3 Tips to Help You While Practicing A Musical Instrument
SMLXL
Music is possibly the most beautiful and soulful way for humans to express their emotions & feelings. Music is also a method of communication that allows us to convey our true thoughts when words alone cannot do it. When learning a new instrument, a student must showcase their perseverance and determination to be successful. Taking on a new instrument can be tough, and the learning curve can be stressful; however, it’s those that stick with it and learn to enjoy the ebbs and flows that will end up thriving. If you’re learning a new instrument, but are having a difficult time grasping the concepts, here are some tips to help you practice:
Discover and Correct Your Concerns
Everybody has their unique problems when learning an instrument, and everyone struggles from time-to-time. Don’t let the common concerns be the crux to your development; discover what is holding you back from advancing and dedicate time to it. It’s great to learn all you can about an instrument, and it’s even easier to jump from one musical concept to the next; however, there will come a time when you need to address these flaws, or you may never progress. Most musicians are prudent enough to tell where they need to improve, discover your flaws and practice them until they are no longer a weakness.
Record Your Playing
Our ears can be deceptive, and we may end up hearing what we want to hear. As a musician learning a new instrument, recording yourself playing can be a wonderful tool to help you find what is working and what you need to improve upon. If you’re playing your favourite pop song on the guitar or the piano, it may sound amazing to you, until you hear playback the recording of yourself and you realize you’re playing the riff in the bridge incorrectly. Recording yourself with video will also give you perspective on whether or not you’re playing with correct posture.
Stay Focused and Pick Your Mindset
To be well-versed in anything you do in life, you need to be all in on it. Much like learning to ride a bicycle, there will be moments when you fall, but it is up to you to pick yourself back up. Stay focused on the end-goal, no matter how small or big it may be. It could be learning how to play one chord correctly, or it could be to play an entire song, you will only get as far as your concentration and patience takes you. Allow your mindset to be one that accepts mistakes as learning opportunities instead of considering yourself to be incapable of ever being able to grow from them. Go easy on yourself, don’t be ashamed to take a day off from practicing, or only practicing 5-10 minutes a day, as long as you stick with it with an end goal in mind, you will achieve what you put your mind to.
