Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a web seminar held by NSSWE on How To Make Music Fun. The presenter, Mark Walton, is a well-known New Zealand clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and musical educator.
Throughout the seminar, I learnt about the importance of having fun with practicing and performing, and how to get the most out of a session. Walton was a very intriguing and interactive presenter, and he communicated his well-rounded ideas through stories from his childhood.
I got a lot of the session, and wrote a few notes down 😉
Here are three of my most important takeaways!
Enjoying the Session > Practicing
While many musicians are encouraged (or sometimes, forced) to practice, I learnt that it’s better to enjoy the session than actually practice. Having a positive, growth mindset allows you to tackle the trickiest things in your music, and also grow and learn from your mistakes instead of beating yourself up over them.
I’ve found that when I make a mistake in music, I immediately stop and say ‘Why couldn’t I do that? Let me try again,’ only to make yet another mistake. I often become frustrated that I can’t grasp the music straight away, as every musician wants to be perfect the first time around, and I will often beat myself up over it.
Building Blocks
I’ve heard about chunking and breaking down information when studying, and I’ve found this to be very effective. However, I also learnt that it can also be applied when learning music!
Mark Walton described practicing was similar to doing a puzzle. He encourages his students and other people to do ‘piece by piece, bit by bit,’ and chunk learning a new piece of music. Walton said ‘Practice something small and then move on to something else.’
This technique can be both applied to learning a new piece of music; focus on the first 6 lines one day, and focus on the next 6 lines the day after, and also learning scales; add one note to the scale at a time, and then build up your speed.
Skills Learnt In Music Can Be Applied to Other Aspects of Life and Vice Versa
This was probably the best piece of advice I heard in the entire session – Skills learnt in music can be applied to other aspects of your life, and vice versa.
Walton shared a story about how one of his students struggled with confidence and this was reflected when she played her music. He did a few things for her, and she came back to him, praising him for helping her with her confidence.
He went on to describe how learning a new piece is like a new, fresh start, and by learning and applying your knowledge, you can grow in different aspects.
Walton encouraged us to:
- Plan our practice sessions – Write down a realistic schedule of things you want to get done during your lesson, and break down our pieces. He also said to ask questions like ‘what do you want to achieve in this lesson?’ and ‘what did you actually get done in this lesson?’
- Think about the long term and short term outcomes
- Be on top of our material