Converting TV/Computer time into Practice Time

[Pianostudy]

        Since I am a piano performance major at a university renown for its music conservatory (although this is true of piano majors at ANY university), the amount of time I spend practicing is obviously extremely important.  As such, I recently took an honest inventory of how much I pracitce on a daily and weekly basis and found that it was not nearly what I thought it was.  It is very easy to lie to oneself and say "oh I did enough today," or "that was about two hours" when in reality, it was nowhere near the amount of time it should have been.  I realized that if I want to excel and stick out above the rest now and in the future, I cannot rely on my talent alone, or the notion that I am a quick learner and will absorb the music eventually.  It is practice that will  allow me to accomplish my goals, and practice alone.
        That having been said, I found that I only practiced a few days a week for probably about an hour total each day on the days that I did practice.  Since I do learn and memorize music rather quickly, that amount of practice time seemed to be sufficient for accomplishing my goals on a weekly basis and keeping in stride with the rest of the piano majors around me.  I have realized though, that I can learn the things I want to learn MUCH quicker if I practice every day, for about four hours every day.  Since I really don't study much, the majority of my time was spent doing pointless things on the computer or vegitating in front of the TV.  I have found that if I simply change my thought processes to "I am going to practice NOW" instead of "I'll practice later after I relax for a little while" (which usually turned into relaxing for the rest of the day) I learn music at an exponentially faster rate.
        I know this all sounds rather obvious and simple, but it's really a matter of realization and being honest with oneself about one's goals and how one can reach these goals.

-Have any of you made a similar change in your life?  What do you think about the things I've said, do they seem to be on target?  I'd appreciate your input and wisdom.

[Bob]

I think there are a lot of challenges in music and no one solves them all at once.  That means there will always be things that are difficult with music.  And it's much more pleasant to go do something relaxing or fun or novel/interesting (there are things in music that are on the dry side and you just have slog through them anyway).

Sometimes I do have to force myself to practice.

Sometimes there are good reasons for this though.  I may be working on some challenge in the music that is simply mentally tough.  Sometimes it's difficult to chip away at the tough problems.  Sometimes, there are other things going on in life that take time away from music.  Sometimes I'm exhuasted from work.  So yes, at those times I do have to force myself to practice.  Sometimes, I find I'm stuck in a rut practicing and have to force myself to pull out of habits and change the way I do things.  Sometimes I'm just worn out from practicing and "discover" I'm really just wearing myself down slowly. 

Don't judge yourself by your peers.  It's very easy to do that.  They won't always be there and in the long run they are only one point of reference.  They may be slackers or may have very different goals from yourself.  I judge myself on myself (if I'm making progress).  I use my peers as one point of reference.  I use pf people as another.  Professionals, gigging musicians, students... all places for me to decide whether I'm doing well in relation to my own goals.

Sometimes it's good to take a break or change things up.  Sometimes it's good to give things a long hard push and dive in deep to make progress.  It just depends what you want and what goals you set.

[mound]

Good posts, both of you.  Pianostudy - you may already be aware of this, and let me preface by saying that I totally agree that setting goals, taking an inventory of how one spends their time and making changes to accomodate those goals is extremely important, but I did get the feeling from the way you phrased your post that "how MUCH time spent practicing" is more of the driving factor for you than "how that time is spent".  I think it's equally important to take a inventory of the time you are at the piano, and see how worthewhile or worthless those activities are.

-Paul

[pianonut]

when i saw this topic i felt guilty and went to practice for an hour.  thanks!  i am so addicted to this forum.  there is a lot you can learn from talking to other pianists, but they can't practice for you.  therefore, you see one post, and then a couple of weeks later, this poster has done a concert, or something- and posts again.  whew!  i'm just trying to keep up with my children and get ready for a recital in the late summer.   

[darkrev]

It's great that you're studying piano performance cuz I heard that it's very hard to get accepted.  That's why I've been working real hard every day, and not just going through the music but really trying my best to polish the musical quality.   It's 2 more months until my university audition and I really hope that I make it.  And I hope that you'll continue on with your hard work too =)

[SteinwayTony]

Sounds like some particular people can learn a lesson from this...

[vivacelife]

If it works for u, then it does...ANYTHING!

[Tash]

lol at steinwaytony's comment:)
i can totally relate to what you're saying pianostudy. last year i was very neglectful of my piano and found myself only practicing like 2 or 3 days a week and being a bit slack in them sometimes. but i've moved on from that now after telling myself i won't be passing Amus if i continue to be slack.
so i've found the best way to stop the procrastination before pianoing in my eyes- do it as soon as you wake up, well not like hop out of bed and get on your piano stool- have a shower, brekkie, etc and then piano just becomes part of that morning routine. however you're obviously not at home all day, which reminds me neither am i from next week on...so then when i'm out during the day i do it as soon as i get home.
but of course there are days when you get out of that, like today i haven't practiced and don't have a completely legitimate excuse. but provided i can make myself not do that anymore then it should be ok. so we'll see how this balance of uni and piano works out this year, hopefully better than last year!

[cellodude]

Get hold of the book 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' by Stephen Covey and read and practise it. Then update this thread next year and let us know how it went.

Regards,

dennis lee