Practice Rooms, Mental Health, and Playlists: Starting My Second Year At Music School

I am embarking on my second year at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. First year was a roller coaster ride. Upon reflection of the past year, here are three things I'm doing differently for second year.

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 never recommend anything that I don't love. This contains an affiliate code which means that I receive a commission -- with no extra cost to you! 😊

Episode Transcript

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, it's so worthit.

(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 confidentmusician podcast.
Hello, hello, hello, and welcomeback to another episode of the

(00:48):
Confident Musitioning Podcast.
Today we are gonna be talkingabout back to school.
Back to school because I havejust started back up at the
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
I'm in my second year nowstudying at the Conservatoire,
and it's really exciting.
Like honestly, I'm so excited.

(01:08):
Um, and it's interesting becauseI think now is a perfect time
for reflection when you'restarting something new, kind of
reflecting on the things thatwe've done before, how we want
to do them differently, what wewant to keep, etc., is really
really important.
And so during this episode, I amgonna be sharing with you three

(01:29):
things that I am doingdifferently at music school this
year compared to last year.
So whatever like kind of part ofthe journey you are on, if you
are at a conservatore as well,if you're at university, if you
are doing music, um maybe you'reat high school level, maybe it's

(01:50):
just a hobby, and you'reinterested in how I'm gonna do
things differently this year,um, let's all grab a seat and
get started.
So this year is a reallyexciting year.
Last year I had a lot.
There was a lot going on.
I uh moved to the UK, I startedat the Conservatoire, I switched

(02:14):
oboe styles from the Americanstyle to your the the European
style, which is completelydifferent, and I did a lot of
fun, exciting things.
I um I did like differentprojects, so like orchestra
projects, um, I performed inyouth orchestra.

(02:35):
Uh I also failed my midtermtechnical exam and I learned a
lot in that process.
Um, I've talked about this onthe podcast before in recent or
in past episodes.
Um yeah, I've had I had to learna lot in that process and and
work through it.
Um, but then I ended up passingthe resit, so that was a very

(02:57):
exciting um thing.
But this year there are threethings that I specifically want
to do differently.
I mean, there's probably morethings, and there are also
things that I want to keep thesame.
Um, but here are three thingsthat I am gonna do differently.
So the first thing is being inthe building more, kind of

(03:18):
talking to people more.
This is something that um Ididn't really do last year.
I mean I talked to people, Imade connections and whatnot,
and of course I was in thebuilding for like classes and
whatnot, but I feel like uh Ihave a flat and um I'm able to
practice in my flat, and so lastyear that's kind of where I
practiced.
I like really didn't practicemuch at the conservatoire

(03:40):
because I had the option ofpracticing at my flat, and I
think you know that's a greatthing, especially if you know,
say I couldn't get a practiceroom.
Um but I think at the end itkind of made it harder in a way,
almost as well, because I wouldalways just go home to practice,
and I think for that uh it Imean it made it so that I was in

(04:02):
the building less, so I spoke tofewer people, I made fewer
connections.
It was kind of lonely sometimes,not gonna lie, like just
practicing in my flat.
And yes, sometimes it was reallynice, and I'm very grateful for
the fact that I can practice inmy flat, but um this year I want
to have a more of a balance andmore practice sessions where I'm
actually in the buildingpracticing in the building, and

(04:26):
you know, when I leave thepractice room I am with people,
and you know, I I walk throughthe hallways, and there are
people there that I know, andand it can be a little more of
an immersive environment ratherthan just me practicing um in my
flat.
I think this is this is reallyreally important.

(04:48):
Um, I think as well in terms oftalking to more people, last
year I kind of felt like I couldonly talk to people in my
classes or in my section, um,kind of like keep to myself.
Yeah, I I talk to some people,but you know, not too many, etc.
Um, and I think a lot of usprobably can relate to that,
just like being a little nervousto talk to anyone.

(05:11):
Um but you know the truth, wecan talk to anyone we want.
Like you can talk to anyone youwant to, you know, like just say
hi, you know.
I mean, like you can.
Um I think that last year I kindof was nervous to kind of start
conversations with people andand to to kind of work through

(05:31):
that.
So I think you know, talking toto people is something that I
really want to to start doingmore often and kind of
introducing myself to morepeople and being in the building
will will definitely help withthat.
So that's one thing that I wantto do.
Just go out to people who arenot in my section, not maybe a
music student, maybe a you know,uh acting student or ballet or

(05:54):
whatever, um, and introducemyself and kind of make
connections that way.
That's something that I reallywant to do more this year.
The next thing is reflecting onmyself every week.
How am I really doing?
So I kind of failed to do thislast year, and it it ended in my
failing my midterm technicalexam.

(06:14):
Um, the reason why I failed mymidterm technical exam was not
because I was not practicingenough, but actually because I
was practicing too much.
I did too much.
I was taking on too manyresponsibilities, and I wasn't
actually checking in with myselfon how am I actually doing
emotionally, and in you know,emotionally I was overwhelmed
and I was burnt out, and I endedup um not being able to perform

(06:39):
in a way that you know I wantedto in the exam and that I knew I
could, and I ended up failing,and that was a real wake-up call
for like I need to take care ofmy mental health, yeah.
Um, and so do you.
We all need to take care of ourmental health.
Um, no matter what stage of lifewe are in, you know, you're

(07:02):
never too busy to take care ofyour mental health because if
you are too busy, then yourmental health is gonna stop
whatever the busyness is.
Do you know what I mean?
Like for me, I you know was toobusy to take care of my mental
health, and that's kind of thething that made it so that I
failed my exam.
So this year I'm gonna do thisthing, and I haven't started it

(07:24):
yet, um, but I'm very excitedto, and I'm excited to tell you
how it goes.
But every weekend I want to kindof do a reflection.
I have a journal, I journal alot, and I want to every weekend
just have the same questions umand just reflect every week.
How am I?

(07:44):
You know, how am I doingmentally?
How am I doing socially?
How am I doing practice-wise,career-wise?
Um, you know, how what like justall of these questions that
maybe I don't ask myself enough,especially with mental health?
How am I doing?
You know, am I do I feel burntout?

(08:04):
Do I feel excited?
Do I feel energized?
You know, have what have I donethis past week to help my mental
health?
You know, have I hung out withfriends who have really kind of
helped me feel good about myselfand about life?
Um, or have I done things, maybetoo many things that were too
draining for me and I feelreally exhausted?

(08:25):
Like having that weeklycheck-in, I think, can be
really, or hopefully, if if itworks, um, I'm hoping that it
can be a good way to do that.
So, you know, if I start to feelburnt out and stressed, I can
have this check-in and and I canmaybe realize that earlier
before it's too late.

(08:46):
Um, in a way, you know, likelast year when I failed my exam.
That was too late.
I realized too late just howburnt out I was, and I don't
want to do that again.
So, so that's something that I'mplanning on doing.
The third thing is listeningmore.
Listening more, listening torepertoire more.

(09:08):
Um, especially as a musicstudent, it's important to
listen to things.
Um, listening to the pieces thatI'm working on more, carving out
time to focus on that,listening, um, yeah, just more
time to focus on listening.
I think listening is soimportant in practice, so
important in practice.
Creating that time to listen tothe repertoire that we're

(09:30):
playing is so so important.
And having that time is reallyimportant.
And I think last year I kind ofgot too busy, and you know, I
obviously I listened to thepieces I was playing, but I
don't think enough.
Do you know what I mean?
And also listening to otherOboists, you know, recordings
and being like, okay, what do Iwant to do?

(09:50):
You know, do I want to soundlike this person?
Do I want to sound like thatperson?
For instance, like, oh, I likethis person's tone, I want to,
you know, try and sound morelike that, or I like this
person's double tonguing, I wantto do that, you know, things
like that.
I don't think I did that enoughlast year.
So that's something that I wantto do.
I think every week, this myplan.
Um, every week I want to kind ofcreate a playlist um of things I

(10:13):
want to listen to and just kindof listen to that, and then
every week it changes and itdepends on what I'm playing, or
you know, what I want to listento, um, and and I want to keep
up with that as well.
So that's something that I'mplanning on doing that's
different from last year.
Now, before we do a littlerecap, I have a bonus.

(10:33):
This is not something I'm doingdifferently from last year, it's
something that I'm continuingbecause it really helped, and
that is planning my practice.
I think as a conservatoirestudent, it's it's so easy to
get so busy at conservatoire,and um yeah, I end up you know,

(10:53):
like maybe in practice sessions,not really knowing what I'm
practicing, or maybe justplaying but not really having a
goal for it.
And I think as a conservatoirestudent or just as a busy
person, we need to haveeffective sessions.
For me, effective practicesessions is just so important,
and so planning my practice iskind of the key to having

(11:16):
effective practice sessions, anda tool that I use in my practice
planning is a notable practicejournal.
This journal helps me to notonly plan my sessions but also
reflect on my sessions so thatevery session can be kind of
just better and better andbetter.
It is such an amazing tool.

(11:37):
I started using it um almost ayear ago, actually, almost a
year ago, and the differencebetween my practice when I plan
effectively with this journalversus when I just get my
instrument out and like makenoise is so so crazy.
Like it's so crazy different.

(11:57):
It's so this journal is so sohelpful.
As soon as I found out that thisjournal was helping me, I knew I
needed to tell you about it, andI knew that I needed to give you
a code.
So use code Eleanor15 for 15%off your journal, and yeah, get
yourself a journal and havethose effective practice
sessions that we all want.

(12:19):
So use code Eleanor15, that isE-L-E-A-N-O-R 15 for 15 15,
sorry, 15% off your journal.
You know I don't 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.
Alright, shall we do a recap?

(12:40):
So the first thing is going tothe building more and kind of
practicing in the building sothat I'm surrounded by musicians
and introducing myself to morepeople at the conservatoire and
creating those connections more.
I think that that's reallyimportant and I want to do that
more.
The next thing is reflecting onmyself, kind of checking in with

(13:00):
myself every single week, beinglike, how am I actually doing
this week mentally so that Idon't end up burning out without
realizing it and then you knowfailing an exam because I'm too
burnt out.
And the last thing is listeningmore.
Listening more, creating thoseplaylists so that I can listen

(13:21):
to um more ovo recordings andunderstand, you know, the
repertoire more.
I think that that's reallyimportant as a classical music
student.
So those are the three thingsI'm doing, and I am continuing
to use my notable practicejournal for my planning of my
practice sessions, and you cantoo with the code.
It is in the description in theshow notes.

(13:41):
There's a link to get yourjournal, and yeah, don't forget
to use the code for 15% off.
Alright, that is about it forthis episode.
Thank you so much for hangingout with me.
I'm so grateful that you'rehere.
If you enjoyed it, please dolike, subscribe, comment, share
with all of your friends, and Iwill see you in the next
episode.

(14:01):
Alright, take care.
Bye bye.