(Having A) Practice
There are many common idioms in the English language, and I’m sure you’ll recognize this one:
“Practice makes perfect.”
Most likely, you’ve heard it all of your life…especially if you’re a musician. What we have been taught about practice is that its sole purpose is to get as close to perfection as possible. It’s a means to an end…it’s the destination, not the journey (we did start this article with the subject of idioms, after all).
And yet…is this a sustainable, accurate, or worthy attitude to have towards practice? A musician spends a much larger percentage of their time in practice than they do in performance. The value, benefit and meaning of practicing one’s art mustn’t solely be derived from a future ideal. Life is in the living. Goals, performances, etc…of course they are important…but that isn’t the sole reason for practicing an instrument, or anything for that matter. Perhaps just as important as practicing, or arguably even more important, is to have a practice.
This doesn’t just apply to music professionals and hobbyists.
Let’s take a gardener, for example. Keeping plants requires constant tending. A gardener pays attention to how the plant is growing, and what the plant needs in order for it to thrive. This includes consistent tasks such as watering, repotting, pruning, fertilizing, transplanting, lighting accommodations…and more. All of these tasks culminate in weekly (if not daily) moments of awareness and action in response to these living, leafy things in their care. Does a gardener do this only for that one week when the peony blooms? Or do they simply do all of this to impress their in-laws? Probably not (and if so…I’d venture to say that it’s not a healthy hobby for that gardener). The gardener must find worth in the practice itself.
There’s practicing, and then there’s having a practice. To have a practice means to have carved out a consistent, intentional allotment of time and space for oneself, and within this practice one engages in an ongoing learning or development of something. When committed to a practice, the purpose is the practice. This time of focusing on your piano fingering…or experimenting with color theory in your oil painting…or tending to your African violets- this is a frame of mind you return to regularly to gain more than just an end result…or you wouldn’t spend so much of your time there. What else do you get out of practice?
Focus
We live in a world where our attention is always being pulled in many different directions. It’s dizzying. It’s helpful, even necessary, to give your attention to one thing. However, this is extremely difficult to do! When one has established a practice where they dedicate a certain amount of time to focusing on a specific study, craft, etc…it actually helps them to focus in other moments, in other areas of their life, too. In other words, you are practicing focus on a regular basis by stepping into a routine practice. Focus can look like more than one thing; one is able to gain the skills to make space for something (an activity, a responsibility, etc), or someone (whether it’s a loved one or oneself). The ability to be fully present in the moment, and devote yourself to what, or who, is in front of you…is a proficiency of immeasurable value.
2. Muscle Memory
An obvious reason one practices so often as a musician is to form muscle memory. In having a regular practice, one is able to strengthen one’s muscle memory…becoming more fluent and comfortable in the instrument you are learning. Once this is established, so much more can be explored past this one element. For more information on muscle memory and its various benefits, read this Vibe blog.
3. Practice for Mental and Emotional Health
We all need coping mechanisms and methods for self-soothing. How important it is to develop healthy ones at that. This is one of the key importances in establishing a practice for oneself. When you have a practice, you are able to experiment and discover what helps you feel better in that space. Maybe some of that practice time helps distract you from the upsetting news you received, and gives your grief a break. Perhaps the repetition of your banjo rolls helps ground you for a time. You may be one of those people who finds that singing at the top of your lungs for five minutes (while practicing some breath control) helps decompress the stress you’ve carried with you that day. Not only are you able to step into your practice and know you can utilize these tools once a day or once a week…but you can take your practice with you in moments you need these tools, too. This spans the topic of music therapy, and you can learn more on that in this Vibe blog.
4. Routine
Having a practice helps fill in a routine. Routine helps ground our lives, create order, accomplish goals, recognize growth, etc. Here is an article that explains (backed by doctoral researchers) the many reasons that routine is beneficial for one’s health.
5. Expression and Creativity
When you’ve learned the basics and have spent time honing the skills to play an instrument, you can more freely become creative in your playing. Personal expression is one of the aspects of participating in the arts that motivated many to learn in the first place. Once you’re fluent (or at least on your way to fluency), you can bring your own style, ideas, interpretations to what you’re working with. My favorite moments as an educator in the field of ESL (English as a Second Language) are when my students feel comfortable enough in their English skills to share ideas, make jokes or ask interesting questions. It’s the same way in the arts. Once you have spent enough time learning the basics of the form, you are able to expand into the realm of your own personal expression. Having a practice makes this exciting elevation of your art possible.
At the end of the day, you make music because you want to make music. Sure, practice helps you get better…but it also makes you feel better. When you have a practice that you prioritize and enjoy for yourself then you have given yourself the greatest gift of all- space to do what you love. The rest will follow…and if for some reason it doesn’t…you’ve already received the greatest benefits that (having a) practice can give you.
- River Dawson, writer
To sign up for lessons to start this journey, visit Vibe Music Academy.
