You don’t need more discipline to play violin
You don’t need more discipline.
(goes for violin practice and whatever you want to achieve in life)
Every day that goes by that you either didn’t practice or didn’t practice as much or as efficient as you’d wanted, you might wonder how to find discipline. First of all never judge yourself for it.
The trick is NOT in finding discipline, but in finding flow and inspiration.
Discipline comes from the outside, a rational knowing that you should practice this or that and so long. Energetically that can drain you. Inspiration, passion or desire, comes from the inside and fuels you. Inspired practice makes you continue much longer with higher quality.
After Tristan’s birth, I didn’t plan when I would practice again. I had videos scheduled for months, so I could take my time. I just trusted to find inspiration again, when I would be physically and mentally ready. I didn’t put a time on it. About eight days after birth I started playing daily again. Even earlier I started jotting down ideas for new videos and other creative projects.
Luckily I’ve played much during my pregnancies, that for my three babies the violin is like womb sounds and they sleep very soundly on it or they play independently.
You might be thinking ‘sure, Zlata, but I’m struggling so much and I’m not a professional player and practicing simply doesn’t feel natural or inspired to me’.
Here’s how everyone of every level can achieve inspired practice:
(scroll down to keep reading)
FREE Violin Scale Book
Sensational Scales is a 85 page violin scale book that goes from simple beginner scales with finger charts all the way to all three octave scales and arpeggios
Hi! I'm Zlata
Classical violinist helping you overcome technical struggles and play with feeling by improving your bow technique.
#1 You need a specific goal that thrills you.
To pick up the violin every day despite of all of life’s distractions, I need to work towards a goal. This can be concert, a recording or a series of lessons. No goal, no fire that keeps me burning.
#2 You need to know how to improve.
I see this a lot in scale practice with students. They practice random scales in a random way, without knowing what exactly they want to improve on, what timeframe would be realistic and how to achieve the goal they have.
#3 You need to see results.
Some students practice in a way they don’t see improvements. Bye, bye motivation! Others do have some progress, but don’t notice it, because they don’t track it or don’t have a clear goal.
If my teaching style resonates with you and you want my guidance in setting these goals and crystal clear step to achieve them, consider enrolling in my program Bow like a Pro. It’s all about expressing yourself in music and playing with much more ease by improving your bowing technique, sound quality and vibrato. Click here to read more.
This is really good advice. I get so much better results from telling my own students and their parents not to “force yourself” to practice, and to just play when you want to until you don’t want to. It relaxes the student and makes them feel like playing is a thing they can do for fun, not a chore. That foundation makes it easier and easier to play for longer periods of time. Whenever I tell them to practice something for “one minute” they end up doing it for 15 or 20 because there’s no stress looming over them. And the practice is more focused because there’s no negative emotions getting in the way. Great article, great webpage!
Exactly, thanks for sharing!