Finding the right practice motivation

Some of it is understanding the meaning of the task, which can, but doesn't necessarily relate to short, medium and long-term goals. I think that some of it is about having a clear belief the practice brings progress. Some of it is arranging the rest of your life where the level of practice you ideally want is sustainable; sometimes that can be about understanding that you are making certain sacrifices in order to do music (making it explicitly important in your life). Some of that can be about the more Freudian notions of sublimating desires into more productive (practice, if it even makes sense to use the term "productive") tasks. This is the more abstract psychology of why we even want a thing.

Then, once that is settled, there can still be a need to figure out the best way to work with your own habits, calendar, attention span, desires, energy, etc. I think that you are describing a detailed understanding of how this last aspect works for yourself. Whatever works at that point!

For me, the goal is to practice a lot, but without needing to be harsh or rigid with myself, and be able to integrate a thorough practice regimen with all the other things and social life I want to maintain. It's easier with the rigidity in some ways, but I think I'll get there without it.

I used the rest of the day for other stuff (like daily chores or practicing the violin but also plain leisure).

I passed all my exams with room to spare though none of them with perfect scores. But on the upside I still had a good time.

To set a time limit for any task helps focus the mind. It makes executing that task more efficient. And planning and having recovery/recreation time has the same effect. I say: Stick with it!

If the latter, and as a second question answered yes or no, do you enjoy playing your violin?

Then I quit playing and lessons for over a year.

Since I was 13 I have always practiced toward some goal. I had joined the high school orchestra and I could tell I was better than the other players. After the concertmaster graduated at the end of my first year I felt I could learn to play the graduation solo he had performed and become the next CM. So that was my goal that summer and I achieved the goal.

In my teens I would also play Mazas, Mozart and LeClair duets and the Bach Double with my father. And I got a number of solo gigs around the county even played one square dance and was hired as a cellist to play a solo for a professional dancer who came to town to give a performance. (Getting $5 back then was like $100 today.)
(Yes, I got started on cello lessons before my 15th birthday which continued for the next 2.5 years. My violin background gave me enough of a head start that I joined the community orchestra as a cellist the evening after my first lesson.)

Next goal was to get through the concerto music my father had (and played)- so my goals became Mozart 3 and 5 (he didn't have 4 or 1 or 2 - or 6). The Mendelssohn came next and then (inspired by upcoming 16th birthday present - a concert with Heifetz playing the Beethoven), The Beethoven, which I had pretty well "in hand and mind" by the concert date. I also whacked away at the Brahms and Tchaikovsky (that he also had) and some of the Bach Sonatas & Partitas.

So now I had two instruments to practice every day - the cello for lessons and the violin for orchestra and just "because."

So those beginnings (lets say "75 years ago") led to a lifetime of chamber and orchestra playing and performances to practice for so it was always possible to find a goal for every note I "practiced." I added viola playing when I was 40 - so I became a triple-threat, able to handle any part in a string quartet, to be outdone by the "quadruple threats," who also play double-bass (I've know and played with two of those). (It is sad to see a really good bass player in his mid-80s have to drop out of orchestra because of the difficulties of transporting his instrument.)

I would no longer even attempt to play the concertos of my teens nor the ones I worked on for the next 30 years. At a certain time in life, if one is lucky enough to have that time, practice begins to seek a different goal - just to slow the obvious and inevitable decline - and that's where I am now and have been since my mid-70s. (I assume it is working, because the decline is still progressing/(i.e., declining), and I'm still practicing.)

I've found that for me, my greatest successful discipline came with starting my day by practicing, and then going to work. That way, I got to practice when I was fresh (spending it almost purely focused on technical work), and I came off the session (somewhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the day and schedule) with an endorphin high, much like a jogger.

That schedule doesn't work for me any longer just due to the logistics of my day, but for those who can do it: highly recommended.

I've never found a good rhythm for practice discipline after my son was born, and consequently, I practice far, far, too little. My biggest problem is just getting started. Once I start, with clear goals in mind, I can usually manage fine.

Many motivational speakers equate motivation with enthusiasm. But you can't rely on enthusiasm, especially for spending many hours in detailed practicing. It's great to have enthusiasm, but it ain't so easy to control - it comes and goes.

Hopefully, this analysis of motivation will help. There are 4 basic elements of motivation:

1. Vision. This is your goal, but it's more than a goal. In your mind's eye (and ear), can you imagine what you want to sound like? Can you get a picture in your mind and a sound in your brain of what you want to accomplish?

2. Inner drive. This is the emotional component, which includes enthusiasm. There are two kinds of inner drive:

- The first is what we traditionally think of as motivation. It is that inner emotional and often spontaneous energy that moves you to achieve. It is based your values, your excitement of the moment, your inner love of music, etc.
- The second emotional component is based on your needs. For example, you want follow your teacher's teaching and advice, you need to follow the expectations of others and do what they want you to do, you don't want to disappoint anybody important to you, you need to do what your body wants you to do, you want to be an example to others, etc.

3. The third element is strategy; it is your specific plan for how you are going to achieve your vision. It is a great deal of what is discussed on this particular discussion thread. And, indeed, you want to make your strategy or plan as specific as possible.

4. And the 4th element of motivation is action. You have to follow through and actually do something in the real world. And especially in playing an instrument like the violin, to gain mastery and success you have to do lots of things and spend a lot of time doing things when you don't feel "enthusiastic." You have to do many, many things for which you're going to run out of giving yourself a "pep talk" every minute.

How one balances these factors is of course an individual matter. But I hope taking a bit of time to be analytical about your motivation will help you fulfill the kinds of practice and performance suggestions that so many have recommended in this discussion thread.

Andrew’s brief musical Bildungsroman was fascinating, and Lydia and Joel are, here as always, contributors whose names say to me “Hey! Stop and read this carefully!” Gracie really kicked off a good discussion here, and I hope, as OP, she has also found it useful.

Motivation is NOT the same thing as enthusiasm. You can’t rely on enthusiasm every day.

Elements of Motivation:
1 – VISION
a. Is not just a goal.
b. Visualize and feel what it would be like to achieve. Create a true “vision” of accomplishing your goal.
2 – INNER DRIVE
a. The emotional component, but is more than enthusiasm.
b. Driven by values and needs.
c. Use positive “self talk.”
3 – STRATEGY
a. Specific, “do-able”, and well-organized, and include deadlines.
b. To-do list (overall and daily), placed in order of importance by using the “method of paired comparison (i.e., choose between 2 items at a time).
c. Make a “have done” list at the end of the day.
4 – ACTION
a. Do something every day, no matter how small or momentary.
b. Don’t put it off.
c. Focus your attention on one thing at a time, no matter how small or momentary.
d. Have a daily “minimal chore” (e.g., 3-minute system).
e. Make a “have done” list at the end of the day.
f. When you do something, no matter how small or momentary, give yourself a pat on the back.
g. Never give up – never, never, never.

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. Thomas A. Edison

“All things are difficult before they are easy.” – Thomas Fuller

“Learn the best from the best, and always include your own inner voice and vision.” Sander Marcus

“We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes – understanding that failure is not the opposite of success; it’s part of success.” – Arianna Huffington

“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” – Earl Nightingale

“The activity you’re most avoiding contains your biggest opportunity.” – Robin Sharma

Lydia, I don't get the method you describe, the interleaved practice. For example if you have scales, etude and two pieces to work on: how do you do that? Switching from one piece to another and back?

Lydia, I don't get the method you describe, the interleaved practice. For example if you have scales, etude and two pieces to work on: how do you do that? Switching from one piece to another and back?