Practising Part 1: Answering the most asked questions

In my experience talking about practising with people only becomes beneficial once they have had 2 questions answered. Until then, these questions (and the answers they think they will get) plague them to the point where they don't REALLY listen to what's being said. So I thought I'd get those out of the way first...

1. How much and how often should I practice?

In one line: As much and as often as you can... I realise that this is not the most satisfying answer, but it's the truth. I have a different set of responsibilities in life than you, and so I can't prescribe to you that x number of hours per day is what you should get in. What I can tell you with confidence is that if you REALLY LOVE MUSIC and you believe you need it in your life you will desire to get better at it every day and you will find a way to get to it - even if only for 5 minutes.

Remember that CONSISTENCY is a major key to getting better at any skill. That means that 10 minutes per day EVERY DAY is better than one 2 hour session once per week.

As a rule I try to play my instrument every day, as much as my schedule allows. Do I do it every day of the year? No. But I do it MOST days because I try to do it every day. That's real life.

2. What should I practice?

It's easy to become overwhelmed by all of the information and opinions out there on what to practice and the quickest way to get better. To simplify it for you, here's the truth: If you don't know the basics, then that's what you should be practising - knowing your notes, scales, chord-theory, basic technique, reading and rhythm studies. Once you have those down fairly well you need to start making decisions about where you are headed in music, as there is simply not enough time to become great at everything all at once. What is your goal? Do you want to be a studio pro? A live performer? A teacher? What do your favourite players do that you love? What music moves you deep down? The answers to these questions should guide your practice routine. If you decide you want to play jazz you need to find the process (from a good teacher) for learning that language. If you want to be a rock player start listening to rock and jamming along. Whatever the answers, find the process that will get you to where you think you are going, and then commit to it.

Ok. Now that those two issues are out of the way I can get more specific with my next post.

Parting tip: If you feel uninspired to practice just listen to your favourite musician play beautiful music for 5 minutes. It'll turn your attitude around.

Take care!
Andrew

Practice makes... BETTER! (but only if you do it right)

One of the 'catch-phrases' we hear all the time is 'practice makes perfect'. A lot of the time this simply isn't true. Practising something doesn't necessarily make one perform a task 'perfectly', and I have often become discouraged by hours and hours of practice because I do not even begin to get a glimpse of the perfection I believe I am supposed to attain.  

We practice because we want to get better, and that is guaranteed if the practising is done right and done often. 

What is encouraging to me is that getting incrementally better - improving - at a given task is something that can be measured. I find this much more beneficial than getting down on myself every day because the thing I'm working on STILL isn't 'perfect'. I'm very content to just get a little bit better every day because I believe that the process will eventually get me to where I need to be if I stick to it. 

Over the next little while I will be posting tips to the approach to practising that I subscribe to. I believe in it because it has worked for hundreds of years for thousands of musicians, and it's working for me right now. 

I'll end-off this post with a thought from the great Jeff Berlin really makes sense to me. He said: 'Progress in music is like watching your hair grow. You can't necessarily see the growth every day, and then one day you look in the mirror and it's time for a haircut'. 

Check out the new look blog!

Hey guys and gals!

Check out the 'revamped for 2012' blog!

I think it looks pretty awesome... just one of the advantages to having a tech-savvy wife :)

Now you can see my photos, check out my YouTube channel and more from the blog home page.

Will be hitting you with a new post tomorrow, so until then

Take care!
Andrew

New YouTube channel!

Hey y'all!

Just a quick one to let you know I have a YouTube channel now, and will be posting videos of my music, some educational stuff, and some gear reviews as regularly as time allows.

Check out my first video, a solo piccolo bass piece called 'A Week of Friendship'.

Take care!
Andrew

People, sure love GOOD people! (this one's about YOU)

Listen to this song...

Apart from its AWESOME funkiness, the message of the song rings so true.

I have been working on a pretty large project in the studio for the past little while. The personnel varied from some of the biggest names in the biz to some totally inexperienced (but totally talented) young musicians.

The music was HAPPENING from day 1... The grooves were TIGHT and FUNKY... But you know what made the biggest impact on the time we spent together? GOOD PEOPLE working together. Everyone checked their egos in at the door. No tantrums, no diva complexes, no interpersonal issues. And when you hear the album, that's what you'll hear - because that's where MUSIC comes from.

People, sure love GOOD people!

The big 'secret' all great musicians know...

...is that musical information/knowledge is not owned by any one person. It is for everyone.

You NEED to ask questions to get better... so swallow your pride and ask.

You NEED to share your experience and knowledge to help others get better... so realize that you don't OWN any part of music exclusively.

(Musicians who are scared of letting go of their 'secrets' are usually scared that others will become greater than them if they share their knowledge so they try to shroud it in mystery - these people eventually alienate themselves)

If you meet someone like this who tries to evade answering a question directly, simply move on and find someone who will answer it, do the required work, and then start looking for the next question you need to ask.

Finally, it should be the case that all of us will always be on both sides of the fence here, in the sense that one should always have questions to ask and answers to share. I'm not sure that one could ever be so good that there are no more questions left to ask...

Be KIND to yourself

The following is a lesson I learned (and am still learning) from Kenny
Werner's book 'Effortless Mastery':


BE KIND TO YOURSELF!


As musicians we have created a culture of competition. Everyone is out there trying to be better than the next guy. This causes us to hate ourselves, and good music in general, because every time we hear incredible music by a talented musician we start making excuses for our own lack of ability. We end up harbouring resentment for the musician who is better than us, and get down on ourselves for not being better.


The TRUTH is this... There will always be someone 'better' than you... And MUSIC is not going to stop if you get upset with it... BUT there will always be enough music to go around for all of us to play and enjoy it.


The SOLUTION... Be KIND to yourself.


In other words, accept that where you are in your development is not a bad place, just another point in a long journey. Be THANKFUL for the giftings of others. Make a decision to learn from them. Remember that they didn't get there through luck. Hard work did it for them and will also do it for you.


The moment you learn this lesson you will free yourself from the burden of competition, and start to build relationships with the musicians who you now respect. And as I have said in this blog before, if music is about anything, it's about COMMUNITY.


The fine print: This only works if you are working at developing your own abilities. If you are not, you cannot learn to be kind to yourself because your problem is laziness and a lack of love for music.