Fighting the Practice Blues

Feeling the practice blues? Me too...

Here are some things I do to get inspired and motivated:

-Remember your purpose for pursuing music. The purpose I pursue is making a difference through music

-Draw inspiration from other musicians. You can do this through watching interviews, performances, masterclasses, etc... All available on YouTube! I know I'm always inspired by the musicians I follow on social media as well!

-Take an intentional break! Notice the word intentional. This means when you take a break it's a real break and you're not feeling guilty about it or thinking about practicing. During the break go be inspired by nature, read a book, watch Netflix- most of my inspiration has come from watching Greys Anatomy!

-Do yoga! Yoga with Adrienne on youtube is an AMAZING FREE resource to help you reenergize and free your mind.

-Set daily specific and attainable goals- these could look like "Playing the Eb melodic minor scale at quarter note= 100" "Be able to play the Mozart exposition with proper phrasing and articulation" (make sure you define what proper phrasing and articulation is)

-Have a daily warm up you do at the same time everyday to set a routine and set the tone for practicing- mine looks like long tones, Baermann Scales, Kell Articulation Studies, and a Rose Etude. This instills good habits and makes it so I practice every aspect of proper playing.

-One quote I recently heard that I really like states "Motivation doesn't inspire action; action inspires motivation" (shout out to Mikey Arbula for that one) Think about that and what that means to you.

-Always remember music is a lifelong journey. You'll experience extreme lows and extreme highs, but it's your journey and no one elses. You ultimately get to decide the destination!