Getting Motivated

I am usually very good at keeping up my practice schedule and I wanted to share some tips to help everyone feel more motivated to practice.

If you practice you get better. I continually tell myself this. Think of the goals you have, whether you aspire to be a professional musician, head off to a music college or gain a seat in a band. The only way you will achieve any of these is by practicing. I myself dream of going to a music conservatoire and I know that I need to practice hard to achieve this. I find it helpful to make a list of things I hope to achieve by the end of each week, this means I know exactly what I have to practice and gives me something to work towards every time I sit down to practice. Give this a go, we all know how enjoyable it is to be able to cross things off a list!

Watch videos of people playing on Youtube. Every time I am working on a new piece I like to find several different performances of it. This not only helps me to get an idea of how to play it but also makes me feel motivated to practice the piece.

If you have time, break your practice sessions into more manageable 'chunks'. I typically have four individual sessions each day. This is important for trumpet players to give your lips time to rest but also useful for other musicians in order to keep practice sessions more interesting. Work on something different each time and don't keep them longer than 40 minutes. This will also help you to keep more focussed and achieve more.

Let me know how you keep motivated to practice.

Having the Confidence

I am a shy person, I always have been. In orchestras I have always been around older players who were obviously much better than me and this always made me doubt myself and my ability. Us trumpeters are known for having a huge ego, but I have certainly never had one.

Not to blow my own trumpet (excuse the pun) but I am a good player. Yes I have some areas that I need to work on and I am still developing as a trumpeter, but I can play. I have however realised in the last few months that my confidence is what has been holding me back the most. In orchestras I find myself playing down if I feel that I'm not exactly playing right. My teacher told me earlier today "people will forgive you for playing the wrong notes, but they won't forgive you for not playing at all". So I thought to myself, this year is the year I show everyone exactly what I am capable of and I plan to stick to this.

I truly feel that confidence is the key to being a great musician. When giving a performance, you need to be confident. Do you ever watch a professional and think wow they look nervous? No because they look beyond this and just enjoy the performance. I'm not saying they don't get nervous, they just believe in themselves and show everyone exactly what they are made of.

Nerves are something that I have been battling with my entire trumpeting life and I think I am finally starting to deal with them. Never doubt yourself, this is probably the worst thing you can do before a performance. If you think the worst then there is a chance that the worst could happen. Be positive, it helps (honestly). Personally I think that the best way to combat nerves is to perform as frequently as you possibly can. Take up every opportunity you can to play in front of an audience, even if you don't want to, just keep telling yourself it will help in the long term.

Never, ever doubt yourself and show everyone what your capable of.