The 8 Hour Power Practice Princess
You don’t have to tell me–I already know this blog post has a cheesy title–but my dad tells me from time to time that I’m the Cheesiest. At least I can own title to something.
Alright class, here is the subject of this lesson—examining your daily practice routine. I have walked a long road perfecting solid practice principles. I know that a few of you are asking me—what’s so hard about developing a good daily practice routine? Because, let me tell you. Some of us are really good at being disciplined and obedient—and some of us are not.
When I was a young student, I had a habit of getting distracted in my practice routine. Interestingly, I never was sidetracked by the usual–t.v., friends, etc. I was distracted by the star quality of Sarah Chang, Itzak Perlman and yes—Gil Shaham. I wanted to be them–to be part of the gang. I wanted to walk into an orchestra audition–and have the music staff almost pass out with excitement, “Amy, wants to join our group—we are so blessed. Make her the concertmistress–no audition.” (Like I said I am the cheesiest.)
So, to become the wonder of wonders–I developed a method to my madness. 1.) Practice up to 8 hours a day 2.) Even though the music teacher has assigned the Violin Suzuki book number 9–I like Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy better, so I’ll practice this instead and 3.) Scales? There’s enough of those in Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy.
I continued in this madness for years, until one shocking moment in high school. I started attending a music institute on the weekends–and then, all of the sudden the institute decided that they were going to have me study under a new French violin teacher. When I met my new private teacher, we sat down and he said, “Pull out a piece of music you have been working on and play it for me.” I proudly pulled out Beethoven’s Concerto and placed it on the stand (It happened to be one of my pieces that I had been working on under the radar). I plowed through the first page and stopped. My teacher paused for one moment and then–I think that I heard his thoughts, “QUEL HORREUR.”
From then on, my days of glamor seeking were over. You would never guess where my new private teacher started me—Violin Suzuki Book number 1:) From there, I went on a steady diet of humble pie. My new teacher read straight through my silliness and didn’t allow me to dilly dally. I went into violin bootcamp—and had to start completely over from the very beginning. It was painful—but oh so worth it.
Moral of the story. Don’t mess around with your practice routine. When your teacher says that you should practice scales and etudes for 25 minutes–just do it. Also, pour your heart into your assigned lessons and do your best. If you commit yourself to being obedient and diligent—you may just end up with a Violin All-Star invitation without the drama. I wish an All-Star invite and good, proper practicing for every single one of you–no matter what instrument you play:)
