Practice vrs. Play

Growing up, we had strict rules about when we could practice and when we could play. We were expected to put in a half hour of piano practice plus a half hour of our band or orchestra instrument (mine was violin) each day. With four kids in the family, this meant assigning times before school and in the evening. Afternoons were for homework while Mom taught piano in the dining room, so evening practicing would happen once she finished teaching, and just after supper. We could practice our other instruments in our bedrooms, but both boys shared one room and us two girls shared another, so we had to take turns. There was a lot of music in the house at all hours… 

Here's a picture of Mom posing by the piano in the dining room/music studio just before the 1968 student piano recital:

So time for playing games or playing with our toys was pretty limited. But that’s not the kind of “play” I mean to write about today. What I’m musing about is the difference between the time we spend between practice and play on our musical instruments.

My husband, Jon, who is a jazz trombonist, needs to spend time each day on his horn to keep up his embouchure, so he does warmups and technical exercises daily. And if he has new tunes to learn for an upcoming gig, he’ll spend time rehearsing those. But then he puts on his headphones and plays along with jazz tracks on the iPad to “play” his horn. I’ve envied his dedication to the “play” aspect of the horn. Sure, there are technical things to work on and new material to learn, but he rarely omits his playtime…

I sometimes spend more time in the practice portion, learning new tunes, working out fingerings, developing muscle memory, getting ready for a performance, and not as much time just enjoying playing unless I’m in a casual jam session. I think it has to do with a sense of obligation or requirement that I “practice” until I am ready. And are we ever truly ready? It seems that as soon as I’ve conquered one hill there’s another to climb, with no time to rest…

Okay, yes, I take on a lot, between all the instruments I play, and all the groups I’m involved in performing with. But I find that when I squeeze in time on any of my instruments, it’s to learn something new, or to improve my fingering, or bowing hand, or vibrato. I have sometimes played along with the tracks on my iPad, but it’s difficult to transition from the practice mentality to just simply playing because it's fun and makes me happy. 

What is the value of play? Well, turning off the critical mind that is analyzing each technical aspect, or working through a difficult fingering, and just enjoying the music is what refreshes me. I can’t always wait for opportunities to jam with friends, so I need to schedule in some play time for myself! We did it with 4 kids in the house growing up, so I should be able to get this to work now with only two musicians in the house!

My plan is to practice one piece of music or one technical skill, and then switch to play mode, either by improvising, or playing something that brings me joy, alternating practice with play. If you have a strategy for balancing practice and play, I’d love to hear from you!

By the way, I’m preparing for my first-ever Live Stream concert (which I talked about in the last blog). I took a poll and the time and date that is the overwhelming choice is Saturday, January 28^th, at 4:00 – 5:00 pm pacific time. So, mark your calendars! It will be on Zoom, and there is a limit to the number of people who can attend, but since it will be free to attend, it would be good to sign up early.

Here is a link for reserving your seat: https://tinyurl.com/LifeStagesConcert