PracticeThe ABCs of practice when deciding what type of musician you will be.

Exploring the ABCs of practice when deciding what type of musician you will be.

If I were to ask you, dear students, what type of musician you want to be:

a) bad (and not the good kind)
b) okay
c) good
d) really good
e) awesome

What would be your answer?

Do you know that 4 of the 5 answers have one basic thing in common?

“b)” through “e)” musicians PRACTICE regularly. Ah. Obviously, the more you practice, the more likely you will achieve your highest goal. How much and how often you need to practice is determined by several factors, such as your natural talent, your practice methods, your practice schedule, and what you practice; but the bottom line still is, in order to be a b) through e) musician — unless you’re incredibly gifted — you need to practice regularly. It’s an unavoidable reality.

“a)” musicians, well… they don’t practice. At least not regularly, and maybe not even at all.

I’ve played with “musicians” who don’t practice, and to be blunt, I can tell you, they suck. Hey, *I* suck when I don’t practice. Non-practiced musicians are a total drag to play with, or listen to. I’ll have to write a whole other essay on that subject, because I have strong opinions about it that will overshadow the message I’m trying to convey here.

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It doesn’t matter if you want to be an awesome church pianist, a really good street musician, a good karaoke singer, a professional orchestral musician, an okay camp fire guitarist… the list truly goes on. You have to decide how good, or bad a musician *you* want to be.

So whenever you think about skipping practice today, or tomorrow, or this week; or you’ll just knock out the absolute least amount of time on your instrument, really think about what kind of musician you want to be. After all, it’s ultimately up to you how good you want to be, and you, and only you, are accountable for your own progress.

Oh, and for those of you who think you’re not talented, or playing music is too hard and you’ll never even be okay so why even practice… or you’re just learning to have fun and practice ruins the fun? Facts: You will NEVER know how good you can be until you try. Playing music well, or even marginally, is a lot more fun if you’re even kind of good at it.

If, however, you seriously try practicing regularly and with passion for an extended period, and you still find you’re not reaching your goals, you either need to reevaluate your goals with your instructor to make your goals more realistic, change your approach; you might need to reevaluate your instrument and maybe try another, because you may not have found the right one for you; or… after all else fails in your attempt to become a musician, and you really want to be involved in music, there are still other options.

There are numerous careers and hobbies for people who understand music, music theory, musicians, and so on. If you love music, but you cannot find the musician in you, perhaps you can find another place in music where you can apply your musical knowledge and find joy. Teaching, publishing, producing, writing (music or articles about music), managing musicians, booking musicians, working at a radio station, Pandora, direct local musical plays, or… well, the list is endless. Music is not just about the musician, you know. It takes a lot of other people and talents to produce music, so if you love it, but can’t play it, don’t despair. Again, another essay for another day.

All of that said, if you really want to be an e) musician, you’ve got to step it up and really work at it. Make practice a priority. Becoming an awesome musician doesn’t happen by osmosis — it requires blood (“play until your fingers bleed” as I like to say), sweat, and sometimes, yes, even tears.

a), b), c), d) or e)? You choose. Got it? Now own it.