Perhaps I am alone, but I suspect there are others who recognize that they spend a great deal of time and energy trying to do something and frequently miss the point of why we are doing it as a result. We try to do something for fun, but we want to be “good” at it. So we think, “I have to work hard to get good” which turns the fun into a drudgery or creates stress in what was supposed to be fun. It doesn’t really matter what it is, in fact there are hundreds of hobbies or activities that are intended for folks to enjoy and have fun. Yet it seems that every time I hear people talking about what they do for fun all they want to talk about is how hard they are working at getting better or how frustrated they are with their “fun” activity. Playing music is no different. We all want to play better, sing better, take a lead break or just participate in a jam session. However, often times it would appear that the very thing we are doing for fun turns into a chore vice an enjoyable experience. Here are a few recommendations that may help make practice more fun.
The first and probably foremost aspect to making practice fun is the way we talk and think about practice. How many times have you said or heard somebody say, “I have got to practice”. The very words are ominous; I must do this or that; I simply have to. The implication of the words is that it is a task to be accomplished as opposed to an opportunity to enjoy playing music. Changing one letter in the initial phrase, an “O” to an “E” changes the whole tenor of the phrase; “I get to practice”. “I get to play my guitar (or fill in whatever instrument) today and that will certainly be fun” as opposed to “I have to practice my guitar today” provides a completely different mindset or approach that will make practice more fun which may make it more productive as well. The way we approach the idea of practice, to include how we talk and think about it, will change how we approach it and what we take away from it. Making practice fun starts with thinking about it as an opportunity to play music, even if what we are doing doesn’t quite sound like music yet. We get to play our instrument. We don’t have to play it; nobody is making us play. We want to play better, but remember we are doing this to have fun. So practice having fun by approaching practice as a reward for a hard day’s work. “I worked hard today so I get to play my guitar some this evening”. By thinking and talking about the opportunity to play as a reward, it helps to frame the activity of practice in such a way that makes it a fun and fulfilling experience even before it starts. Making practice fun starts by thinking about it as an opportunity to have fun; “I get to” as opposed to “I’ve got to”.
We can also make practice more fun by changing it up. I frequently hear folks talking about how many hours they spend each day practicing. One gentleman said, “I just don’t understand. I spend 4 hours straight every day practicing, but I am just not getting better. My teacher said practice, practice, practice, but it just doesn’t seem to work. It seems like I will never get better”. The teacher is right in that we get better by practicing, but we get better at what we practice. If we practice making the same mistake over and over we will get really good at making that mistake. If we practice working hard at playing instead of having fun and enjoying it then every time we play we will be good at working at it. However, the goal of having fun and playing better is usually not achieved by these extended practice sessions. Often we can accomplish more in ten minutes than we can in a four hour session. According to researchers, most of us only have 30-45 minutes of attentiveness; for some of us, it is much shorter than this. By changing up our practice sessions and focusing on small snippets or parts we can have fun, enjoy a sense of accomplishment, and become a better player all at the same time. There may be a time for a four hour practice session, but by interspersing different practice sessions with different goals and objectives in mind we can keep practice interesting and fun.
I can hear you saying, but you said it was supposed to be fun and now you are talking about goals and objectives. Didn’t you just take all the fun out of it by ascribing an objective; something I have to accomplish? No, I said your first goal should be to have fun; this is the first and overarching objective that is facilitated by the supporting goals of playing better in some way. Like most things we need goals and objectives. Our goals should be divided into short, medium, and long term goals. Within these goals we can have even smaller subsets of objectives that can help maintain our focus during any given practice session. This organization helps us to change up our practice sessions so that they don’t evolve into the drudgery described above. Instead of picking a tune we want to learn and sitting down to play it all the way through, we can pull out little phrases of the melody to focus on during a short session. This allows us to practice a small portion of the tune correctly which helps us make our practice fun and productive. Sure, it may not sound like the tune at first, but start with spending 10-15 minutes learning a short phrase of a tune; practice that phrase until you get it right; do the same with the next phrase and them put them together. It will not be long until you are playing the whole tune correctly. You will feel like you are accomplishing something with each session and will have more fun in the process. You may not get the phrase right with one session as some can be tricky. However, within a few sessions you will get that one chord progression, melody phrase, or lick down and can move on to the next one. When you put them together you are having fun reinforcing what you have learned. Over time you will pick up speed naturally because you no longer have to think about what you are doing as you have had fun practicing it correctly all along.
Some sessions may be short and focused on learning new things as described above. Others may be longer as you are playing through tunes you already know. Then there are those sessions that represent one of those things that folks tell you not to do at jam sessions, noodling. Noodling around the fingerboard is typically discouraged at a jam session and in jam classes, yet it can be one of the most enjoyable and productive things in a practice session. You should have some practice sessions that are simply to explore the fingerboard. Play around with different things without any real objective other than putting things together that sound good. You may accidentally stumble onto the melody of a familiar tune or discover a new lick. These can later be developed in one of your focused practice sessions where you develop the melody for the whole tune or figure out a good place to use your new found lick. You may find that the lick just appears during a jam session because it fits into a tune you already know. It is during these exploratory sessions that you get more familiar with your instrument and simply enjoy making beautiful sounds with it. You may find that this familiarity helps your ability to improvise melodies on tunes you have never heard before.
Finally, you should incorporate playing with other people into your practice sessions. This can be done at a jam or by using technology. You can use Cassette, CD, DVD, or computer based app backing tracks to play the chord progression while you play the melody up to speed. Today’s technology allows for any number of apps that can speed up or slow down any particular backing track to help you play correctly and increase speed over time. Sometimes play things faster than you can play them correctly and work through the mistakes. We all know that the song we have been practicing won’t be played faster at the jam right? We will likely make mistakes but by focusing on playing correctly at slower speeds and then pushing ourselves to play faster on occasion we will get better at playing correctly at faster tempos while also ensuring that we can take a break at a jam when folks will often play faster than we have been accustomed to. The most important part here is the timing. So long as we start and finish on time, although we want to reflect the melody to the extent possible, if we do or not has no impact on the group as a whole. The only way we can ensure good timing is if we play with other folks in some way.
So there you have it. Much of it is not new and there are plenty of books out there that go in to much more detail about each of these aspects and more. However, I think you can make practice more fun and productive by changing the way you think, talk about and approach it. We are playing music to have fun so why not practice having fun. It is something we get to do not something we have to do. Change up the duration and focus by breaking things into smaller parts to keep it interesting, productive, and fun. Play with other people. If nothing else, remember to have fun every time you pick up your instrument and everything else will work out.
