Get Your Practice Sessions Right.

When i took the decision to set out on my musical journey, i knew that it would take monotonous practice to get there. So i started practicing like hell..i would just pick up my guitar or any other instrument and ramble on for hours. But did that made me good at them? Not at all. 

Practice smart, not hard.

Cause practicing hard doesn't always mean that you are practicing the right way and learning new things. But i didn't realize that. I would just grab my instrument and start singing my favorite songs and call it "practice". 

And this showed in my playing skills too. I wasn't able to play correctly. You too must've experienced this too while learning your instrument..

So what's the best way to tackle this problem? Well according to me, there a handful of solutions for how to practice your instrument the right way:

Pick a certain aspect concerning you, and then practice it:

Instead of mindlessly playing your instrument, pick a certain aspect of a piece or a song that you find difficult or intricate and practice it till perfection. Only practice the part you find difficult instead of playing through the piece again and again, Thus, saving time. Play through the whole thing when you think you're done. This will not only increase your skill level but will also help you play intricate pieces with ease.

Instead of practicing for long hours,  practice short. But between regular intervals.

This will be very useful to create a creative thought process during your practice sessions as longer practice sessions tend to create a negative environment for your creative mindset to work. But make sure to have regularity in your sessions. Maintain a fixed interval between your sessions. For example, practice half an hour to one hour between a 4-6 hour time frame. In this way you can practice multiple times a day and prevent straining yourself too much.

Plan your practice sessions by maintaining a list of what to practice: 

Pick a few topics you want to cover during your practice sessions before you sit down to practice, saving time and thus, moving in planned way. This helped me a lot as i always used to search for things to practice - when i was practicing. So this wasted a lot of time which i could easily utilize in a productive manner if i pre-planned my sessions. Maintain a journal and make notes of topics to rehearse, and always keep a track.

Set a time-frame where you just jam along: 

All work and no play makes jack a dull boy. So pick a time-frame where you just jam along your favorite song and just have some fun! Maybe you could record covers and post them on YouTube, social media etc and showcase your talent to the world! This will also help you assess yourself and will instill a sense of confidence in you. So jam along! Cause music is all about having fun and expressing yourself! 

Enjoy music, express yourself through it.

Try to practice with a friend rather than practicing alone: 

Practicing your instrument with a friend is always better than practicing alone. Having a practice partner makes your sessions more fun and involving. You could always help each other out and maintain a collective creative process. It will increase the scope for learning new things and will pull you into the learning process. So go on! Call up your buddy and start learning and having fun!

So these were some tips on how to practice the right way. Which have benefited me and my musical abilities a lot. However, besides practicing techniques and strategies, some people still find it difficult to shoot up their creative abilities and get involved in the musical process. This is mostly due to lack of motivation and inspiration. Don't worry, I've been there too. If you ever feel deprived of motivation, try learning and practicing your favorite songs first, songs which you love and just can't help but put them on every playlist you make. This will get you involved and help set up a positive learning attitude in yourself. So don't hesitate! Remember, PRACTICE will make you perfect and push your musical abilities far beyond you can imagine...

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