03/06/2024
How To Stay Motivated To Practice Your Instrument
Practicing your saxophone or clarinet can seem to get boring at times. There was a point in your life that you made the choice to play an instrument. And, you knew— from the beginning— that the best and fastest way to get better was to practice consistently. You are probably unmotivated because:
-you don’t want to make time or,
-you don’t understand how to practice or,
-you know how practicing will make you a better musician.
We all have a limited 24 hours in a day to make things happen in our lives. The key to being a better musician is putting value on your practice time. Practicing the saxophone is more about the value and importance we give to practice time and less about having the time to practice.
Practicing music doesn’t have to always be about playing scales, exercises, and long tones. Make your practice time exciting by challenging yourself!
Here are some actionable steps —broken down in bullet points— to keep your daily practice time more consistent and improve your music motivation:
1. Listen to other saxophonists/clarinetists to find inspiration and motivation to play. In fact, you can actively listen to any music to get melodic, rhythmic, harmonic, and stylistic motivation.
2. Attend Live Music Concerts in small settings and large settings. Go out to live concerts and imagine yourself on stage. Engross yourself in the concert you are attending. Become the artist you are watching.
3. Copy others: pick a saxophone, clarinet, flute, or even guitar solo that you like. Listen to it many times and copy it. Copy the rhythm, tone, and sound of the saxophone.
4. Get out of your comfort zone by listening to and discovering new music in different styles.
5. Play pieces you have already mastered in the past. Let your memory help motivate you by remembering why you play an instrument in the first place.
6. Play something daily —even if it is only for five minutes at a time— to create a habit. Remember that the key to becoming a better musician is practicing consistently.
7. Leave your instrument out on its stand, in your practice space, so that seeing it triggers the importance of practicing.
8. Recording or filming yourself playing a song or practicing and listening to yourself. You can then pick out your weak points, and listen to your tone and your breathing.
9. Set yourself some rules and challenges. For example, playing only eighth notes or only long notes, or even trying to play something an octave lower than you usually would.
Only you can give excitement to your practice routine. Give yourself the freedom to practice in different ways. We each have only 24 hours in a day to get things done. Out of those 24 hours only 2/3 is spent awake. Practicing your instrument daily will give you small steps to improvement. One thing is true. Practicing your instrument daily will make you a better musician. Do your best and watch your confidence and musical understanding grow!
