We can all improve our practicing habits, and there is no better time than a new year! The number one factor for success in your musical efforts is the quality of your practice sessions. Here are a few easy ways to super-charge your practicing:
1. Have a goal! There is almost nothing worse than mindless repetition without direction. Decide what you want to focus on, and direct your practice towards that. Do you want to play a particular spot with a soft thumb? Improve your intonation? Make your rhythms more accurate? Play with soft, relaxed knees? Decide, and let each repetition bring you closer to that vision.
2. Focus. This goal is related to the first. If my mind wanders while I am "practicing," I devolve into mindless run-throughs. Not helpful or effective at all! If you find your mind wanders, take a little break and do some jumping jacks or some other physical activity, and then come back to it. Meditation, exercising your mind, can make controlling your thoughts easier.
3. Be consistent. If you do nothing else, make a goal to be more consistent in your practicing. Make the goal, and make a plan to execute it. Find a regular time to schedule your practice sessions, and make that time sacred. Make a point to play your violin every day, even if only for ten minutes. Ten minutes of highly-focused practice is better than an hour of distracted run-throughs.
So, there you go, some very simple and relatively easy ways to improve your violin skill, or any skill for that matter. I promise as you put more mental effort into your practice, your enjoyment of this amazing instrument will grow and grow.
1. Have a goal! There is almost nothing worse than mindless repetition without direction. Decide what you want to focus on, and direct your practice towards that. Do you want to play a particular spot with a soft thumb? Improve your intonation? Make your rhythms more accurate? Play with soft, relaxed knees? Decide, and let each repetition bring you closer to that vision.
2. Focus. This goal is related to the first. If my mind wanders while I am "practicing," I devolve into mindless run-throughs. Not helpful or effective at all! If you find your mind wanders, take a little break and do some jumping jacks or some other physical activity, and then come back to it. Meditation, exercising your mind, can make controlling your thoughts easier.
3. Be consistent. If you do nothing else, make a goal to be more consistent in your practicing. Make the goal, and make a plan to execute it. Find a regular time to schedule your practice sessions, and make that time sacred. Make a point to play your violin every day, even if only for ten minutes. Ten minutes of highly-focused practice is better than an hour of distracted run-throughs.
So, there you go, some very simple and relatively easy ways to improve your violin skill, or any skill for that matter. I promise as you put more mental effort into your practice, your enjoyment of this amazing instrument will grow and grow.