Someone wrote to me yesterday with questions about the new subscription setup. In a post-script she said, “I spend 2-3 hours almost every evening ‘playing’. It sounds more fun than ‘practicing’. And I love it.”
This simple statement says a lot about the nature of learning and practicing music. The thing that struck me is that she found her own way of framing things, calling it “play” instead of “practice”. I think the biggest thing I teach is how to practice. I teach that through fiddle tunes. There are a few simple ideas that can transform how anyone practices any style of music on any instrument:
But ultimately, each student has to discover for themselves how to practice. How to make the best use of their time. How to find a balance between effort and acceptance. And how to do the work and love doing.
If you can find a way to love the sound and the process, then playing every day requires no big feat of discipline. You’ll just naturally want to play every day.
Hello. I am just getting back into fiddling after a wrist injury. I have played for 2 years, not very good. What path should I take for future improvement?
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Love your “play everyday video”, Jason. Looping technique has really been helpful! And I have focused on incremental learning as well….very helpful.
So thanks again,
Cheers,
linda