Why Am I Not Progressing With My Instrument?

The prospect of being in a rut with your progression is a definite struggle. You may be finding it hard to find the time in your day to do the hour or two of practice your teacher tells you to do, or you might be practising and it is taking you nowhere.

The truth is, you don’t NEED to do two hours of practice every day to progress! Even if you take just twenty to thirty minutes out of your day, you can still progress and practising won’t seem like such an immense chore anymore. Here are some tips and tricks to make even twenty minutes of practice extremely sufficient for your progression.

• Always choose a time when your concentration is going to be at it’s maximum –

It may sound obvious, but if you are practising when you’re tired or distracted, your brain won’t recall any of the practice you’ve done. For example, practising just after you get home from work or school is never ideal. If you are at school, a good tip would be to go to your school’s music department during your free time and practice there. If you’re working, practice after a cup of coffee in the morning or after work, and then do a larger chunk of practice on the weekends.

• Don’t rush the process –

It takes a lot of self-control not to rush through all your pieces in one sitting but trust me, it will do no good. Practising one piece at a time slowly, accurately and often will catalyse a definite escalation in your progress. If your piece is more complex, then taking one line or even a few bars at a time and repeating them instead of flying through a whole piece and glossing over mistakes will prove much more efficient. It may seem counterintuitive but it is much better to have a small section absolutely perfect after one practice session rather than the whole piece not progressing much at all. A good exercise would be to take a few bars, a line or even a page and play through it but every time you make a mistake, go back to the beginning and start again. It is extremely frustrating to do but once you’re finished you will have that section down to perfection!

•   Don’t get frustrated with yourself-

This is the last, but the most important tip. Getting good at an instrument takes plenty of time and the sooner you realise this the better. As soon as you put a downer on yourself it will put a downer on your practice and your progress will come to a halt. Don’t compare yourself with anyone else- you never how much they practice or how long they’ve been practising for. It’s all about you!

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog. Get Practicing!