When the heck do I have time to practice? Between school, homework, family, friends, chores, lessons, orchestra, work, sports, after-school activities, and everything else in your life, you may have thought the exact same thing. Making it all happen can seem like an impossible task. But with a little planning, you might be surprised at just how possible it can become.

Break It Down
Grab a notebook and begin jotting down the pros and cons of playing your instrument. Examples of pros include: it’s fun, you love music, you’re good at it (or getting there), you like playing with other people, you have friends who share your interest, you like your teacher or orchestra, you like the challenge, etc.

Now list the cons.

You undoubtedly wrote that playing an instrument is hard work and often requires a lot of practice. But isn’t that true of most activities that require skill? If your list of cons is longer than your pros, consider sharing your list with your school or private music teacher. He or she might
be able to help you address this.

Hopefully your list of pros will be much longer than your list of cons. And if so, consider this: most people will find the time to do the things that they truly want to do. It might just take a little time-usage analysis.

Make a log of how you spend your time for one week. Record required activities in blue pen (school, homework, family, chores, sleep, etc). Record nonrequired activities in pencil (friends, downtime, extra activities, etc.). Record your practice sessions in red.

Next, add up your total practice time per day and for the week. If it is less than your teacher recommends, then you need to begin reorganizing. Consider cutting back on some of your nonrequired activities. Are you spending more time chatting on the computer or at the mall than really necessary? Sometimes writing things down can be very eye-opening.

Get Creative
Finding creative ways to get things done more efficiently can also be very helpful. Would it be possible to get more of your school assignments done in study hall and thus cut back on the time needed for homework? Or how about asking for the bigger project assignments ahead of time to get them out of the way (like over holiday breaks and/or weekends)?

Ask your school music teacher if you can arrange to spend your lunch hour or study hall practicing. What about getting up 45 minutes earlier and practicing before school? Ask your parents about assigning chores that can be completed only on weekends. Consider participating in extracurricular activities only in the summertime (maybe sports or an art class through your local YMCA).

If there seems to be no possible way to meet your teacher’s practice expectations, don’t give up. A little practice can go a long way and is certainly better than no practice at all. Over the course of the week, bracket off measures that you have trouble playing in your lesson or orchestra. At the end of the week, spend approximately 10 minutes making a list of the troublesome measures and/or technical exercises assigned by your teacher. Then divide the list into two columns, “Very Challenging” and “Moderately Challenging.” Whenever you practice, begin with one of the “Moderately Challenging” spots on your list. Practice this spot for a maximum of 15 minutes.

Play it only as fast as you can well.

Practicing something slowly and accurately for just a few minutes is much, much better than playing it quickly many times with mistakes.

Now practice one of the “Very Challenging” selections in the same manner. Keep going down the lists, alternating, until you are out of time. Keep track of which selections you practiced. The next time you practice, spend a maximum of 10 minutes on any sections that you have already practiced until they become easy. At that point, cross them off the list.

The bottom line: when you are short on practice time, only practice those things that need practice. Don’t waste time playing through music that is easy or that you can already play well. Also, don’t waste time playing through things too quickly with mistakes. Your mind and muscles learn much better from slow accuracy and ease.