Facing problems while practicing: dividing attention

When practicing playing the violin or viola, you focus on many things at the same time. Your main focus is on playing the piece itself and you might forget about other important aspects. For example, your posture might not be upright.

As you practice, you learn and improve your skills. Eventually, you will become familiar with certain techniques and skills. You don’t have to think about those things anymore, they will happen automatically.

But until this happens automatically, it can be difficult to divide your attention while practicing. This is where self-recording becomes very useful!

Self-recording as a powerful practice tool

The true power of self-recording lies in being able to review yourself. During the playing itself, your attention is divided over many things at the same time. When looking at a video of yourself, you can focus on one aspect at a time.

You can look very carefully and critically at your own playing and search for things to improve or skills to focus on during your next practice.

You might notice things about your practice you otherwise wouldn’t have noticed!

You can record your practice with an audio or video recorder. Video recordings show you a lot more detail, but audio recordings can be useful too.

Tracking your progress over time

For many people, practicing playing the violin or viola becomes an indistinct, blurry process. During all that practice, it might seem like you are endlessly struggling. However, you also make a lot of progress! It is just difficult to notice your own improvement over time.

When you compare self-recordings over time, you can easily see how much you have improved. Tracking your progress like this can be a real eye-opener: although practicing might always seem challenging, you are booking results!

Being able to see and hear your own progress can be rewarding and satisfying. You have the right to be proud of yourself and to acknowledge your growth as a violinist or violist!

Sharing your progress with others

For some people, performing live for an audience can be scary. Still, you might want to share what pieces you are playing and the things you are learning at the moment. For example with your friends and family!

Self-recording is perfect for this. You can show others a video instead of playing live. Record the video in your own time and in a comfortable space. You can record a video as many times as you want and you can choose the best one.

This way you don’t have to perform live, but others can still enjoy your music!

Try it out and share your experiences in the comments!

PS: Do you want to see YOUR question answered in a Violin Lounge TV episode? Post a comment below!