New Year’s Tips for Music Students

A very happy musical new year to you!

Our Christmas recital was a grand success and a new year has arrived! We sometimes tend to slack off a little bit after the end-of-year recital. Let’s all purpose to make 2025 our most productive musical year yet! Here are some tips to make that happen.

• Stick to a practice routine! Create a good, solid practice schedule that works for you.

• Speaking of practice - remember that good rehearsal is not just playing a song over and over. Split a song into sections and work on perfecting it one small section at a time.

• Keep a notebook to track your progress. This can be invaluable in your daily work.

• Set goals - including weekly, small ones - and celebrate as you reach each goal! Remember that not all goals need to be grand. Perfecting a small section of your next piece or practicing for an hour a day are both great goals!

• Be willing to improve. Mindset is everything in music. Even successful professionals take lessons and are open to improving. Be open to constructive criticism and willing to listen and practice what your instructors suggest.

• Never stop learning! Pick up that new instrument that you have no idea how to play and start learning! Choose a challenging song on your main instrument. If you are a vocal student, study theory and diction and technique. They DO make a difference!

• Listen to something different! Love country music? Great! Now, open your mind to listening to classical music for an hour a week. Love Beethoven? Wonderful! Now, turn on some Taylor Swift and give it a listen! The point is to listen to, recognize, and appreciate each genre of music and learn from each.

• Write, write, write. Whether it is a melody or a lyric, free yourself to start a music writing notebook and fill it up. You don’t have to share it, but writing music will help you in your musical journey.