Some things are easy to understand but hard to practice.
Perhaps you are learning to play double stops on the fiddle. You understand that you have to play two strings at once, and that it doesn’t take more energy than playing a single string. But you can’t seem to make it sound nice.
Or, you’ve been told (by me constantly) that the most important thing is to just play every day. You understand why that’s a good idea, but you can’t seem to do it.
You understand that certain conditions and practices lead to well-being: diet, exercise, a low-stress lifestyle, etc. But you find it nearly impossible to really do any of it on a regular basis.
Why? Because it’s hard. It’s hard to practice. Hard to break out of current patterns of activity and thought.
But wait. How hard is it? What exactly is hard? Is it hard to learn the fiddle? Or is it hard to master it in one month?
Maybe if we look at what we’re doing as a process, then we can move beyond easy and hard and just do it.
My tip: start small. Just play for ten minutes a day. But do it every day. Or just change one little thing about your diet, like eat half as much for dessert. Then see what happens.
What really makes you practice? You’ll have to experiment and find out for yourself…
This is so good, I feel like I should read a small version of it every time I practice. Thank you, Jason, for reminding me it’s a process.
Starting small is best.
I’ll be 70 next month and determined to learn this at least to the point that I could play in front of someone besides my dog. That drives me to practice every day.
If it was easy anyone could do it. Fiddlehed is the best !!!!!!
Well I say a very happy Birthday to crowbar47! I hear you my dog can probably understand the various out of range noises that inadvertently
occur during practice, so he’s patient and will stay with me. One thing I have noticed is I get extremely nervous in front of people, even myself (while attempting to video my bowing). The first month I just said to myself all the squeaking and bow hopping will stop by the next month. So here I am three months into my experience and I am still not where I want to be. When I came upon this website I was so excited because Fiddlehed believes in baby steps, which is so crucial due to the steep learning curve. So I started completely over, not playing till I thought I got it perfect, playing for the sheer joy of playing and trying to make each note sound better then yesterday. Before I knew it, I worked my way up to two hours/day (and that’s not every single day) which was easy since I focus on scales, finger exercises and simple tunes I learned here. I make practice my “free time” and yes even 10 minutes are better then nothing. I also bought two wall hooks that allow me and my kids to place our violins within site and reach. That’s been the biggest motivator having your instrument right there.
I still flop in front on my instructor, but I’m sure that’s a matter of being confident, and that also comes with practice. Good luck to you!