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Ever since I got worried if I was practising for too long at a time, I turn on my practice app that will track how long I spend practising each time and on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. I like checking out the stats. I also practice "publicly" on the app and love chatting to the other members when they drop in to say hi or to listen for a bit.
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Natalie Peh I practice mostly in Public Studios. I try to open a studio 3 to 4 times a day. I hope one of those times you'll be able to stop by.
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Priya Viseskul hope to meet you on Tonic soon!
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Dottie Lisa I just joined yesterday and I’ll follow you !
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Natalie Peh Michelle stopped by my studio yesterday!
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Gail Starr Hope to see you there. I just ended a studio a few minutes ago.
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Gail Starr that was a lot of fun - and it was wonderful to have your playing in the background while I was working with numbers.
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Michelle R And I visited YOU this morning on Tonic but I don't think you had your phone in a place where you could see who was visiting.
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Dottie Lisa Can we invite friends to our studio?
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Natalie Peh I joined too…but not sure I will be as disciplined as you about using it when I practice. Looking forward hearing you though!
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Vidhya Bashyam hi Vidhya! I've followed you back! Won't be lurking around Tonic much until I'm back home. I lost my streak of about 160 days, and will need to start again
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Gail Starr yes, if you're in a private studio!
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Gail Starr when I finished practicing, I saw that you had visited. Sorry I didn't see you! I'm not getting notifications and the app keeps freezing. I might try to use my phone tomorrow. I was using my iPad today (it's kind of old, so maybe it can't handle it). This afternoon I practiced in "focused" mode because I really needed to have no distractions while reviewing my lesson from yesterday.
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Vidhya Bashyam I can't wait to get back to my practice routine! I will look out for your studio on Tonic and pop in to say hi
Dottie Lisa I was in your studio briefly yesterday! Nice focussed practice session there- keep it up!
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Michelle R I heard about it here and have been using it for 3 days. It has changed my practice! KInd of magical. But takes a while to get used to. I will look for your names and support your practice
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Gail Starr Of course. Once you follow a person and they follow you back, you then open your studio. Then go up to the 3 vertical dots in the upper right corner. You can then select "Invite Friends." You can only invite those who have friended you (or followed you back).
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I have a “waterfall” in the room where I practice. I turn that on, light incense, and focus on relaxing my body. I also have an amethyst “tree” next to my piano. Finally, I slide the music rack forward, since when I’m done I slide it way back so my cats can’t go inside the piano!
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Frank what a great idea. That would be so helpful for someone with anxiety, re: me.
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Lisa Thomas yes! For me, I have learned that the most important element to enabling good technique is physical relaxation, which is not possible without mental relaxation, especially after a stressful day at work.
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Frank thank you for your insight. I teach piano lessons and can't bring myself to practice after work :).
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I always like use Dominic's idea of a Pomodoro timer for 25 minutes of practice. If I play longer, I notice that I'm simply not concentrating.
Sometimes I even practice LESS, like just 10 minutes while I am preparing dinner and am waiting for water to boil.
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After I had hand surgery for a trigger finger, my PT introduced me to a hand warming technique: sink your hands into warmed up uncooked white rice. I bought a 2 pound bag of rice and a large plastic tupperware container. Put in microwave until very warm (1 to 2 minutes).
I now use this whenever my hands feel cold before practicing. It feels wonderful!
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If I didn't have my little habits and quirks, I might not get any practicing done!
I keep track of my hours using an app designed for tracking billable hours. So every piece or technique that I practice gets a separate task. So if I want to know how many hours I spent on a particular piece I can find out. Or not - it can be depressing. But I always use it...
On odd calendar days, I practice scales in some form.
On even calendar days, I practice arpeggios in some form.
Back before I learned all the scales and arpeggios, I had a "mug of scales" by the piano - a coffee mug filled with popsicle (craft) sticks, with a note name on each one. Pull out a stick at random, and play the scale/arpeggio for that note. Very old school, pre-computer, pre-phone way of learning something.
I always warm up by playing one of the Bach Chorales. Sometimes I will try to sing one of the lines as I play.
I have been using the pomodoro technique for ages, so I have one of the little tomato timers. But I am so used to that 25 minute chunk of time that I don't really need it anymore! So 25 minutes of work and 5 minutes of rest.
I have 5 stones that I use as counters. These are small, smooth, beach stones that I got from the rocky coast of Maine. I made a little wooden shelf for them. If I am repeating a problem spot I will do it, then move over a stone, then do it again and move over a stone, and so forth. It can be very satisfying to move the stones back and forth...
I keep a bag of mini M&Ms in a drawer behind me. Having a hard day? Don't really feel like practicing? Grab a few candies and lay them out on the little table by the piano. If I can practice a little while, then I get to eat a mini M&M. Instant reward...
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Sam Smith oh my! You have NAILED the psychology of motivation. When is your book coming out?
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Sam Smith These are great! I remember using the jar when I was studying jazz keyboard for a short time. I might use it now for a different key every few days.
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Sam! Great ideas for me to use with my students! For my counters, I put 10 beads on fuzzy pipe cleaners that I twist on the ends until the beads won't fall off and I won't hurt myself. I am going out to get popsicle sticks and a tomato timer.
