.
If you haven't improved or youfeel like you haven't improved
and that's something that I doall the time Okay, the last
thing, gosh, the last thing Ifeel like, is just trusting the
process.
Trusting the process,especially for oboe.
Oboe is not an easy instrument.

(09:11):
Oboe is not an easy instrumentand oftentimes I feel, you know,
like I haven't improved, butthat's because improvement on
the oboe is slow.
It is slow, it is a difficultinstrument, and the oboe is not
the only instrument whereimprovement is slow.
Basically, just any instrumentImprovement can be quite slow,

(09:32):
especially if you are in a moreof an intermediate, advanced
thing.
I feel like if you are a verybeginner and you learn one note
right and then say you learnanother note, you have improved
twofold.
You know two notes, and then ifyou know four notes, you have
improved two-fold again, becausenow you know four notes and

(09:56):
every single day there is animprovement and it's a big
improvement.
Then when you keep going andgoing and going, your
improvement, I feel like, kindof maybe gets a little less
easier to see because or alittle slower, because now
you're focusing on things liketone, things like vibrato,
things like articulation.

(10:17):
You're not now, you're not likeoh, I've learned another note
today, woohoo, you know.
And especially with reed making, oh my gosh, that can take so
long to get better.
So growing your skills honestlytakes time and it can be easy to
get frustrated with growingyour skills.

(10:37):
And maybe, if you're strugglingwith frustration, there's an
episode of the podcast that goesinto all of that and things you
can do to work through yourfrustration in maybe a specific
practice session setting Insteadof like an overall frustration.
If maybe you're prone to likegetting really frustrated and
upset in the practice room, Ihave an episode where there are

(10:57):
things that you can do to helpcalm yourself down.
So I will link that in the shownotes in the description.
If that sounds like you, pleasedo check it out.
But just understanding thatthere is a process and it is.
We need to trust it and it isnormal to feel like this and to
feel like I haven't improved.
And that is okay, because thistakes time.

(11:17):
This takes a lot of time andthat is okay, all right.
I want to encourage you.
I want to send you all of thegood vibes, all of the good, you
know, just the goodness and totell you that it is going to be
okay.
And this is difficult.
This is difficult for a reasonbecause it is so rewarding as

(11:40):
well.
That's why we do it.
You know, now, if you arestruggling with feeling like you
haven't improved, maybesomething that can also help you
this is like a bonus thing istracking your practice and
planning your practice, becausethis is a lot like the videos
where you are, you know,listening to yourself.
But this in terms of planningyour practice and tracking your

(12:03):
practice, this can be reallyhelpful by just writing things
down and looking at them later.
Now, a great way to plan yourpractice that I have found
really, really, really helpfulis using a notable practice
journal.
Now, I have planned my practicebefore using notable and it.

(12:24):
You know, I usually just get aregular notebook and I plan it,
and it's fine, but sometimes,you know, I just feel so like I
don't want to set up anotherpage in a blank notebook and
plan my practice.
So I got out of the habit andthen my practice just got worse.
But recently, in the past morethan a couple of months, more

(12:46):
than a few months I have gottenback into planning my practice
effectively.
With Notables Practice Journal,you can plan your practice and
then you can reflect.
And this is the thing withfeeling like you haven't
improved.
Reflection after your practicesession can really give you the
chance to just pour out yourthoughts of the session and all

(13:06):
of these things.
And then when you, you know, afew weeks or months down the
line, when you feel like, okay,what have I been working on, you
can go into this and just read,read your reflections, read
your practicing, read, read yourum, your planning, and that can
make all the difference andbeing like, actually I have
improved, because, you know, afew months ago I was working a

(13:27):
lot on this thing and now thatis more like my warmup routine,
you know, and it is just such alovely feeling to be like I have
achieved things.
As soon as I found out that thiswas working, I knew that I
needed to tell you and I knewthat I needed to give you a code
.
So use code ELEANOR15 for 15%off your journal.

(13:49):
That is, e-l-e-a-n-o-r-1-5 for15% off of your journal and
start planning your practice,getting those effective practice
sessions and then seeing theprogress after, because isn't
that what we all need?
Check out the link in thedescription or in the show notes
to get your journal.

(14:10):
You know me, I don't recommendanything that I don't absolutely
love.
This code is an affiliate code,which means that I do receive a
commission with no extra costto you.
All right, let's do a recap.
So the first thing is findingout what needs working and then
improving through and by doingthat, you can play for people,

(14:33):
can play for people.
So play for anyone, play foryour teacher, play for your
friends all of the people, justplay for them and either ask for
feedback or ask for to be hypedup, because those are two
different things, depending onwhat you need.
The next thing is taking avideo of you now and then
waiting a few months, or likeworking, working, working, and
then taking a video of you inthe future and comparing those

(14:54):
two, because you can seeprogress through that.
And the last thing is justtrusting the process, because
this is a long, hard process.
It is hard, it is a very hardprocess, but you are doing a
really good job.
You are doing a really good job.
And the last thing, the bonusthing, is tracking your practice
, planning your practice andlooking back at your practice

(15:14):
using a notable practice journal, and you can use the code
ELEANOR15 for 15% off your order.
All right, that is about it forthis episode.
Thank you so much for hangingout with me.
As always, all the links to dowith this episode, from the blog
post that goes with it to thelink for your notable practice
journal, will be in thedescription, it will be in the

(15:36):
show notes and so you can checkthat out.
All right, if you enjoyed thisvideo or this episode, please do
give it all the love throughliking, subscribing, commenting,
following all the things, and Iwill see you in the next
episode or video.
All right, take care.

(15:57):
Bye-bye.
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