You’ve heard it a thousand times: Practicing every day is how a musician gets good. But if you’re like most musicians, you’ve probably come up with plenty of excuses for not practicing as much as you should.
- Perhaps you have uninspiring books or an inadequate instrument.
- Maybe you’re “not in the mood.”
- Sometimes you’re too tired. Or you simply forget.
- You think you don’t have enough self-discipline.
- Every so often you may become so discouraged by a tough passage or song that you loose all enthusiasm or confidence to continue. I mean, who enjoys playing songs they’re terrible at?
To these and any other excuses you may have for cheating yourself out of your goals and dreams, let me say this:
Tough.
No excuse is acceptable. Not one. Do not accept a single excuse from yourself. This way, you won’t have to decide which excuses are allowable and which ones are not. It’s simple — none of them are.
You see, the problem with excuses is that, after you allow yourself one, it gets easier and easier to allow yourself another, then another, and still another. It soon becomes a way of life to skip practice; you can always find an excuse if you look hard enough — a good, rational excuse.
And there go your dreams.
Let us not forget that every excuse in the book, every conflict and every obstacle, has been overcome by many musicians facing the same challenges, feeling the same lack of enthusiasm, or experiencing the same “lack” of self-discipline to sit down every day and play. But for them, the very idea of excusing oneself from practice did not exist, or was quickly snuffed out.
Many of us, pros included, play on second-rate instruments. Most of us lack the gift of genius or a perfect set of fingers. And we’ve all been stumped by songs we thought were impossible. How do we overcome these challenges?
We sit down and play.
Too tired? Not in the mood? Just sit down and play.
Bad day at work? Just sit down and play. Playing music is the ultimate stress reliever!
Don’t even give yourself the time to come up with yet another rationalization to justify the excuse. Start to play before you manage to talk yourself out of it. Just do it.
There is always a way. If you habitually forget, leave sticky-note reminders all over the place. If you need encouragement or a push, ask a family member, friend, or your spouse to help you. Reward yourself every so often for sticking with it. Schedule practice time into your appointment book. If you just can’t seem to muster the energy to practice, at least play some of your old favorites; it’s better than not practicing at all. Just don’t let this last one become a habit or you will never learn anything new.
One of the best ways to stick to a practice schedule is to have a practice schedule. Practice at the same time every daiy. If 7:00 p.m. works for you, then say, “7:00 p.m. is my practice time.” Call it “practice time”; make it official. Very soon it will become an unconscious habit. And not long after you will find yourself scheduling other activities around your practice time rather than vice-versa.
Do whatever it takes to get yourself to sit down and play. You will save yourself a whole future of regret.
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
Thomas Edison
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