Music Practice Tips

I recently read “The Mastery of Music” by Barry Green. While the whole book was a fantastic read, there was one chapter that struck a chord with me in particular, and that was the chapter on Discipline. I love music, and it’s obvious to others who later comment that they can see the love that I have for it. Yet my technical ability is often lacking. I know that I need to practice, but often days, or weeks go by with very little practice. I have felt that I needed to be inspired to practice, and so often I haven’t found that inspiration.

A couple of quotes are sticking in my mind.  One comes from The Mastery of Music, in which Green writes that Discipline comes from a conscious decision. I used to think that I was a lazy person, and just dealt with it. But I see that I can change, I can become a disciplined person - all it takes is that conscious decision.

The other quote that has stuck in my mind comes from Sir Michael Parkinson in an interview that he did on The Cricket Show - Channel 9’s lunch break show during the Australian Test summer. He said that through all his years of interviews, he had discovered that the difference between the talented person at home saying “I could do that” and the person actually making a name for themselves and doing it is hard work. Sure, the talent needs to be there, but that’s only the start of it.

 So What is Discipline?

I’m not talking about the punishment - Discipline is the conscious decision to do something. If my mother asked me to take out the rubbish, there’s two things that could happen. If I was self disciplined, I would get up and do it right away. It’d only take a minute. If I was not self-disciplined, I would wait until she’d asked me a few times and eventually grabbed me by my neck and thrown me out the door to catch the rubbish truck.

Having discipline is the point in which you say to yourself “I want this, I’m going to do it, and I know that I need to practice every day to do it.” Discipline is having the knowledge to know that even though some parts of practice you might not find the most interesting, it’s still important to be done.

As for me, I know I’m not that disciplined, so I’m working on it. My goal for this semester is to practice every day - from day one to the last day. To have not just picked up the violin and play for a little bit, but to have actually practiced - done the hard work that I know will make the difference when it comes to my final exam.

Are you disciplined? Got any tips for how to become disciplined?