Klarinet Archive - Posting 000271.txt from 1998/04

From: Michael Kolos <makolos@-----.ca>
Subj: Re: lesson motivation
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 23:00:24 -0400

Hi Yolanda,

I didn't know you were on the list.

I agree with what you're saying. I have found similar experiences. Not so much
for the lack of practise, but I found it was easy to get motivated when my
friends were always practising.

But I think there's a difference between practising and being motivated to
practise. Although my jury is coming up, I found it difficult to find
motivation to practise. If I would be with people who were going to go
practise, I might go and sit in a practise room, but I found without the
proper mindset, I didn't get in very productive practise sessions. Instead
they turned into frustrating experiences which I didn't want to reproduce
soon.

Got any tips on how I can be able to motivate myself to really want to
practise on my own?
What if there aren't any practise freaks?
I don't necessarily mean for you to answer these, although you can, but if
anyone has any ideas... this topic didn't get too much input... and at times
(like last week) it was a real problem for me. It's not a good feeling to
"want" to practise but not have the motivation to do it.

Michael

> well a student can play and how fast s/he can improve. I admit, there are
> times in the academic year (few and far in between) where I have trouble
> staying motivated, and this is what my prof suggests to me: hang around
> with someone who is a practice freak. Pick up on some of their energy,
> and use it to your advantage. If you hang around with a group of friends
> who only practice the morning before their lesson and then put their
> instrument away for the rest of the week, then you'll fall into that
> groove. On the other hand, if you hang around with people who sometimes
> cancel evening plans because they feel they haven't fulfilled their daily
> practicing requirements, and you hear them play and you're envious of
> their playing ability, then you will inevitably fall into that groove.
> Just a thought. Good luck.
>