Making Musical Progress in 2024!
by Alyssa Cowell, Catoctin School of Music
We are quickly approaching the end of 2023! While many dismiss the idea of New Year’s resolutions, the beginning of a new year is an opportunity to reassess habits and personal goals, including the aspiring musician’s progress on their way to musical excellence. As the year winds down, it’s a great time to reflect on your musical progress and evaluate if you’re making the strides toward musical excellence you’ve been hoping for.
As you finish playing through a few final holiday tunes, take a little time to review what you’ve accomplished this year – look through your lesson notebook (or emails!) and look for some insights into your progress. Did you receive a lot of feedback on the same concepts week after week? Maybe your teacher gave lots of reminders about double checking letter names or counting out loud. Maybe there was a rhythmic pattern you needed to practice several weeks in a row. Looking back at your past assignments can help you pinpoint areas of focus moving forward in your practice!
Once you’ve reviewed your efforts, it’s time to take what you learned and start thinking about what comes next. Your teacher is an invaluable resource for setting goals that build your skills and techniques, and he or she will have some recommendations for the next steps in your musical journey. Work with your teacher to set some specific goals for areas of musicianship that you can work toward this year. Having a conversation with your teacher about areas of weakness that need improvement is a great way to keep everyone on the same page and understand what the best next steps are for your musical improvement.
If your practice time has been difficult to schedule or feels stale, maybe it’s time to establish some new practice habits that encourage you to be more consistent about your practice. Maybe your practice time feels lacking in focus. Now is a great time to try some new practice techniques. Instead of conducting your practice in one large block of time, try breaking it up into smaller pieces throughout the day to make it feel more manageable. Instead of trying to cram all your practice into one or two days a week with marathon practice sessions, try more days for shorter sessions. The goal is to make your practice strategy realistic and sustainable. Try asking your instructor to break down your practice goals for a piece into smaller concepts – exercises that encourage attention to dynamics or articulation to improve your musicianship can refresh your interest in a piece you haven’t mastered yet.
As you start to see progress, look for accountability from other musicians in your studio or social circle – nothing motivates students to practice more than the ability to perform with others. Look for additional performance opportunities that include receiving feedback from your peers or experienced musicians who are willing to give guidance and encouragement. Creating an environment where criticism can be delivered constructively helps students to identify areas that need development and inspire them to put in the effort to achieve that next milestone.
Consistent, diligent practice is the key to musical success – let’s make 2024 the year to recommit to your instrument and make some big advances in your playing and musicianship.
