JUST ONE GLORIOUS WEEK
We are all told that we need to find time for ourselves as part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Time to rest, time to relax. Time to nurture extra-curricular activities perhaps. Time to address that ever-important work-life balance. To recharge the batteries away from the pressures of a hectic work life.
As a freelance musician this is of course an unattainable fantasy. Crazy talk, really. After the teaching, practice, accompanying and admin the time generally left for myself is called sleep.
I thought that having a heavy workload was alright, it was manageable. The hours are long but somehow I can still tick everything off the to-do-list, teach everyone who ask for lessons, accompany for everyone who has a music exam. Job done.
When it comes to piano practice, however, this approach hasn’t really been cutting it. Learning the notes for an exam accompaniment in the 15 minutes between pupils gets you so far, but learning 37 pieces for a CD recording you have put your heart and soul into for the past year…. So often my practice time get frustrated by my inability to focus, my mind darting to unfinished emails or teaching later on in the day. My in-built need to stick to an overly rigid practice schedule generally results in trying to fit too much music into a time-limited practice session – an approach that inevitably leads to frustration and ineffective practice.
I have one week until I head to the recording studio, and I need a different approach if I am to give a performance that will do the music justice. I really care about the music and this project and I REFUSE to let the schedule of an overworked musician compromise what I believe can be a beautiful recording.
I have set aside this single week in my diary. A completely empty week. No teaching, no admin, just practice. Time for myself, at last. No time constraints, no exterior distractions, 100% of my thoughts focused on the music. A rare chance to enter a completely musical head-space – full of musicality, phrasing, balance, harmonic exploration, not a teaching plan or rehearsal schedule in sight.
This approach is proving to be fruitful.
I used to think my attention span was too short to focus fully on in-depth practice. Practice with a capital P. I now realise that this is just not true. Give me the time to focus and I can be as single-minded as anyone. I am just 2 days into my practice week and I feel like I have achieved more than in the last 3 months (a particularly busy period that has necessitated rushed practice sessions between various other commitments).
I like working. I like to be busy. I like nurturing musical partnerships, teaching talented, inquisitive pupils, organising concerts. If only practice time was more lucrative and it would take pride of place alongside those other commitments. I find it so difficult to say no to people, and this inevitably means it is the practice time that suffers.
Practice = good. Practice = productive. Practice = the reason I chose such a tricky career path in the first place.
Now I am writing all this down it seems like a really obvious thing to be saying. I don’t believe that my great discovery is ground-breaking to any degree, but I am grateful for a very timely reminder. The challenge now is to incorporate this blissful Practice time into my regular schedule. Not an easy task in a world of freelance admin, but I will do my best!
I don’t know whether my disc of F.S.Kelly piano music will be a masterpiece or a complete disaster – but at least I am (finally) giving myself the best possible chance to create something I can be proud of.
My next challenge – how best to structure my practice over the next 5 days to ensure I can play all 37 pieces to recording standard by next Monday.
Nope, I don’t know. Any ideas anyone?
As a freelance musician this is of course an unattainable fantasy. Crazy talk, really. After the teaching, practice, accompanying and admin the time generally left for myself is called sleep.
I thought that having a heavy workload was alright, it was manageable. The hours are long but somehow I can still tick everything off the to-do-list, teach everyone who ask for lessons, accompany for everyone who has a music exam. Job done.
When it comes to piano practice, however, this approach hasn’t really been cutting it. Learning the notes for an exam accompaniment in the 15 minutes between pupils gets you so far, but learning 37 pieces for a CD recording you have put your heart and soul into for the past year…. So often my practice time get frustrated by my inability to focus, my mind darting to unfinished emails or teaching later on in the day. My in-built need to stick to an overly rigid practice schedule generally results in trying to fit too much music into a time-limited practice session – an approach that inevitably leads to frustration and ineffective practice.
I have one week until I head to the recording studio, and I need a different approach if I am to give a performance that will do the music justice. I really care about the music and this project and I REFUSE to let the schedule of an overworked musician compromise what I believe can be a beautiful recording.
I have set aside this single week in my diary. A completely empty week. No teaching, no admin, just practice. Time for myself, at last. No time constraints, no exterior distractions, 100% of my thoughts focused on the music. A rare chance to enter a completely musical head-space – full of musicality, phrasing, balance, harmonic exploration, not a teaching plan or rehearsal schedule in sight.
This approach is proving to be fruitful.
I used to think my attention span was too short to focus fully on in-depth practice. Practice with a capital P. I now realise that this is just not true. Give me the time to focus and I can be as single-minded as anyone. I am just 2 days into my practice week and I feel like I have achieved more than in the last 3 months (a particularly busy period that has necessitated rushed practice sessions between various other commitments).
I like working. I like to be busy. I like nurturing musical partnerships, teaching talented, inquisitive pupils, organising concerts. If only practice time was more lucrative and it would take pride of place alongside those other commitments. I find it so difficult to say no to people, and this inevitably means it is the practice time that suffers.
Practice = good. Practice = productive. Practice = the reason I chose such a tricky career path in the first place.
Now I am writing all this down it seems like a really obvious thing to be saying. I don’t believe that my great discovery is ground-breaking to any degree, but I am grateful for a very timely reminder. The challenge now is to incorporate this blissful Practice time into my regular schedule. Not an easy task in a world of freelance admin, but I will do my best!
I don’t know whether my disc of F.S.Kelly piano music will be a masterpiece or a complete disaster – but at least I am (finally) giving myself the best possible chance to create something I can be proud of.
My next challenge – how best to structure my practice over the next 5 days to ensure I can play all 37 pieces to recording standard by next Monday.
Nope, I don’t know. Any ideas anyone?
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