As you continue your journey as a musician practice time becomes increasingly important and you will also have less and less time to practice. So this means you have to be incredibly efficient with your practice time. So here are some tips that have helped me out over the years. It is also worth noting that you should also be seeking guidance from your teachers on what to practice and how to practice if you are struggling.

1. Have a good space

Having a comfortable space where you feel like you can belt your little heart out is super important. This should also be a space with a music stand, a mirror, a piano, and a speaker. The music stand will help your posture, a mirror will help you check your acting choices, a piano will help if you need to plunk out any of your vocal parts, and a speaker will play your music loud enough so you aren’t straining to hear. If you are attending a university there will likely be practice rooms for you to use that will be equipped with all these things. Just be mindful that you might need a dongle to use the speaker system.

2. Remove Distractions

I am a chronic gabber so the biggest obstacle for me is being too social. So to remove this distraction I just let my friends know I am taking practicing time and I try super hard to ignore the FOMO I feel. Another big distraction is my phone. I think that it is so hard to remove a phone as a distraction because you often need a phone to practice. So the best advice I can offer is making sure anything you need to access on your phone can be easily found. The less time you spend looking for your rehearsal track the less time you have to get distracted.

3. Have a to-do list

This can be a physical to-do list or even just a mental one but having a list of things to get through will help you be more productive and also help you feel a sense of accomplishment. Make sure to keep your list simple and short so it is attainable for you and so you don’t get discouraged.

4. Set a time limit

If you put on a timer (say 30 minutes to an hour) you will feel pressure to work and not procrastinate. This will also make scheduling practice time easier because you’ll know you only need to allot a specific amount of time.

5. A reward system

A little reward to encourage you during your practice session, especially when you are building your practice routine, will help you so much. I find that when I practice piano I love a little candy but when I practice voice I like a sticker (cause I can’t sing and eat candy). I also know people who have their morning coffee while they practice and they reward themselves with a sip of coffee when they hit a goal. When you’re looking for your reward system it is helpful to choose something small and low in price.

6. Regular shorter practices are better then long irregular practices

This is a cliché but I’m gonna mention it. Practicing 5 days a week, even for just 20 minutes is way more effective than an hour and a half once a week. I also find that when I set out to practice 20 minutes I often practice way more than that. I think this is because the hardest part about practicing is starting a session but once you start and get in the zone it feels a lot easier.

7. Have long-term Goals

Having something big to work towards will help keep you motivated and also help you track your progress. I find the hardest time to motivate myself to practice is when I don’t have any big projects to work on. I also find that deadlines are also super important to keep this sense of motivation in myself. So if you’re struggling with motivation set some big goals for yourself with deadlines and see if that helps you out.

I hope you found these tips helpful and please share any practicing tips that you love. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a good week!

Cam