100 Days

Written by Krista Moyer
Published: April 22, 2014 at 2:56 AM [UTC]

A number of the members of the Adult Starters group on Facebook decided to attempt the 100 consecutive days of practice challenge. Many of us finished today, myself included. Practicing for 100 consecutive days wasn't the hard part for me. The most difficult part was duration. I had determined that, for myself, I could only count practice if it was at least 45 minutes, and listening didn't count.

In all honesty, 100 days of practice netted me very few benefits because I was already consistently practicing each day. I think that it would have been a more beneficial exercise if it had been 100 days of focus on an aspect of playing. How much better at vibrato, or double stops, or dynamics would I be if I spent 100 days doing at least 15-20 minutes of just that? Or even 30 days, really?

The best part of the challenge was the camaraderie. We used a shared spreadsheet on Google docs. Even if we didn't mention it, everyone could see who was still playing along. Some folks measured the time they spent in practice and were surprised. A few stepped up their game. There was a bit of attrition. Overall, it was a lovely exercise.

From Kate Little
Posted on April 22, 2014 at 12:38 PM

Congratulations to everyone who completed 100 days! AND congratulations to everyone who set the goal and tried. What the world needs now is. . . is aspiring violinists of EVERY age.

From 83.208.187.143
Posted on April 22, 2014 at 1:31 PM

Ehm, did you put your sticker for every day played? :-).

From 216.47.151.15
Posted on April 22, 2014 at 3:31 PM

In 1975, I got a one-page article published in "The Instrumentalist." I'm quite proud of it, since I'm not a professional musician. But what I wrote is right in line with your blog.

Go to:

http://mypages.iit.edu/~marcus/

and click on "music practice tips"

Cheers,
Sandy

From Paul Deck
Posted on April 22, 2014 at 8:10 PM

Also these challenges do not help me, as I practice whenever I can, for as long as I can. These things are for kids who avoid practicing, not for those of us that treasure it.

From Laurie Niles
Posted on April 22, 2014 at 9:12 PM

OMG, Sandy, I did an internship at that magazine when I was in college! Are they still around?

From Krista Moyer
Posted on April 22, 2014 at 11:41 PM

I didn't put a sticker, but I did put my big "X" on the spreadsheet. :-)

Sandy, your article is spot on. I think I really am going to do 30 days of concentrated effort on a single aspect of playing. I can do anything for five minutes, right?

From Joyce Lin
Posted on April 23, 2014 at 2:18 AM

83.208.187.143: We do have "digital stickers," i.e. images of gold stars/smileys/emoticons, for those who want to use them.

BTW, here is our facebook group: Adult Starters - Violin/Fiddle.

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100 Days

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