Ok, it’s that time of year again, when things get a little bit crazy and all routine seems to fly out the window.

 

But what’s going to happen with your music?

 

While some of you will be looking forward to a break, others will be looking forward to having more time to practice.

 

This Article is for all of you and contains links and suggestions suited to your practice ideals for this holiday season.

 

 

Taking A Break?

 

Of course that’s fine and for some those of you who have been working very hard on your music it could be the best thing for your progress.

 

However, for others, the decision to take a break may be forced by circumstances – either you are going away and won’t have your instrument or space to practice and/or you have to meet many social engagements and just won’t have the time.

 

It’s always a good idea to acknowledge your reasons or circumstances for not being able to practice and to be honest and real about it.  (Reflective writing is always good for this.)

 

If you won’t be practicing but want to stay in touch with your music, I suggest you read this article which is full of recommendations for inspiring music reading, dvd’s and listening.

 

If you can’t take your instrument with you but still desire to keep your music learning going, this article has suggestions of how you can accomplish that.

 

 

Keeping The Routine Going?

 

If keeping your regular practice routine during the holidays is what you wish to do, the only advice I would give you is to cut yourself a bit of slack.

 

Sometimes things don’t go as planned, especially if you are out of your ordinary work or day-to-day routine.

 

I am sure there will be at least one or two social engagements and you just may feel different as those around you begin to wind down.

 

Use your Practice Diary to keep track of your learning and perhaps set yourself some achievable goals for this short period and if you’re having trouble keeping up the routine, this article is sure to help you.

 

 

Practicing Like Mad?

 

Some of you may have a lot of music work commitments to meet and will have to put in some extra hours of rehearsal and practice.

 

Others of you will just want to take this opportunity of having more time, to practice more.

 

Again, don’t be disappointed if you don’t meet your expectations of learning.  We can only learn as fast as our brains and bodies allow us to.

 

Also, (and this may seem obvious) try not to get sucked into any excessive partying.

 

You’ll have to be strict on yourself and that means making sure you are in the best possible health and getting enough sleep as well, so that you can gain the most from this period of practice.

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes there just seems like there’s so much to learn and so little time to do it.

 

That can be a stressful situation.

 

Whether you have an impending music exam or performance, there are times when there is a lot of pressure to learn.

 

So, how are you going to deal with that?

 

Even if you have whole days in which to practice, you can only learn as fast as your brain and muscle processes allow you to learn.

 

So here’s a few tips which can help you get through (and hopefully succeed) in those times of high pressure.

 

 

1.            Prioritise

 

My situation at the moment is that I have about five new songs to learn for the Band (rehearsing tonight) and a gig on Saturday night which I need to be in top shape for.

 

I therefore, have to prioritise the learning for the gig because it’s important to me that every public performance I do, I do my best.  However, there is an impending gig for the Band and there’s a lot of learning to do there as well!

 

Your priorities may be different to mine in the same situation.  What is important is that you are honest about what is most important to you (not anybody else) and focus on preparing your work in accordance with that.

 

Sometimes it will be a close call but the work you do for one performance will invariably benefit the other performances too.

 

 

2.            Practice Other Skills

 

Yes, you need to practice the pieces you will be playing but it’s also very wise to keep up the technical work, even if you are pressed for time.

 

This article outlines all the other exercises that are good to practice in order to support a successful performance.

 

 

3.            Break It Down

 

When you look at all the activities you have to accomplish in a week, it can seem daunting.  You may even feel like you don’t even know where to start, or have the feeling that all those tasks will be impossible to get through.

 

But when you look at what you have to do day by day, and just try to accomplish those tasks, those tasks seem much more manageable.

 

The same is true for a stressful music workload.

 

If you can, look at what you need to accomplish by the end of the week and plan out, day-by-day, using your Practice Diary, what you are going to do to meet those tasks.

 

Think about how much practice time you will have and plan what you will do in those practice sessions to get the maximum benefit.

 

A lot of time can be wasted with unplanned and unfocused practice.  However, with knowledge and planning on how to practice, you have much more of a chance of meeting your goals.

 

This article on time management has a great tip in the last video which I use all the time now and it works!

 

 

4.            Simplify

 

If there is really too much on your plate, there are several ways you can handle it:

 

1. Have a complete meltdown (not recommended!), but if you feel that is going to happen then….

 

 

2. Be honest, get someone else to do the gig, or shorten the repertoire, or cancel the date.

 

In other words, try to avoid getting yourself into a situation where you are going to let yourself and/or others down.  It’s just much simpler and better to be honest and let others know where you are at.

 

3. Sometimes you may be able to simplify the music and repertoire.

 

For example, shortening the form, or taking out some movements, or playing songs you already know.

 

In performance, always take the options you are most confident with.

 

 

Ok, well now I’m going to take my own advice and it’s off to the practice room!

Everybody’s experience of learning music is different, however, many of these experiences will have similar qualities.

 

This Article will take a look at what these qualities are, just so you know and just so you’re a little more prepared.

 

 

The Teaching And Learning Experience

 

 

We can learn so much from our students and also, the act of teaching music can enhance our own learning.

 

The key to being able to teach well is to draw on your own experience as a learner.

 

I also feel that it is important to keep learning as you teach. This way, the two experiences become almost one inseparable process, helping you to inspire your students and make your teaching more meaningful.

 

When starting out in music, you will likely have more than one teacher and some will be better than others.  (This Article can give you some advice on choosing a music teacher).

 

Remembering what was inspiring about the teachers you loved and why other teachers made music seem difficult will also inform your best teaching practice.

 

If you can take some time to reflect on your learning experiences to this point, you may find out more about what you need as a student of music and/or how you would like to teach.

 

Exercise

 

One of the most interesting and best exercises I’ve had to do, as part of putting this blog together, was to write out my own story in music so far.  You can read it here.

 

Whether you are new to music or have been doing it for a while, I do suggest you take a trip down memory lane.

 

It is not only great for your students to read it (if you want them to) to get a better understanding of where you are coming from and what your experience has been so far, but also for you to remember what inspired you in music in the first place, what your most embarrassing moments were (if you’ve had any – I most definitely have) and to see on paper how much you have put in to work towards your dream of making music a part of your life.

 

 

Going It Alone

 

 

We never ever stop learning music and that is what is so great about the Art – there is always more to learn and always ways you can become better at it.

 

However, there will inevitably be times in your learning where you have no teacher at all and all you have to rely on is yourself.

 

This is true for most professional musicians. (Although, by that time they have had so much experience as students, and some will be teachers, that they know how to best pursue their progress.)

 

What can be difficult is if you are new to music and want to teach yourself.

 

There are many “how to” books on the market as well as online tutorials but there is so much more to going it alone than simply having the information.

 

Again, this is one of the reasons this blog is in existence and why I have put together the Practice Diary – because the “going it alone” requires you to:

 

• Understand how you learn best,
• Problem solve,
• Remain motivated,
• Know how to practice, and much more.

 

Exercise

 

If you are starting out in music and are serious about it, I do suggest you find a teacher but if that is not possible, check out some of the above articles and try to implement the use of the Practice Diary, which you can download free by signing up to the Newsletter.

 

 

The Ups – The Downs

 

Something I am always telling my students is that their development won’t happen like this:

 

But more like this:

 

 

If you know that when you sometimes feel really down about music and you feel you are going nowhere and actually feel like giving up is an indication of an impending breakthrough, maybe you will be able to relax with the process a lot more.

 

It doesn’t matter how long you have been playing, the highs and lows are always going to be a part of your musical experience.

 

Learning how to deal with these feelings and understand how you are developing is important.

 

This is where a good teacher can really help by way of support, mentoring and giving direction.

 

Exercise

 

In order to really understand your development and see what has past and what is coming up for you, I suggest you regularly reflect and keep a Practice Diary (sign up to Newsletter).

 

That way you can look back, read your reflections and see how far you have come – especially when you feel you are getting nowhere.

 

This can really help you get through the lows and provide motivation to keep you practicing.

 

 

Performing Experience

 

Eventually, you will share your music, whether casually with family or other musicians or professionally.

 

These experiences can again be full of highs and lows but there is really no better way to gauge how you are going with music than to do some performing or recording.

 

These Articles should help you to be better informed about how to tackle some of the issues performing brings up:

 

• Performing Tips You Need To Know
• About Performance Anxiety
• How To Give Your Best Performance
• Make Recording Work For You
• How To Be An Authentic Musician.

 

Exercise

 

If you are not performing or recording, try to change this and make it part of your music experience.

 

The above articles should give you some ideas on how to do this, or if you are not sure, please leave me a comment explaining your situation and I’ll try to suggest how you can incorporate this into your work.

 

 

 

 

 

In order to get the best results, it is important to realise how the Diary can help you, acknowledge ways it doesn’t help you, and adjust it to fit your needs.

 

In this Article I will outline the different ways teachers and students can use the Practice Diary.

 

The most important thing to remember is that the Diary is a flexible resource and that you can, and should, improve upon it so that it serves you in the best possible way.

 

Teachers

 

The main purpose of the Diary is to teach students how to practice music so that when the time comes for them to be independent from a teacher they know how to keep pursuing learning and playing by themselves.

 

The most important aspects of the Diary are that of reflective learning and making sure all aspects of music are getting the right amount of attention.

 

You will find that some students love using the Diary and they fill it in religiously while others barely look at it.

 

Whether your student fills in the Diary or not, it is still a useful resource in the lesson and just by keeping track of exercises and writing in it, your students will eventually come to see how it can support their learning… the information you give is better absorbed because they are hearing it and seeing it.

 

For some students, that’s all they need and they will remember what has been covered and find a rhythm in their practice that suits them.

 

What is important is that you use the Practice Diary to keep track of your students’ progress.

 

If they are reluctant to do the reflective work, spend the first part of the lesson discussing similar questions to the following:

 

• How do you feel about what you have or haven’t achieved?
• Are you excited about learning?   Do you feel demotivated?  Do you feel you are moving at a steady pace?
• What activities did you enjoy most this week?
• Which exercises were difficult or frustrating?
• Do you have any questions for your teacher regarding these?
• Are you experiencing any barriers toward playing music?
• If so, are they environmental or emotional or do they have something to do with your timetable?
• What could you do to overcome these barriers?

 

and simply write a paragraph for them in the space provided.  When you revise these reflections at the end of the Diary, they will see the benefit doing regular reflective work.

 

Another tactic is to get them to write in the reflective space, spending 5 – 10 minutes of the first part of the lesson doing this.

 

Just be sensitive to the literacy level of your student and always offer to help them.

 

It can be quite embarrassing for adults to have literacy problems, many do and many don’t admit it, so please bear this in mind when using the Diary with your students and support them as much as you can.

 

If your student simply doesn’t want to use the Diary, you use it to keep track of what you are currently doing in your lessons with them.

 

Circle exercises and write down comments during the lesson, so that in the next lesson it is easy to pick up where you left off.

 

This saves a lot of time trying to recall where you are with a certain student and if you have many students, using the Diary really makes teaching a lot easier and efficient.

 

Explain to your students that the more information they can provide for you (i.e. how much time they spent on exercises, how often they practiced, what they practiced, reflective work etc) the more you can guide and help them and the faster they will be able to learn and the more value-for-money they get.

 

This may encourage them to use the Diary.

 

You can also experiment with pre-planned practice schedules or discuss with them ideas they think would work best for them and keep track of these in the Diary.

 

Don’t be disheartened if this resource doesn’t get used the way you intend it to be.  Everyone is different and everyone has their own way of doing things.

 

Use the Diary to illustrate how each of your students learn and help them to realise what works best for them.

 

That way, they will have a lot more chance of success.

 

Students

 

I am a list kind of person, so the Diary works well for me.  I have used it for about five years now and will probably always use it because it helps me to:

 

• Understand how I best learn music.
• Keep track of ideas, practice times and pages of books or scales I am up to.
• Calculate how much time I have spent on my own music during the week.
• Problem solve.
• Reflect upon my progress and much more.

 

I know that a lot of people are not “list” people and never will be and that’s fine.

 

You can use the Diary any way you wish and it’s just really helpful for your teacher and you to work together using this resource, writing down goals, achievements and keeping track of what you are focusing on.

 

Just remember the more you guide your own learning, through reflective practice, the better your relationship to music and your teacher will be and the easier it will be for you to eventually become and independent learner.

 

The Diary isn’t meant to be a resource you have to use forever.

 

By using the Practice Diary for a period of time you will eventually develop the mindset you need to ensure your future learning encompasses all the aspects of music necessary for you to succeed.

 

Many people fail to continue with music because they don’t understand their own processes and have false expectations of themselves and the learning process.

 

This is why I developed the Diary.

 

• It tracks your motivation levels,
• Teaches you how you learn, and
• Gives you a realistic picture of what is happening for you in terms of your goals and what needs further work.

 

Don’t worry if the Diary in its current format doesn’t work for you, instead, think about what will help you to learn and try to put that into a useful format.

 

You may come up with a more brilliant version than what has been offered!

 

Remember, if you have any questions, please leave your comment below.

 

Comments don’t automatically go onto the blog, so if you are worried about confidentiality, you can just let me know that you would like me to answer your query personally.

 

 

 

 

There is no denying that the internet has made a huge difference to the way we hear, learn, publicise, sell and watch music.

 

After all, here you are, sharing my thoughts on music practice and learning, and hopefully gaining some useful knowledge.

 

YouTube has become a tool I use on a daily basis to help inform my teaching and illustrate various points for students.

 

I use it to help students to find good tutorial videos they can study at home to make practice more interesting, for resourcing useful information to accompany my articles and for sharing tutorial information with my blog audience, such as the videos that help to explain how to use the Practice Diary.

 

To me, YouTube is a virtual library where I can access information and entertainment on anything I need in the comfort of my own home.

 

However, for many other people, YouTube has become even more than that.

 

Here are some statistics illustrating the power of the “Tube”.

 

• YouTube began in February 2005.
• By December it had 8 million views a day.
• By July 2006 that figure rose to 100 million views per day and 65,000 vids. being uploaded per day.
• By October 2008, 15 hours of video was being uploaded every minute.
• October 2009 1 billion views per day.
• May 2010 2 billion views per day.
• Today, the average person spends 15 minutes per day on YouTube.
• It’s international (22 countries have localised it).

(www.website-monitoring.com/blog/2010/05/17/youtube-facts-and-figures-history-statistics)

 

Anyone can upload a video on YouTube and instantly access this mind-boggling potential audience.

 

Let’s have a look at some of the musical success stories of YouTube:

 

Probably the most successful musical YouTube story is that of Justin Bieber.

 

No, I’m not a fan but you have to admit that from watching this, the boy’s got talent.

This video currently has over 36 million views.

 

After he was spotted here by a talent scout, he was introduced to Usher and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Meanwhile, here’s someone who has a remarkable ability, was spotted  on YouTube and is now touring his music around the world.

 

Check out the updated version…  Same song, but better video quality.

 

And lastly, someone with a different approach to the YouTube video, Dondria.

 

This is what she’s up to now.

So, if you are interested in uploading a video featuring you and your music, what would be some of the key points you need to think about?

 

Don’t Get Fancy

 

I think one of the most striking things about all these first YouTube videos was that there was no major production in them.

 

This is probably one of the key points a talent scout is aware of because a basic, not-so-great quality video shows the absolute truth about the performers ability.

 

I always tell my singers to record themselves on the lowest-tech equipment they can find because if you can make yourself sound good on that, you can sound good on anything!

 

When researching this article I found it so refreshing to see the raw talent of these artists because straight away, their authenticity shone through.

 

Be Yourself

 

So, this is the next thing you need to consider when capturing yourself for YouTube and that is simply to be yourself and let your personality shine through.

 

All these performers were doing just that which is another quality the scout will be looking for.

 

Make Sure You Know Your Material

 

Sometimes when I visit one of the forums on learning music, there are singers who have put their performances on YouTube wanting criticism.

 

The one criticism that comes up almost always is that they don’t know their material well enough.

 

This should be the number one consideration when you are presenting yourself and your music in any way to the world.

 

The least you should do in order to come across as professional, is to know the song.

 

Really, this does seem obvious but you’d be surprised and although I am tempted to post an example right here, I don’t want to single out any one person.

 

Be Aware

 

Lastly, be aware that there are talent scouts out there, most likely sifting through the millions of videos uploaded onto YouTube every day, right now!

 

This gives you a great opportunity to get noticed and perhaps even signed (if that’s what you want) but it also means you may only get one chance for that attention.

 

Therefore, post your video with the knowledge you have done your absolute best in the performance.

 

If you haven’t done as much as you could have done and you know you can do better then wait until you have captured something you are happy with.

 

 

Music practice can be so much more than the ‘normal’ routines you go through in your practice session.

 

In fact, the following suggestions for practice away from your instrument can definitely enhance your learning and progress if you use them regularly.

 

These techniques are fun, help you to approach learning from different angles and support all the other exercises you work on as well.

 

Here’s what you can do if you can’t get to your instrument for practice:

 

 

Visualisation

 

As you may or may not know from reading this blog, I had my first gig with a newly formed band last weekend.

 

I had planned to practice, particularly on one song which needed work, during the day (the gig was that evening), however, my little one would not sleep unless I was lying down with her.

 

That cancelled out my practice session.

 

Recently I wrote an article on creative visualisation and I decided this was the perfect situation to put “practice what I preach”.

 

It is quite a well-known fact that sportspeople use creative visualisation to improve their performance and musicians can use it too!

 

So as I was lying down next to my daughter I closed my eyes, relaxed and visualised myself playing the chords on the piano, hearing them, feeling my hand positions etc.  and I imagined everything in as much detail as possible.

 

While doing this, I made the mistakes I was making before so just did my imagined practice in order to iron them out, exactly as I would do in ‘real life’ and in real time (by breaking parts of the song down and working on them) until I could play the song through without incident. The verdict?

 

It worked, doing the practice in my head was just as good, and in some ways better, than if I had physically done it on the piano.

 

It was better because I found I really had to concentrate hard to get the results and this meant that the learning was deep.

 

We had a great gig and I’m looking forward to the next one.

 

I will also be using this technique more because it is great exercise for the imagination and adds another dimension to learning, making it a deeper process.

 

 

Reading Rhythms

 

Learning to read music should be part of any instrumental or vocal training.

 

If you focus on learning to read rhythms well, you are also learning to subdivide a beat and this is one of the most important skills any musician could focus on, since developing good rhythms is perhaps 90% of the work in music.

 

Reading rhythms is one thing my students and I always enjoy practicing and again, you can do it anywhere.

 

All you need is a metronome and a resource book.

 

The book you get should be in graded exercises (meaning they get harder as you go along) and remember always to set your metronome tempo at a slow speed to start with and just speed up as the exercise gets easier.

 

I have a book called “The Rhythm Method for Safe Music” by N. Peterson, an absolutely fantastic resource that I have been using for years now.

 

Unfortunately, it has been difficult to find this book on the internet and I will look into how I may be able to get my hands on it and sell on my site.

 

It teaches rhythms using French time names, something I was sceptical of at first but have found really works and it has improved my sight reading enormously.

 

I am much more confident in reading music than I have ever been because I do this exercise as part of my practice routine, however, I don’t have to be in front of the piano to do it.

 

 

Computer Resources and Games

 

Every month I post a list of useful resources that you can access on your computer.

 

This month (October 2011), I have included some websites that provide free resources you can use online so that you can practice reading, note identification, song writing and much more.

 

Using online computer resources to help you gain other musical skills is a stimulating and fun experience.

 

Just try not to get sidetracked when looking for them and perhaps check out my site for previous months’ recommended resources, which include free programmes to help improve aural skills.  (Just go to the sidebar and in the search area type in “this month’s 10 most useful music programs”) which will bring up loads of options for you.

 

 

Listening

 

Although listening to music seems like such an obvious activity for musicians, many don’t do it nearly as much as they could.

 

Sometimes we just get too busy, or have too much of our own music to write or learn that listening comes down our priority list.

 

However, there is always something to gain from it such as;

 

• Pleasure
• Inspiration
• Understanding of how music works and much more

 

When you actively listen to music.  Just lie down or sit with your eyes closed.  Don’t do anything else but listen and choose carefully what you wish to listen to.

 

In this act, just let the music take you where it will and reconnect with the experience of enjoying music for what it is and not thinking too much about it.

 

Being able to let go and get in touch with our initial feelings towards music, the pure enjoyment, the reason we wanted to participate in it, is important to reconnect with, especially if we have been practicing hard.

 

 

Reflecting

 

I’ve talked about the importance of reflecting upon our learning experience in this blog and you will see me do my reflections from time to time as well and post them here.

 

By reflecting on where you are in your learning and where you want to go, what important lessons you have learned etc. you are carving your path of learning, taking charge a little bit more and cementing what you have gained.

 

I make reflective learning a regular part of my practice by writing a paragraph in my Practice Diary every week.

 

This really helps to solidify learning and gives  a clearer picture of what is happening for you on many levels.

 

The experience of doing reflective work always makes me feel better and appreciate the time I have spent doing music.

 

All you have to do is sit quietly and write for about ten minutes.

 

I hope you have found this article helpful and also have some ideas of how to vary your practice.

 

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

 

It’s been a while since I’ve shared some of my personal learning experience with you.

 

It’s also time for me to do a review of my practice since February by going through my Practice Diary and filling out the Practice Outline.

 

So, I thought I’d put the two together and hopefully you can benefit from some of my insights over the last 8 months.

 

My goals set from the last Practice Diary were:

 

• To start improvising what I hear
• To start gigging
• To learn and use Pro Tools

 

Well, I have achieved the first two of those goals and I still want to continue learning Pro Tools but will put that on hold.   I started to learn the Program and then took on this blog project and there simply hasn’t been time to do both!  Also, it’s hard when I can use Garage Band so easily and quickly  (it’s a bit of a trap).

 

I’m happy with those achievements at any rate.

 

Now for the Practice Outline…. (this is the last page in the Practice Diary which needs to be filled out before starting a new diary)

 

From 9 February 2011 to 30 September 2011, I have achieved:

 

• More regular and frequent practice sessions
• Have started to gig and play with other musicians, joined a band and performing on piano and vocal
• Learned more repertoire
• Better and memorising chord progressions and song form
• Started using more resources and doing practice challenges
• Better focus and presence

 

 

My Practice Aims Are:

 

• To continue to grow with the band and get better at performing on piano
• To do regular gigs
• To look into Hakomi course to help my teaching and personal development
• To keep regular, consistent practice sessions going
• To get more singing lessons and maybe even piano lesson

 

 

During This Period Of Practice I Have Realised:

 

• I stopped doing reflections in my book because I was doing them more in the blog but it’s much more beneficial to take the time at the end of each week to do reflections in the practice diary.
• Practice makes me feel good.
• I often used to need extrinsic motivation to get me to perform, e.g. money, but that has now become intrinsic (I just need to share music) and that has been much more successful for me.
• Was great to do a vocal lesson and I should do some kind of lesson more regularly, even once every two months.
• I don’t like performing with music in front of me any more.  Much prefer learning songs.  It makes music much more enjoyable when performing.
• Sometimes life does get too busy and practice takes a back seat.  That’s ok, just get back on the horse!
• Writing the blog has been great for my own development.
• This reflection is worth remembering:

 

7/4/11

 

I still get those times when I feel I’m not getting any better at music but have come to know that is a false idea and I have to look at this feeling and turn it around to “work is being done” – I’m laying foundations for the next improvement.  At these times I just have to stay with the physicality of playing, stay centred – just listening – just doing and enjoying the peace of each and every session.

 

Reading that reflection really makes me want to practice and be with the music.

 

Now I have set my goals, I’ll let you know how it goes in about three month’s time.

 

I’ve learned a lot, as always, from doing this exercise and I hope it illustrates for you how useful using the Practice Diary can be beneficial and motivating for you.

 

It makes me feel good  to look back on the work I’ve done, to see the changes, improvements, realisations and achievements of goals and to set goals for the future.

 

If you haven’t already done so, join up to the Newsletter  (t0 the left of this article) to get your free Practice Diary template and e-book.

 

 

If I said to you there is one thing you can do to really kick-start your life or your music career and actually you don’t even have to get out of bed to do it, it’s effortless and really works, would you be interested?

 

Would you want to give it a go?

 

Ok then.

 

What I am talking about is creative visualisation.

 

This is not a new concept but there is a little more to visualisation than vaguely thinking about an event or outcome.

 

This article aims to explain to you the concept and how to implement creative visualisation in order to attain the results you desire for music and for your life.

 

 

What Is Creative Visualisation?

 

“Creative visualization is the technique of using one’s imagination to visualize specific behaviors or events occurring in one’s life.[7] Advocates suggest creating a detailed schema of what one desires and then visualizing it over and over again with all of the senses (i.e., what do you see? what do you feel? what do you hear? what does it smell like?).” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_visualization

 

One person who has made a career of teaching this technique through workshops and her best-selling book “Creative Visualisation” is Shakti Gawain and below you will find a video of her talking more specifically about this technique.

 

 

There is really nothing surprising or “new age” about visualisation at all.  In fact, all of us, in our everyday lives, use it in everything we do.

 

For example, we have the desire to eat some chocolate cake, then we imagine what it would be like to be eating that chocolate cake, which makes us take action toward getting that chocolate cake, either by making it or going to the shop.

 

Whatever we can imagine, can be brought into this existence which is why there is the saying “be careful what you wish for”, because really it is as simple as that.

 

How would you apply this to your music?

 

Well, there are many ways you may want to apply it.

 

Just to illustrate, I want to share with you what some of my goals were from my Practice Diary, three months ago.

 

1. To be better at improvisation.

2. To start playing gigs again.

3. To work with other musicians.

 

I just put these intentions out there, and of course, kept practicing with these things in mind but I knew I didn’t want to hussle for gigs (I’ve done a lot of that already and haven’t got the energy at the moment).  I just wanted to meet musicians and “organically” be part of a project.

 

This has now come to fruition and I am playing piano in a Latin band where I have to improvise and we have our first gig in three weeks.

 

I had to still put in the practice and I had to be open to the opportunities which arose, but with these clear intentions those opportunities came my way and I was able to gain from them.

 

This cycle of imagining what I wanted from music, putting that wish out there, visualising what I wanted and just doing what I had to do musically and trusting that things would work out, has been a continual pattern in my music career and I have never been disappointed.

 

This is what I want to share with all of you who desire to have music in your life.

 

• Think about how you want in music in your life.

 

• Imagine that taking place, then

 

• Trust that it will happen even if you don’t know how it’s going to happen because the how’s etc are not important.

 

 

Here is one last video which is a kind of beginning instruction on how to implement creative visualisation.  This video promotes making “meditation time” to practice visualisation but I also think that the best time is when you are playing your instrument.

 

 

 

Remember if you are practicing right, you should be in a relaxed and almost meditative state and I find that when I am practicing, that’s when I am really thinking about what I want from music in my life too.

 

I hope you have found this article helpful and will at least give this technique a go.  After all, it can’t hurt!

Just sit for a moment and imagine a world without music.

 

No music on films, television, advertisements or radio.

 

No music in the school play or your games.  No nursery rhymes.  No music anywhere.

 

It is a pretty difficult thing to imagine but now you are probably aware of how much we listen to music in our everyday lives.

 

Music is an incredibly important part of human society and culture, used for expression, entertainment, socialising and sharing.

 

Not only does music enrich our lives by simply listening to it, by learning to play it we can also:

 

1. Connect to other people both living and dead (e.g. composers);
2. Broaden interests and learn more about history and the world;
3. Challenge ourselves and achieve;
4. Problem solve;
5. Express complex thoughts and emotions;
6. Find inspiration in the work of others;
7. Have fun;
8. Develop a sense of pride;
9. Create a “world” where we can escape the everyday and relax;
10. Become more aware of our body, mind and spirit.

 

All of the above outcomes of learning to play music help to give meaning to life through connection, challenge, self-expression, enjoyment and awareness.

 

“Meaning in life is not just a theoretical or philosophical construct, but it has a bearing on human health and well being … to live without meaning, goals, or values provokes considerable distress …

 

Meaning serves a number of important functions in human lives (Frankl, 1992). Firstly, meaning provides a purpose for our lives. Secondly, it furnishes values or standards by which to judge our actions. Thirdly, it gives us a sense of control over the events in our life. Lastly, it provides us with self-worth. When people are unable to find meaning for any of these functions or when they lose or outgrow the meanings that they once had, they become distressed. Many emotional problems result from a failure to find meaning in life and can be resolved only through finding something to make life worth living (Frankl, 1992).” http://www.all-about-psychology.com/the-importance-of-meaning-in-life.html

 

You could therefore say that learning to play an instrument, no matter what the outcome, is one of the healthiest activities you could pursue in life.

 

But, of course, as outlined in a number of articles on this Blog, in order to feel you are experiencing the above outcomes, you need to be learning music in a healthy fashion.

 

Making sure you are:

 

1.            Forging connections through your music.

 

This can take many forms.

 

The first relationship you forge is with your teacher.

 

It is ok, to teach yourself but it is also definitely worth finding someone to help you learn music.

 

When you have a good teacher and a good relationship with them, you will often find that they become a mentor in your life and a person who can give you guidance in many other things besides music.

 

So, just be aware that it is really important to choose a teacher not based on how well they play but on:

 

• How well they communicate,
• How welcome and comfortable they make you feel,
• How organised and professional they are,
• Their awareness of your needs and your boundaries, and
• Their ability to help you achieve your goals and broaden your horizons.

 

Later on your musical path, you will hopefully get to play with others.

 

It is such a wonderful feeling to be able to connect with people through playing music and you can achieve this by:

 

• joining a choir,
• organising a jam with your friends,
• going to open mic nights, or
• forming a band.

 

If you are a musician who learns composed pieces, find out about the composer and their life.  That way you will understand the meaning behind the music and how the times they were living in impacted upon them.  It’s so interesting to know a little about life in the past and history.

 

If you want to read a little more about this you may enjoy this Article series.

 

 

2.            Broadening Your Interests

 

Forging connections with others and investigating the lives of people we admire will inevitably broaden interest in the world and in history, making you a much more interesting and knowledgeable person.

 

When we talk to other people, or play music with them, we discover new ideas, concepts and thoughts that can lead anywhere we wish to take them.

 

I think you would agree this makes life much more exciting and enjoyable.

 

 

3.            Challenging yourself and achieving goals.

 

Life would be incredibly boring if everything was easy.

 

Challenge is one of the best paths to self-discovery and learning music is one of the greatest, never-ending challenges you can meet.

 

You never get to the finish line when you learn music, so it is something that can hold your interest for the rest of your life.

 

The thing I love about learning music is that at every stage there is challenge and there is achievement.

 

These two aspects need to be well-balanced in order for you to continue enjoying your learning.

 

So, again, having good guidance from your teacher and using useful resources, such as the practice diary, which encourages self-reflection, is highly important for healthy learning outcomes.

 

 

4.            Problem-solving

 

Problem solving is such an important skill for any person to develop if they are to become self-sufficient and confident in life.

 

It has been proven in many studies that the music helps children to develop this skill.

 

“A small study was done two years back involving ten three-year-olds who were tested on their ability to put together a puzzle and the speed at which they could do it (“Learning Keys” 24).

 

After the initial test was taken, five of the children were given singing lessons for 30 minutes a day and the other five were given piano lessons for 15 minutes a week (24). The lessons were conducted over a six- month period of time, and after the six months, all of the kids showed substantial improvement in the speed at which they could put together the puzzle (24).

 

The researchers understand this skill in putting pieces of a puzzle together as the same reasoning that engineers, chess players and high-level mathematicians use. In this study of inner-city kids, their initial scores were below the national average, but afterwards their scores nearly doubled (24).

 

The term they give to the type of reasoning and thought that goes into putting pieces of a puzzle together is called abstract reasoning. By teaching music, people exercise the same abstract reasoning skills that they use for doing math or some other exercise in which the people have to visualize in their head.

 

An eight month study was conducted by Frances H. Rauscher of the University of California at Irvine, in which 19 preschoolers, ranging in age from three to five, received weekly keyboard and daily singing lessons while another 15 preschoolers received no musical training at all (Bower 143).

 

At the start, middle and end of the study, the subjects were tested on five spatial reasoning tasks (143). After only 4 months, scores on the test to assemble a puzzle to form a picture improved dramatically for the group with the musical training, while the control group didn’t, even though both groups started out with the same scores (143).

 

It can be understood that this kind of improvement may not be substantial enough to alter the way people are fundamentally taught, but its results cannot be ignored. Rauscher explains, “Music instruction can improve a child’s spatial intelligence for a long time, perhaps permanently” (qtd. in Bower 143).” http://www.reversespins.com/effectsofmusic.html

 

For adults, learning music would have the same affect but would perhaps take longer to recognise because our brains have already been “hard-wired” in certain ways.

 

However, it has been proven that our brains are “plastic” and therefore always able to change and improve to meet the challenges of our circumstance.