A Psychologist's Tips for Practicing

November 25, 2024, 3:24 PM · For a professional musician, developing the motivation for daily practice is not a necessarily a problem - it's just part of the job. Daily practice certainly requires intense concentration, endless repetition, and an almost obsessive attention to detail. Scales and exercises may have little sustaining musical interest, but they are necessary for the acquisition and maintenance of technique.

But most amateur musicians turn to music as a source of relaxation and enjoyment after a grueling day of work, and the thought of struggling for an hour or two with scales and exercises is far from appealing. With limited time and energy, the amateur usually skips the drills and starts playing through favorite concertos and sonatas. Ironically, only consistent work on exercises will allow him or her to play those favorite sonatas with satisfaction.

Psychologically, when the musician does not put in that hour of practice, they may experience a sense of failure and a feeling of guilt at not doing what they are "supposed" to be doing, or that constantly uncomfortable feeling that one has not done nearly enough. And yet to do a great deal more requires enormous concentration, energy, time, effort, and a dedication to music that is difficult for a non-professional to sustain.

Part of the solution to this problem may lie in changing the definition of what constitutes "enough work." To expect an unreasonably large work-load on a daily basis can be ultimately self-defeating. If you know that you are not likely to practice for a full hour a day, then why torture yourself with the feeling that whatever work you do accomplish is not nearly enough?

One way to remedy this situation is as follows:

Set a minimum time (no more than 5 minutes) for daily practice of exercise material. In fact, I recommend starting with a 3-minute routine.
Have a specific series of exercises to do during those 3 minutes. They can vary day to day or week to week. For example, one day's routine for a string player could include one scale on one string, one vibrato exercise, and one bow change. Another day's routine could include one shift, one scale, and one trill. The idea is to choose basic exercises, and always include a scale.
Play through the routine just once each day. No repeats!
Play each exercise extremely slowly so that you can be aware of every muscle, every sound, every detail of playing. Try to anticipate every move.
Give full concentration for the full 3 minutes. Do nothing automatically. After all, concentrating fully for just 3 minutes on these exercises is not really asking too much of yourself.
Once the 3 minutes are up, play anything you want to play. You have paid your dues.

Three minutes may seem to be inadequate, but there are a number of advantages to this system:

You'll get used to giving full concentration. After all, three minutes of full concentration is often more valuable than rote playing for an hour with your mind somewhere else. And once you begin to experience the inevitable successes that come with full concentration, the effort often becomes self-motivating.
You are more likely to practice daily, rather than sporadically.
The most important benefit of this system is that one’s attitude can improve. You’re more likely to experience success and a sense of completion each day, rather than failure, guilt, drudgery, and discouragement. And you will not have to dread that hour of hard work practicing when you get home each night. And this in itself can increase your motivation to play.
Since practicing an exercise routine for even 5 minutes may not seem enough to get deeply involved, you may find that you want to persevere, to finish something hardly begun. Very often, people who have always avoided scales will finish this 3-minute drill and then spontaneously pick up a scale book and put a lot more time into working on scales.
You will still have plenty of time beyond the 3-minute routine to enjoy, free of guilt, the music you like to play.
The craft or technique of playing your instrument may begin to offer as many rewards as playing a finished piece.
The daily habit of concentration may actually carry over not only to your "fun" playing, but to other areas of life as well.
Your appreciation of great musicians will be further enhanced by a greater understanding and appreciation of their level of concentration.

Hopefully, this routine may eventually motivate you to expand the 3-minute minimum into something substantially longer. But don't push yourself. If you want to play exercises and scales beyond the 3 minutes, fine. But don't let it ever become part of paying your “daily dues.” The minimum expected task should be kept short and sweet - very short and very sweet - if it is to change daily practice from boring drudgery to a worthwhile experience that gives you deep satisfaction.

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Sander I. Marcus of Chicago is a professional psychologist and amateur violinist. This first appeared as a published article in 1975.

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Replies

Paul Deck

November 26, 2024 at 03:35 AM · I sincerely appreciate Dr. Marcus's advice about practicing, which really translates to advice about concentration. For most of us amateurs, available time and the ability to concentrate are top issues confronting improvement. And with better concentration the same can be accomplished in much less time.

In an interview, the American jazz pianist John Lewis (founder of the Modern Jazz Quartet) was once asked to explain the secret of successful jazz improvisation. He quickly replied, "Concentration."

When I haven't practiced in a given day, I don't beat myself up about it, because I know WHY I didn't practice, and it wasn't for lack of motivation.

Sandy also wrote, "the thought of struggling for an hour or two with scales and exercises is far from appealing." Probably that's true for some, but honestly, that's really what I would like to do. Spending an hour on a Dont study would be a true vacation, and I find a zen-like satisfaction working on scales and arpeggios.

Steve Jones

November 26, 2024 at 07:53 AM · "Most amateur musicians turn to music as a source of relaxation and enjoyment after a gruelling day of work, and the thought of struggling for an hour or two with scales and exercises is far from appealing". I'm with you so far Sander!

My model of an amateur musician based on all the friends I've played with is someone who in the past has practised sufficiently to achieve a certain level of competence and can now use that competence in the cause of sheer hedonism. I reached my "just about good enough" level 50-odd years ago. Since then my playing has improved in numerous ways but through actual musical experience rather than monkish practice. And today I'm also a far better musician.

Ron Black

November 26, 2024 at 11:48 AM · Very good advice.

I practice for 4 to 5 hours per day and sometimes feel its a bit too much to be honest and feel burned out, I had been thinking of dropping the scale practice to maybe just 1 hour, and material to 2 hours.

Richard Pairaudeau

November 27, 2024 at 08:41 PM · Thanks for republishing the article Sander, it's full of great advice. I think that, while amateurs can't really be held up as great successes in objective terms, they make excellent listeners and audiences because they can see and hear the work the truly great have done. They also provide opportunities and support for younger learners, by listening to and encouraging them, and taking them to concerts and recitals.

I don't like the 'music industry' analogy, much preferring to see music as an ecological system, in which amateurs form a vital if undervalued mangrove or coral reef.

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A Psychologist's Tips for Practicing

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