Find Out What Helps Us Continue Playing The Instrument We Love
Tips to help you stay on track with your learning diligence, whether you are a professional or an amateur musician
Recently one of my online students asked this intriguing, interesting, and very important question: “Do you have any advice for discipline and diligence when it comes to learning?”
He went on to say “I find myself too often putting my lessons off in favor of other needs, then I get frustrated that I am only at lesson 26 still.
Is there a routine or a mantra or something you can recommend that supports learning diligence?
Sorry for the weird question but I find its something that does not often get discussed when learning an instrument.”
He may well be right in saying that the issue of learning diligence does not often get discussed. We (both the teacher and the student) can easily assume that all is well with our learning as long as we see and hear some kind of progress with our vocal or instrumental studies.
In my face-to-face lessons, I will bring up the topic on a need-to-address basis, i.e. when I find students becoming somewhat complacent about their desire to progress. Such a discussion is usually just a one-time event; however it can benefit lifelong maintenance of learning discipline - not only for their bass playing, but also for other aspects of their life.
If you find it easy to get distracted in your vocal or instrumental studies, you are not alone.
Although everyone is different, with different needs and desires, I will give some generic tips and advice on the topic of “Learning Skills and Learning Diligence”.
My tips will be divided into three broad categories
Why continue learning?
There is always a primary reason why we begin learning an instrument or vocal studies (or any other skill, for that matter) in the first place. You must ask yourself what that reason was for you. I am a bass player, and I remember my reason very well, although it was more than 50 years ago! I did not start playing bass quite that long ago, but the reason was already there when I was a young boy. My reason? The sound. Yes, the sound was, and still is, my primary attraction to the bass. (In the meantime I have figured out many of the reasons behind this attraction, but that may be left to another article.)
The day I began my studies of classical double bass at the conservatory, I was invited to sit in on a lesson of an advanced student. We had a chat after that lesson and he told me that I would encounter many obstacles along the way. His advice for when I was in doubt was to “remember why you are playing bass in the first place”. That remembering would put me back on track. He was right. It helped me a lot. There were several circumstances throughout and beyond my course that put me in doubt about my skills and diligence. To get beyond my doubt, I remember “the sound” and all becomes good again. For me, the sound of the bass creates enthusiasm for the bass.
Your reason? I am sure you can easily figure that out for yourself. Sometimes it is not evident before you begin playing your instrument, but at some stage there would have been a feeling of “This is it!”. Find that moment and see if you still feel the same now - we usually do. When you become aware of that feeling, your enthusiasm becomes evident again.
What helps us learn best?
I am continually surprised at the very high percentage of people (of all ages) who do not know how they learn. Let me explain using the term “learning technique”.
We all have prominent learning techniques. These techniques are usually not known until we consciously assess the way we learn. The way we learn has a lot to do with the way we remember. Once discovered, making optimum use of our memory techniques leads to optimum learning. We therefore create optimum results, leading to optimum joy in our achievements as well as their positive bearing on our lives in general and those around us – what a result!
Here are a few learning and memory techniques for you to take a look at. Find out if any of these techniques apply to your learning.
-
Learning by rote – this may include mental and mechanical repetition
-
Visualization – anything from pre-seeing, pre-hearing, pre-feeling etc, to photographic memory
-
Associative memory, i.e. associating something you are learning with something you already know (such as a name)
-
Learning and remembering with the aid of colors – this technique is often a favorite of the female learner
Although there are other learning and memory techniques, it is up to you to investigate and become aware of your best learning technique – then put it to good use.
Learning disciplines and suggested routines
First, you should work out your circadian rhythm, the way your “body clock” operates. It is of no value if you have the time to practice at 2PM if that is your physical and mental downtime. Find the times of day or night that suit both your schedule and your body clock.
For some people it is more beneficial to do a few short practice sessions as opposed to one long session. Some trial-and-error attempts will help you find what best suits your lifestyle.
Accept that you have to practice to improve your skills. Without acceptance your sessions will be tedious and fruitless instead of constructive and bountiful.
Before you actually practice, work out what you are going to do and the process of your actions. You may need a reason for what you are practicing today, be it part of your long-term goal or something more pressing, such as mastering your part of a song for tomorrow’s band rehearsal. (Practising and rehearsing are not the same.)
Practice what you can’t do first! This is crucial … and I’ll tell you why. At the beginning of a session, our minds are generally more able to concentrate, and therefore our intake of new material is higher than at the end of a session. Furthermore, what if we get interrupted during the session and cannot continue? We have learnt nothing new and leave the session with a sense of incompleted-ness, possibly leading to a bad conscience, resulting in too many negatives.
End your session with something you were already familiar with before the session (such as playing over a chord sequence) but add what you learnt during the session. This creates great satisfaction and a sense of true achievement.
Most musicians start their practice session jamming with something they already know. Instead, I advocate to have your jam at the end of your session, incorporating your new skills.
Below is a suggestion for a daily 30-minute practice session for an instrumentalist. All elements of this routine can and should be changed as often as required to suit your circumstance.
Along the way, either with or without instrument in hand, you may find it helpful to use mantras to help your learning. Mantras are very powerful in the most positive way. They can be as simple and focussed as “C is on the third fret of the A-string” to something more general, such as “Every note is coming through my instrument in its best possible form to suit the purpose of the song”.
In summary
-
Find the reason that enthused you in the first place
-
Find your best learning technique
-
Accept that you are practicing for a purpose
George Urbaszek
Bass Player and Music Educator
Serving Musicians Worldwide since 1996
