The Fastest Way to Learn a Musical Instrument Guaranteed

When someone says, “I want to learn to play the [YOUR FAVORITE INSTRUMENT HERE], they may not know it, but what they are really committing themselves to is “I want to learn how to practice.”
Let’s be clear: I don’t mean to say that practicing is anyone’s primary goal.  It’s not.  You should create a primary goal [...]

In a recent post aimed at helping musicians achieve goals and learn how to practice more effectively, I wrote about the SMART Goal system.
Today’s post focuses on the “R” in SMART.
R = Risky
According to the SMART Goal system, you need to have an element of risk built into your plans.  Without risk, a goal isn’t [...]

Performing music is the reason we spend so much time and effort in the practice room.  But, even when we know how to practice and feel well-prepared for a concert, sometimes the outcome of the concert is less successful than we wanted.
Hey, it’s happened to us all.  I’ve had terrible performances, and you probably have too.  [...]

In a recent post aimed at helping musicians achieve goals and learn how to practice more effectively, I wrote about the SMART Goal system.
Today’s post focuses on the “A” in SMART.
A = Attainable.
When goals are put in place, they must be attainable and realistic.  That doesn’t mean that a goal should be easy to reach, [...]

 
Today is Thanksgiving.  In the spirit of the holiday, let’s all be thankful for the opportunity we have to play music. 
Whenever we don’t feel like practicing or rehearsing, we should think of everything we love about playing music.  Focusing on the positive aspects of being a musician will keep us motivated.
Think of what a privilege it is [...]

In a recent post aimed at helping musicians achieve goals and learn how to practice more effectively, I wrote about the SMART Goal system.
Today’s post focuses on the “M” in SMART.
M stands for Measurable.
There needs to be some aspect of your musical goal that can be measured easily.  Without this measurement in place, you will [...]

If you’re in music school and don’t have a practice room assigned to you at specific times, make sure you play in different practice rooms.  You don’t want to get too used to practicing in the same space every day.
Instead, you should experience different surroundings when you practice.  Learning to ignore your external surroundings will [...]

In a recent post aimed at helping musicians achieve goals and learn how to practice more effectively, I wrote about the SMART Goal system.
Today’s post focuses on the “S” in SMART.
S stands for Specific.
This is the most clear cut of the five properties of the SMART Goals system.  Essentially, each musical goal must be specific [...]

Improving musicianship is important in practicing and for performing music.  But, what about sportsmanship?
Webster’s Dictionary defines sportsmanship as “conduct (as fairness, respect for one’s opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing) becoming to one participating in a sport.”
I especially like the part about “graciousness in winning or losing.”  That sounds like a good description of [...]

Setting and accomplishing goals are very important to practicing musicians.  However, few musicians use a system to help them with this process.
A number of years ago my students were struggling with achieving their goals, and I was determined to help them solve their dilemma.
I looked outside the music world to find a process that could [...]