Hi everyone, Peter Tambroni here for some quick tips to avoid practice burnout.
We all get to a point in our practicing where we stagnate, feel burned out, or are just plain sick of it! This is normal. As musicians, we tend to have the attitude that we “must practice many hours a day, every day or else”! Try a different approach. If we consider that musicians are just ‘small muscle athletes’ we can approach practicing like athletes approach workout sessions.
Here are some ideas.
1. Try a 3 weeks on, 1 week off cycle. Make the 3 weeks intense but know that you have a week off coming up.
2. Try the 2-a-day approach. Do one practice session early in the morning and another in the evening. I feel great when it’s 9am and I’ve already done my scales and Sevcik.
3. Listen to your body. If your left hand hurts, do bowing exercises.
4. It’s not always about distance running. Try sprints – practice really hard for 20 minutes then take 5 minutes off. Repeat.
5. Mix it up! Been practicing every day for years from 6-8pm? Try practicing in the morning instead.
6. Get some new exercises! We stagnate when do the same too long. Buy a new etude book. Work on new excerpts. Start your scales at the top.
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Hi, thanks for a set of useful tips. I really liked No.4. I think this approach should be adopted by everyone, we’d all achieve more in our practice. I’m also interested in the concept of No.1. Does anyone have any experience of this in practice?
You’re welcome – thanks for reading!
I’ve found number 1 to be useful around holidays when I know I can’t practice for a week. It makes practicing the other 3 much easier.
I’ve had good success with 4 as well.
Great tips–thanks for the helpful advice, Pete! Mixing it up can keep your interest up for the long haul.