Consistency of Practice

 This time in our world poses particular challenges for consistent practice routines.                                                                                            

I consider there to be 3 elements in a high quality practice routine: 1) Consistency of Practice; 2) Quantity of Practice; and 3) Quality of Practice.                                                                                                                                                                                               

I also want to be clear that the goal of consistent, focused practice time is to maximize the development of joy, confidence, self-discipline, appreciation of beautiful sound, and capability in applying practice strategies to other elements of life, through the accomplishments you achieve with this practice. There may also be spiritual rewards, physical coordination development, mental acuity (one of the best ways to prevent Altzheimers!), and emotional rewards. There will be times when you do not feel the above. But by sticking with it with consistent and focused time spent, you will most definitely be aware of all of the above in the long run.                                                                                                                                      

A few initial thoughts:

• Consistency is often the place to start.
• if you tell yourself “I don’t feel like practicing today,” that can often lead to other days that feel similar
• if you think of it like brushing teeth, something that you do every day regardless, it will become a routine and it will be less likely that you’ll have thoughts of not “feeling like it” on a given day
• anything you do 30 days in a row becomes a routine – it starts feeling odd NOT to practice
• once you’ve established practice as a daily habit, quantity and quality of time and focus will follow, sometimes with effort but sometimes simply as an outgrowth of consistency
• I strongly recommend EITHER 7 days a week (especially for younger kids) or for some, 5-6 days is fine. It’s ok to decide not to practice one day or sometimes 2 in a week, and that’s ok. Less than 5 will ensure a more frustrating and less fruitful experience. One benefit of 7 days a week is that there’s no question about WHETHER you’ll practice – it’s just a given. Often parents can get into frustrating situations when kids argue that they didn’t have to practice yesterday so why today? This 7 day pattern can often almost magically dissolve a lot of parent/child arguments about consistent practice.                                                                                                                                                                                                        
• Some days can be short. It’s much better to decide to practice for 5 minutes than to feel intimidated by the idea of practicing an hour, and therefore just not pick up the flute. If you’re challenged to get the routine going, set your initial goals low, and give yourself space to expand the practice when you have more time or feel more inspired. Quantity can come later down the path once consistency is established.                                                                                                                        
• Consider keeping a practice chart or other tangible record of your practice. I’ll be sharing some charts shortly – look for a follow-up email. I regularly use practice charts in my practice. Right now, I’m working to improve my speed at single tonguing, double tonguing, and triple tonguing, and it’s essential for focused practice that I know exactly what speed I left off at the day before. So I always keep track of that metronome marking. For kids, sticker charts are great. You can make up your own chart or use one that I share.                                                                                                                                                  
• Make it fun! Some stages and days can be frustrating, especially in the first couple of months. Sometimes the reward comes from the music itself, and the sense of having accomplished something – but I don’t think even top professionals feel that most of the time. There are days at all levels where the progress is less apparent. Sometimes the goal seems quite small and you can’t wrap your head around the end result. Frankly, I still am known to use things like marble jars to get over these humps. I may not feel like I’ve made progress in that day (as much as I do know from previous experience that the progress will show up another day) BUT I did fill up that marble jar! For most kids, finding new and creative ways to make practice a game with this type of tangible result can be really important – to SEE that you’ve done something, even if you can’t hear the difference in your playing yet.  And why not adults as well?