Procrastination to Practice

Practice..

Not everyone finds practice easy.  I have had a few periods in my life where I could manage four to five hours a day of practice, but this was a very rare occurrence.  For the most part of my life, (and I’ve been playing saxophone since the age of nine), practice has been something I’ve had to actively engage with.  Practice has often become the perfect excuse to procrastinate.

With this in mind I’ve created this course ‘Procrastination to Practice’ as one thing I am naturally good at is procrastinating. So, if like me you find it difficult to focus on your practice, watch this course and be amazed at the number of ways you can make your practice enjoyable, AND productive!

This course works well alongside #20songs20weeks and Improve Your Tone.

Lessons

SMART Goals

As a follow-up to last year’s lesson (it still applies to this year!) I want to suggest you set some SMART goals.

Passionate Practice

Over the years I’ve picked up some ‘secrets’ that have enabled me to become better at practising and, more importantly, using my practice time efficiently. I share them with you in this video lesson.

Practice Schedule

I find the most important thing to do when practicing is to make sure I PLAN what I hope to practice. Sometimes just having a ‘blow’ can be a useful exercise, but more of than not you spend the time impressing yourself and very little time actually improving.

New Year Targets

I LOVE reading biographies of people who have made a difference in the world. One key theme is that those who made a difference allowed themselves to dream AND set goals which could make that dream possible. They managed to turn down the volume of that voice that limited what they could achieve and allowed themselves to dream.

Practising with a Pianist

I shot this video during the summer when my friend John Bowen, an award-winning composer and pianist, visited my studio.

Ted Nash Talks about Practice

Here is a video from Alto player Ted Nash talking about practice. It was great to talk to Ted at the recent Jazz At The Lincoln Centre concert in Cambridge.

Festive Practice Tips

I find that practising and during the festive period can be hard work. These tips give you the chance to remain in the spirit of the season, whilst continuing to practice.

Lecturer

Dan Forshaw

I'm passionate about creating inspirational experiences through music and other arts. A life changing experience under the influence of the music of John Coltrane lead to study in New York and London. My thesis was on the Theology of John Coltrane as expressed through A Love Supreme. I perform across Europe with various jazz groups and teach through my innovative website, www.cambridgesaxophone.com. I'm a total Apple Geek, Cricket, Rugby, F1 and Football fan and I'm learning to listen opinions before giving my own!