Who am I following?

http://www.howtopractice.com/

I have to say I am for practice!  I know, way out on a limb Whaley, duh.

I think I find practice more enjoyable than most people.  I enjoy figuring things out for myself.  Spending time doing just that figuring by myself is a luxury that I don't enough of these days.

That may make me odd.

I know that many of my students sometimes look at practice as a chore.  That is what practice can be.  Does it have to be that way?  Practice should be something more than time spent on the instrument.  How do you get that across to your students?

I have found help with motivating my students at How to Practice.  I have also found help explaining practice techniques there as well.  I have found ideas for me there as well, ways to make my time more rewarding.

Mike Saville has created a site that deals with many aspects of practice.  It is a tough subject and one that is very important.  His site is worth a read.  He is also worth following on Twitter @howtopractice.

Random SmartMusic Items

I know a bunch of you read this for my experiences with SmartMusic. Here is a bunch of random SmartMusic items.

Practice room computers. I used them for singing tests towards the end of the quarter and that is subject of a future post. I think it was successful.

Practice room computers and the end of the quarter. I haven't heard practice rooms that busy since college. Funny thing, the rooms are still that busy now the quarter is over. I don't have any before and after scientific data, but I am sure practicing is way up.

Practice data. I am really trying out the practice report this month. Will keep you posted.

Found today in my e-mail. SmartMusic has easy holiday and easy popular movie titles WITH ON SCREEN MUSIC. Sorry about the shouting, but that is exciting. It is like getting free high interest music for your program. I'm sure if you want to buy the sheet music you can, but many kids will be happy with the on-screen version while they create music files for the family. If you teach near the beginner level, there is probably something the kids will like there. Visit their web site or open up SmartMusic 2010 and do a search for ideas.