Making Practice WORK FOR YOU!

Being a guitar teacher (and music school director) over the past decade, one might imagine I've seen success and failure among our many students over the years. Whether you are old or young, beginner or advanced, it goes without saying that without regular practice sessions several times per week, you won't succeed.

But what about the student who IS practicing, and still doesn't seem to be moving forward? In my experience, most folks have a threshold of a few weeks or months with stagnation before they finally hang it up. But why, if they ARE practicing regularly, are they not progressing? (glad you asked)

There are several factors that could contribute to this.

1. Environment is EVERYTHING!

Recenthly when chatting with a student about their lack of motivation with practicing their instrument, I began asking them questions about what it was like at home when they tried to practice. The student had their guitars all out in the living room, in plain sight (which is a good idea). However, ALSO in plain sight were: The TV, Playstation, and Computer, all of which are major distractions for this person. I suggested they move their "practice" station up to their bedroom, away from any distractions. I also suggested they make sure the sound/tone of their guitar was similar to lessons, as well as chair height and stand height being the same as when they attended their private lesson. With just such a small change in their environment, we saw INSTANT results!

2. Routine

Just as with any exercise program, or school system curriculum, you cannot treat the process as a smorgasbord. Any personal trainer in the world will tell you that in order to be successful in exercise, you need a ROUTINE. You're not going to get very far dabbling in a couple of sittups here, some treadmill there, etc. Our bodies and minds THRIVE on routine, which can be easier for some of us than others. Just like a healthy diet consists of balanced meals, with proportions of different food groups, so should ever practice routing. You should have a technique element (to train PHYSICALLY, more on that later) A theory element, and an application element. You need the balance to make the most of your time. Now students here at Jim Beaver's School of Music are given an assignment weekly by their private teachers following this philosophy, so if stagnation starts to show it's ugly face, diagnosis is usually pretty easy. The problem is, many folks view the process of learning an instrument as entertainment alone. You can't expect to become an accomplished musician if you approach the process like periodically renting a movie. You have to be systematic in your day to day practice routine. This doesn't mean you won't or can't enjoy playing, even early on. But just as eating only the dessert in our meal would leave us very unhealthy, so will only playing the entertaining aspects of our routine! The best way to keep your self accountable to covering all the "elements" daily is to.....

3. LOG IT

Out of sight, out of mind, as the old adage goes. The truth is, none of use remember every detail of every day. Keeping a diary or journal logging when, for how long, and "what" you practice, can make a TREMENDOUS difference in keeping things alive and progress steady. The diary really just confronts ourselves with ourselves, and our ACTUAL accomplishment daily. I often tell my students, "If all I ate were doughnuts and drank only Mountain Dew, you would notice a difference in my appearance in a few weeks." The same is true with practicing, if you are DOING the routine as outlined by your teacher, you won't be able to help but get better. The process works to those who work it! We cannot be at the student's home each night when they are practicing, however the diary is the teacher's best eye view into the day to day of a student. When we have a student stagnating, we can usually see in this log whats going wrong (and more important, prevent stagnation in the first place when habits start to drift towards the lazy...) It also helps to keep a structured schedule. In other words, let Tuesday at 5:00 be your practice time, and nothing gets done until it's completed. When we have a very loose practice schedule, we'll most likely have very loose progress. We tend to think that a minimum 5 days weekly is a great place to start. Having at least 1 day per week that you don't touch it is a great thing in my opinion, but only if one is DILIGENTLY working the other 5 or 6 days.

4. Set Goals

We humans need a dragon to slay, a mountain to climb, and a problem to solve. It's in our DNA! Here at JBSM, from day one we establish a clear cut "FINISH LINE" with each student. Because everyone is different, you can't approach music lessons with a one size fits all mentality. It's vital that one has a clear goal in mind while they are doing the less than entertaining aspects of learning a musical instrument. Running scales, reading piece after piece, and things like technique and chops builders are not fun for most people, at least not in the early stages. Just like an Olympic athlete has the image of the gold medal in their minds as they are punishing their bodies as they train, we musicians must keep our eyes on the goal we've set. See yourself soloing like Joe Satriani, ripping up arrangements of classics like Tommy Emmanuel, writing and performing tunes like John Mayer, winning American Idol, etc. Goals make the world go round! If you are just spinning your wheels in the mud of busy work, dabbling in a scale or two, half an exercise, etc...well, you're just simply not going to make it.

5. LOVE the process

Just like a war is won by the smaller victories in various battles, our goals are met one day at a time. Learn to love the process you are in, content with just getting your daily installment of work/fun on the instrument, knowing that your diligence will pay off. When you see (INSERT FAVORITE MUSICIAN/ARTIST HERE) you see the current day state of their process. You don't see the YEARS of effort that got them there. In our microwave society of "I want it yesterday, and for free," diligence is becoming less and less visible in our culture, especially in younger folks. If you want to BE more than average, you have to DO more than average.



Jim Beaver, Director at Jim Beaver's School of Music, shares his talent with the WNC area in a variety of capacities, including teaching nearly 1,000 private guitar students over the past decade, weekly duties as Musical Director at Faith Church International, various productions at the Flat Rock Playhouse, and countless performances at local listening rooms in the WNC area.

Jim Beaver's School of Music, founded in 2001 by Jim, is located at 810 South Grove street in Hendersonville, NC 28792. Seven different instructors offer private music lessons in a variety of instruments to the greater Western North Carolina area, including (but not exclusively) Hendersonville, Asheville, Fletcher, Columbus, Tryon, Lake Lure, Bat Cave, Arden, and the surrounding areas.

828-693-4056
info@jimbeaversmusicstudios.com
www.jimbeaversmusicstudios.com