THE MUSICAL MUSE

Blog dedicated to music education, practice tips, health
&
wellness, and geeking out.

Rhona-Mae Arca 10/12/23 Rhona-Mae Arca 10/12/23

Check Out this Year's Welcome Package & Practice Challenges

After approximately 10 years, I retired Maestro’s Top Dogs. Here is what I came up with:

20 & 40 Piece Challenge

This challenge encourages us to explore different types of music and at a variety of levels. This forms your “Set List” of go-to pieces that are ready to perform for family, friends, and the community.

How it works:

Pieces need to be at least 16 bars long (8 bars for beginning students).
Pieces can be

Challenging (a little bit above your playing playing level)
At your current playing level
Easier, fun to learn pieces

Try out pieces of differing musical styles.
Pieces can be assigned ones or pieces that you choose and start on your own.
A piece will be added to your 20 & 40 Piece Challenge List when it’s performable. That means that you can play through the piece at a steady tempo, with mostly correct notes, fingering and rhythm - with some musical expression.

Rewards:

20 pieces: 4 Cake Pops baked by Ms. Rhona-Mae
40 pieces: $10 gift card (choice of Amazon, Starbucks, Xbox, Roblox, Nintendo, App Store or Google Play) OR 8 Cake Pops baked by Ms. Rhona-Mae
20 Piece Challenge & 40 Piece Challenge Badges for your Badge Card
Your name on the Challenge Board

Technique Wizards Challenge

These year-round challenges are geared towards leveling up your technical skills to build the chops needed to tackle your pieces more easily. Earn badges when you complete all scales, chords or arpeggios in a level, played at a steady tempo, with correct notes and fingering.

Scale Zen Master Challenge

How it works:

To clear a scale, it must be performed at a steady tempo, with correct notes and fingering. Once cleared, you may mark the corresponding key on your Technique Wizard Progress Card.
You may perform your challenge scales at your lesson or send a video of you performing to your teacher.
No skipping levels allowed. However, Intermediate & Advanced students may start the challenge at Scale Apprentice.

Chord Zen Master Challenge

How it works:

To clear a chord, it must be performed at a steady tempo, with correct notes and fingering. Once cleared, you may colour it or mark the corresponding key on your Technique Wizard Progress Card.
You can choose how far you would like to progress in the challenge. Obviously, the further you get, the more rewards you get.
You may perform your challenge chords at your lesson or send a video of you performing to your teacher.

Arpeggios Zen Maste Challenge

How it works:

To clear an arpeggio, it must be performed at a steady tempo, with correct notes and fingering. Once cleared, you may colour it or mark the corresponding key on your Technique Wizard Progress Card.
You can choose how far you would like to progress in the challenge. Obviously, the further you get, the more rewards you get.
You may perform your challenge arpeggios at your lesson or send a video of you performing to your teacher.

60 Second Mini Challenge

This mini-challenge will run for 4 weeks.

How it works:

We’re looking for perfect scores, using Note Rush or Poco A Poco’s Read Music app. Alternatively, you may use any other note-naming app.
You may work on the challenges during your lesson or send a screenshot of your score to your teacher if you complete the challenges at home.

Additional Challenges to Come

Some of the other challenges include a sight-reading one, a transposition one, a practice goals one, and an ear-training challenge. These are still in the planning phases.

Visit Nicola Cantan’s blog to get the badges, posters, and more teaching ideas.

All the materials pertaining to this year’s challenges will be made available on the Studio’s Ko-Fi page at a later date.

Rhona-Mae Arca 3/18/23 Rhona-Mae Arca 3/18/23

Let’s Play Practice Bingo!

Last month, I was mulling over different areas that I want to focus on in lessons for the remainder of the school year. I concluded: practice consistency, practice efficienty, technical skills, ear, rhythm and sight reading, and finally - theory and keyboard harmony. Find out how I’m challenging my students to tackle these aspects of music learning.

Last month, I was mulling over different areas that I want to focus on in lessons for the remainder of the school year. I concluded: practice consistency, practice efficiency, technical skills, ear, rhythm and sight reading, and finally - theory and keyboard harmony.

The thing is, how to make what students normally find “boring” fun? The answer, turn it into a game! Bingo, to be precise.

Feburary’s praactice challenge focused on practice consistency. Some of the challenges were pretty easy (“Logged into My Music Staff student portal”), while others were harder (:"Practiced for 60 minutes without distractions””.

Homemade cake pops were on the line. They were a huge hit. So much so that they are now items in Maestro’s Market that students can “order”.

This month, they are working on practice efficiency. Some of the practice drills they are working through are part of Maestro’s Music Tricks, the game-ified practice aid I developed in conjunction with my students a few years ago.

Check out the Practice Bingo cards, along with Maestro’s Music Tricks in the Studio’s Ko-Fi Shop. Check the store at the beginning of each month from now till June for a new Practice Bingo card.

Rhona-Mae Arca 1/21/19 Rhona-Mae Arca 1/21/19

Reflecting on My First 100 Days of Practice Challenge

Last Thursday, I completed my first 100 Days of Practice Challenge. As I went straight into it after my 30 day challenge, I had practised for 130 consecutive days.

Was it hard? Yes and no. There were definitely days in which it was 11:30 at night and I hadn’t gotten to any practising because of other commitments. There were days when I could only do a short practice. But once I made the commitment to my students and online, I felt honour-bound to see it through.

Did I make any life-changing discoveries? Nope. If you do something regularly, you’re going to see some improvement. There are countless studies on that.

If anything, this challenge was an opportunity for me to get back in touch with the way I used to practice at university and whilst preparing for my ARCT in Piano Performance. Here are a few things that stood out as I look back on this challenge…

Doing something every day for 100 days seems like a really long time. At least, it did back in the fall when my piano students and I embarked on our practice challenges.

Most of them wrapped up their 60 Days of Practice Challenge around Christmas Break, so they are in the early stages of their 100 Days of Practice Challenge. I’ll share some of their thoughts once all the surveys have been turned in.

Last Thursday, I completed my first 100 Days of Practice Challenge. As I went straight into it after my 30 day challenge, I had practised for 130 consecutive days. I don’t think I have ever practised 130 days straight as a student.

Did I make any life-changing discoveries? Nope. If you do something regularly, you’re going to see some improvement. But I knew that going in. There are countless studies on that.

Goalsetting is Important

The only goal I had going into this 100 day challenge was to show my students (as well as any aspiring musician) what practising is like. Yes, practising can be difficult. Yes, it can be unglamorous. However, with hard work and perseverance, you can attain those victory moments. The practice clips I shared on the studio Instagram page reflected this. The majority of them featured me drilling trouble spots in my students’ repertoire as well as my own. It also featured me racing from the moment I got the song list to prepare for church the following day.

It may have seemed like a hodgepodge, unlike the other #100daysofpractice musicians who were sharing the development of their audition or recital repertoire. However, I think the clips gave a good representation of what we as music teachers and those who perform work through in a day.

To help keep me on track, I resurrected the Practice Journal. My daily practice tracker was fine for giving me a bird’s eye view over a month. The journal gave a much clearer insight on what exactly I worked on. More importantly, it showed how each session went and what needs more work. It was nice to just whip out my journal and share an insight with a student that I had with one of their pieces.

Summer & Fall Practice Trackers

As you can see, my practice tracking wasn’t very good before I began my 30 day and 100 day practice challenges. (Credit: R-M Arca)

December 2018 Practice Tracker

Very colourful. And it shows that I got to more items. (Credit: R-M Arca)

January 2019 Practice Tracker

A little on the small side, but again, it shows that it’s been a very productive period. (Credit: R-M Arca)

Practice Journal Entry

Just to give you an idea of what I notated. (R-M Arca)

Practice Goals

Now that Christmas Break is over, it’s time to get serious about this month’s goals. (Credit: R-M Arca)

At the end of most practices, I sketched out a practice plan for the following day. This worked extremely well as the plan and my practice tracker showed that I cycled through my students’ repertoire (Grade 3 - 10) and piano technique quite regularly.

I must admit that in the past few years, my practising consisted of occasionally running through my students’ trouble spots but mainly focussed on racing to get songs ready for church as soon as I got the list for the next day. I did listen to my intermediate and advanced students’ repertoire regularly, however, thanks to my YouTube playlist. Needless to say, my practice frequency wasn’t as regular as it could have been.

Reviewing Your Practices is Important

Often, we go through the motions of a task without much conscious thought, be it exercise, a musical instrument, writing, photography, dance, and so on. If we want to improve however, we need to improve our self-evaluation skills. Effective practice is mindful practice. That means asking yourself if a section getting better? If not, why not? What else can you do to get it? Who can you ask for help if you are stuck?

I used to record my practice sessions fairly regularly during my university days and when I was preparing for my ARCT. Then, I fell off the “Record & Review” wagon hard, although I told my students they should be doing it.

With my public practice log being the studio’s Instagram account, I had no choice but to record photos and/or video of my practices - and to review them. I actually wound up letting the clips play while I was folding laundry or washing dishes, which helped me plan out future practices and lessons with my students.

Flexibility in your Practising is Important

Having practice goals and a plan is all well and good, but what if you just had a crappy day? This was the precise reason why I didn’t specify a practice time length for my students or myself. Quality over quantity.

On the days I was completely drained, mentally or physically (sometimes both), or when I had to work longer than anticipated, I needed a “light practice” plan. For me, that included everything from “playing” with music ed apps, scorestudying (with our without the piece playing in the background), reviewing practice clips, or rhythm work. One night, I was so tired from a long week of teaching and ushering that I fell asleep in the middle of an ear training drill on the Perfect Ear app.

Someone asked me recently how long my daily practices were. They ranged anywhere between two minutes to over three hours.

My 100 Days of Practice Log

For ease, I’ve compiled links to each of my 100 days below, for those who want to check out the clips. If not, scroll down to see what’s the next practice challenge:

***

***

Day 41: Pirates of the Caribbean & Sonata in g, Hob. XVI: 44 (1st mvt.) | Day 42: Mighty to Save | Day 43: French Suite No. 3 in B minor BWV 814 - Minuet and Trio & Mass of St. Ann | Day 44: The Avengers | Day 45: Child of the Poor/What Child is This? | Day 46: Funky scales & trying out the lyre | Day 47: Perfect Ear app drills | Day 48: Technical Exercises | Day 49: Prelude & Fugue in d minor, BWV 851 | Day 50: Be Unto Your Name

***

***

Day 61: Perfect Ear app drills | Day 62: Sonatina in B-flat Major, op. 12, no. 5 & God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen | Day 63: Child of the Poor/What Child is This? | Day 64: Nocturne in e minor, op. 72 no. 1 | Day 65: Cassandra’s Dream | Day 66: Sonata in D, K 33 L 424 & Fly Me to the Moon | Day 67: Go Tell it on the Mountain | Day 68: Perfect Ear app drills | Day 69: Pirates of the Caribbean & Ready the Way | Day 70: Sing We Now of Christmas & Mass of St. Ann

***

***

***

#100DaysofPractice Round 2

After taking several days off, I’m going to restart the challenge tomorrow. Part of me wants to start tonight, because I did feel a little lost on my days off, but there are some studio administrative tasks I need to take care of first.

I do have a different set of goals for this round. Although I will continue to practice my students’ repertoire and pieces for church, I’ve decided that I’ll focus the public practice log on three pieces, for the most part. That way, I can at least achieve my goal of building up my own repertoire.

I’ve chosen something old, something new, and something for all my non-primary instruments. This will also give you and me the opportunity to hear how these pieces develop over the course of 100 days. The pieces I have selected are:

1 - Danza del gaucho matrero (Alberto Ginastera)

When I first learned Ginastera’s Danzas Argentinas for my ARCT programme, it took me one day to learn Danza del viejo boyero ("Dance of the Old Herdsman") and two days to learn Danza de la moza donosa ("Dance of the Beautiful Maiden"). This one, the third dance, took me over two months to learn and then at least another two to bring up to speed. Since I’ve already relearned the first two earlier this school year, it’s time to finish the set.

2 - Papillons, op. 2 (Robert Schumann)

When Irina Ginzburg, one of my most influential teachers, passed away, I inherited her score of Papillons. I dutifully kept it in my music library - untouched - till now. I can’t help but wonder whether there is a lesson in this work that Mrs. G would like me to learn.

3 - Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s version)

What better way to ensure that my non-primary instruments get regular practice than by choosing a song and learning it on all of them? I am thinking of doing a virtual ensemble performance on voice, ukulele, melodica, and cajón.

Join the #100daysofpractice Challenge!

Whether you are a musician or photographer, writer or athlete, consider taking the 100 Days of Practice Challenge. You may start the challenge at any time and set up your parameters anyhow you wish. As a guide, here’s what I set for my first round:

Practice for 100 consecutive days, unless I was too sick. Restart the count if any healthy days are missed.
No time limit. Focus on quality, mindful practice versus quantity.
All instruments counted (piano, voice, cajón, melodica, ukulele, playing & singing, conducting).
Practice away from one’s instrument counted. That means: theory, tap practice, scorestudy, record and review, studying recordings, ear training apps, and my students’ fave: The Most Amazing Sheep Game.
Keep a daily log. After seeing what other musicians and music teachers did, I opted for sharing my posts on Instagram. If your log is online, don’t forget to use the #100daysofpractice and #100daysofpracticechallenge hashtags. Of course, it doesn’t need to be online, but I must say that I’ve enjoyed interacting with others who have been doing the challenge.
Reward yourself once you complete the challenge! Here’s my victory dinner:

Chorizo Carbonara

I enjoyed this flavourful dish at Elbow Room in Britannia. (Credit: R-M Arca)

Lollipops

The peanut butter cheesecake lollipop with dark chocolate coating and hazelnuts was delicious. However, it was the raspberry cheescake lollipop in white chocolate coating and pop rock candy that made me giggle after every bite. Elbow Room in Britannia scored a home run with this treat. (Credit: R-M Arca)

I’m actually planning on taking the challenge with my budo practice as well. Although I’m not grading this year, I have over 120 kata and techniques that I’m trying to keep straight in my head and lock securely into muscle memory. Not sure if I’ll start that tomorrow as well.

You can check out what Hilary Hahn, the originator of the challenge did for hers. Here’s her interview for Strings Magazine and her Instagram. You can also follow other artists and athletes on Instagram by following one of the aforementioned hashtags.

If 100 days seems too daunting, you could start with a smaller number, such as 30 or 60 days.

If you do participate, let me know so we can keep in touch and cheer each other on.

January 22, 2019 update

I forgot to share my challenge parameters for the budo portion of my #100daysofpracticechallenge. They are:

Study/train for 100 consecutive days (at the dojo or at home), unless I am too sick. For each healthy day that I skip, I must restart the count.
No time limit. Focus on quality, mindful practice versus quantity.
All disciplines that I study (Iaido, Jodo, Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu, and Choken Battojutsu Kagéryu). Kata, kihon, waza, and other related drills.
Studying the training manuals, notes, photos and training related videos count.
Martial arts demonstrations count (they are usually on less than ideal conditions, so as sensei says, “Epic training conditions!”).
Keep a daily log.
Reward: Dinner most likely at a Japanese restaurant. Japanese martial arts, after all.

Rhona-Mae Arca 11/16/18 Rhona-Mae Arca 11/16/18

Our 30 Day Practice Challenge: In the Students' Words

Last time, I shared some of my observations and musings while my students and I participated in the 30 Day Practice Challenge. Now that most of them have completed the challenge, it’s time for my students to share their thoughts on practising every day for 30 days.

As they each completed the challenge, I asked them to answer a few questions. Some of them have graciously given permission for me to share their comments here so that other music students and music teachers can read them:

What was the easiest part for you about the challenge?

“Finding ways to practice in simple forms (fingering, theory, listening to pieces").”
“Technique: when I didn’t have time for my songs.”
“Being able to practice in a variety of forms: listening to music, drumming, tapping & piano.”
“I can do my own pieces.”
“The easiest part was doing theory the days I was busy.”
“It was easier to remember to practice because if I just do it everyday, it wouldn’t slip my mind.”

What was the hardest part for you about the challenge?

“Finding the time to practice everyday. Finding ways to practice differently than the norm.”
“Doing more than just technique everyday. LOL.”
“Getting time on the piano.”
“Never having a day off but after a while, I got used to it.”
“The hardest part was making sure I practice every day, even when I’m busy.”
“Actually doing it.”
Practicing every day.”

Has your playing changed since participating in the challenge? If so, how?

“I think so. At home practice, I definitely hear a difference.”
“I’ve been getting my technique and scales faster than I did last year.”
“Yes. I have prioritized music more & have been able to improve on my pieces.”
“It hasn’t.”
“Yes. I’m learning the notes faster and the practices aren’t as hard because I remember the notes from day to day.”
“Yes, since I played every day, my songs got better.”
“Reading music itself is easier.”
“It has changed because I feel that I’m finishing learning music pieces much faster than compared to last year. I feel that every time I notice I am getting better.”

Have you noticed or discovered anything interesting about your musical journey since starting this challenge? If so, what?

“How practicing every day really does help you improve faster.”
“Just that I’ve gotten my scales faster.”
“Yes, I feel more connected & aware of my music schedule.”
“I’ve been able to play more songs because I learn them faster and I don’t mind practicing as much because I know I’m earning something special at the end of the challenge.”
“Got bored faster, so [I] tried to find other things [to play].”
“I’m doing better than I was last year.”

Any other comments, questions or suggestions to make the practice challenge better next round?

“Maybe a free day in case you can’t practice (free space day).”
“Maybe setting alarms of when to practice.”
“It was fun.”

Musings from the Teacher’s Chair

There you have it. The comments should come as no surprise to performing artists, writers, and athletes. They should come as no surprise to scientists who have found a connection between myelination and learning.

However, I think it makes a much bigger impact on my students to see and hear how they have improved over the #30daysofpractice . It will make a bigger impact on my colleagues’ students to read what their peers learned, in their own words.

My students are well into Maestro’s 60 Day Practice Challenge, while I’m plugging away at the 100 Day Practice Challenge. In fact, one of my students is a day ahead of me in the challenge.

We talk more regularly about different ideas for those light practices, because let’s face it: practising every day for 60 days or 100 days seems like a really long time at the moment. I may need to remind them that if they are feeling under the weather, they can take a day off. I suspect that a few of my students are getting some light practice ideas from my practice log on the Studio’s Instagram:

This young go-getter has been practising hard since we resumed lessons in July. Her hard work has paid off! Today, she earned enough Maestro Bucks to take home two prizes. #goodjob #practicemakesconsistent #studentincentives #studentprizes #penguins

I have heard a significant improvement in all of my students’ playing, especially in their technical skills. Ditto for my own. It’s delightful because we can spend more time during their piano lessons exploring their musical expression, bulletproofing skills, and performance savvy.

With fluency comes confidence. I have also noticed that even my shy students are more willing to be the “Instagram Star of the Day,” while some who don’t like performing are actually showing off for their friends at school.

I do hope they realize that practising is a journey. We trip and fall a lot in the early stages, and there’s some “two steps forward, three steps back” in the troubleshooting phase; but with regular practice - mindful practice - we reach those awesome moments more quickly.

Remind me next round to record clips when they start and finish the 100 Day Practice Challenge. I have a feeling that the second half of the school year is going to be full of awesome musical moments.

Special thanks to my students: Claire, Tanya, Erika, Henry, Kateri, Alexandra, P., and Anonymous for giving me permission to share their #30daysofpractice experience.

Rhona-Mae Arca 10/10/18 Rhona-Mae Arca 10/10/18

Our 30 Days of Practice Challenge

As I mentioned in my post about this year’s Maestro’s 2018/19 Studio Challenges, my students and I are are doing a new practice challenge this year. Last month, we started a 30 Days of Practice Challenge. The practice challenge was inspired by concert violinist Hilary Hahn and her 100 Days of Practice Challenge on Instagram

I felt that my students need to build up their chops a bit before they are ready to tackle the 100 Day Challenge. Enter Stage 1: the 30 Day Practice Challenge.

The premise is that students commit to practising 30 days in a row. Healthy days, that is. Sick days won’t count against them. I told my students that I didn’t want them anywhere near their instrument if they had a fever or felt like puking. It would be a wasted effort. Better to concentrate on getting well. They’ll earn $200 Maestro Bucks once they complete the challenge. If they miss a day, then they must restart the count.

Some of my students are close to wrapping up their 30 Day Challenge, so I think it’s a good time to share some of our discoveries, observations, and lessons.

The Challenges of Practice Tracking

My students have to maintain a practice diary or log of some form. Most opted for the paper diary, although some are using it in conjunction with the Practice Buddy app.

Initially, most started by using the Practice Buddy app, but some students experienced glitches which resulted in lost practice log entries, and some practice sessions do take place when students are separated from the mobile device that had the app. Then, there were cases when students forgot to start the timer on the app or forgot to keep up with their paper log entries. The conclusion was that a paper log was still required.

Paper Practice Log

This student very quickly abandoned the Practice Buddy app in favour of paper practice log. Photo by R-M Arca.

Practice Feedback

This student maintains a paper practice diary but uses the Practice Buddy app when she wants me to listen to a practice clip.

Practice Buddy

This student also uses a paper log and the Practice Buddy app.

Practice Makes Consistent

The Practice Buddy app has been useful in giving students a relatively easy method to send me practice clips for feedback during the week. It’s been fun on my end listening to the clips, hearing my students’ progress, and giving them cute stickers in addition to feedback.

A handful of my junior intermediate students are very close to completing their 30 Days of Practice Challenge. They should be wrapping it up within the next week or so. They are pretty excited about their bonus.

They do a combination of practising at the piano as well as theory and using some music apps such as Note Rush, Note Works, Music Reading Essentials, Perfect Ear, and Tenuto. Their progress has been steady in their repertoire, theory, and technical exercises. I hope that they are as pleased with their progress as I am.

My upper intermediate and advanced students are having a tougher time at practising every day. They get a roll but then something comes up and they miss a day or two. I’ve suggested that they install one of the abovementioned apps and to visit the Student Repertoire Playlist I created on YouTube.

Having said that, they are still maintaining a good practice frequency for the most part, so it’s still a winning scenario as far as I’m concerned. A couple of students thought of a way to do some scorestudy on the go, which I thought was pretty brilliant.

Walking the Talk: My #30daysofpractice Challenge

Oftentimes, it seems like there’s never enough time for music teachers to dedicate to work on something new or hone their skills. I think we wind up looking for ways to push ourselves into preparing something to perform: like joining a music teacher performance group, playing in a church choir, accompanying other musicians, deciding to prepare for a concert/workshop/piano camp, and joining an ensemble. After all, it doesn’t matter if it’s the teacher or student, we need a goal to work towards.

It is in this spirit that I decided to take up the challenge along with my students. Then, I needed to find a way to make my practice log accessible to them so that they could see that yes, I’m working through trouble spots and scales, just like they rest of them. I decided follow Hilary Hahn’s example by posting every day to the studio’s Instagram account:

I still used the Practice Buddy app as a timer but maintained my Practice Tracker in my Bullet Journal so that I could keep track of what I practiced each day.

The paper form of my practice tracker lives in my Bullet Journal. Photo by R-M Arca.

I completed my 30 Days of Practice Challenge yesterday. At breakfast, I was discussing with my brother the takeaways from my journey. Here they are:

Practice makes consistent: This isn’t anything new. This is something that my brother and I both learned as we worked towards our ARCT in Piano Performance through the Royal Conservatory. It’s something that we learned through years of budo. Anyone who practices an art or is an athlete know this lesson well.

All areas improved: With the challenge, I practised my other instruments more regularly. In fact, two of my most popular posts in my 30 day challenge was for the ukulele (Day 10) and cajón (Day 27).

My technical chops are nearly back to where they were when I was taking jazz piano lessons. Ear training, rhythm, sight-reading, chording and improvisation skills improved too. That’s all well and good, as I need to have my chops up to snuff this year.

Learning and sharing with musicians: Partway through my challenge, I started to follow posts with the #100daysofpractice, #30daysofpractice, #cajon, and #ukulele hashtags. The result is that I got neat practice drills, grooves, and ideas from other musicians. Abigail Raber (@passionate_harpist) inspired me to break out the metronome more regularly. Karina Mandock (@theoperaticcatholic) made me feel normal as her practice sessions are similar to mine. And I just love listening to Minoustics clips.

On the flipside, each time I post a practice clip of the Game of Thrones Medley arranged by Jarrod Radnich, people ask where I got the music from. Maybe I should ask for a commission on sales as a result of my practice posts.

It really wasn’t that hard - once I made the commitment: It didn’t help that I injured my lower back last month, which affected my practice length. However, I used my “light practice day routine” as I was healing. This is comprised of any combination of scorestudy, listening to either my students’ repertoire or my own, ear training, or rhythm work. It is a bit of a bonus that I also work at concerts through my side jobs, so I get to listen to fantastic music performed live and call it practice.

When I was just using my Bullet Journal to track practices, I still wasn’t practising daily. Nor was I tracking on a regular basis. Somedays just got away from me. Other days, I talked myself out of it, saying I was too tired or needed to get something else done instead. However, once I made the commitment to my students and to those who followed my 30 Days of Practice online, I couldn’t skip. I mean, it would look really bad if me the teacher, reneged on the challenge, right?

My Practice Log

The Next Practice Challenge

Tomorrow, I’ll treat myself to some calamari from Opa for completing my 30 Days of Practice. I was planning to give myself a few days off before beginning my next practice challenge, but since I’m playing piano at church this weekend, I can’t. Well I could but I want to play the parts to the Mass of Glory better than I did last time, so I better carry on.

Stage 2 in Maestro’s Practice Challenge is a 60 Days of Practice Challenge. I decided a couple of days ago that I’m actually going to jump to Stage 3: the 100 Days of Practice Challenge.

It will be interesting to see if any of my students opt to do the same. Should they decide to proceed to Stage 2, they will get $500 Maestro Bucks upon completion. Although some may need to restart, they should be able to complete the challenge by Christmas Break and enjoy a break before their first attempt at the 100 Days of Practice Challenge.

After completing Stage 3, they will receive $1,000 Maestro Bucks to spend at Maestro’s Market. Jumping to Stage 3 now means they can potentially earn more Maestro Bucks by the end of the year, completing two Stage 3 rounds and possibly a Stage 2 Round. However, jumping to Stage 3 now means that they’ll be in the same boat as me - practising over the break. If they are doing a piano exam, it would be wise for them to maintain a practice regime over the break.

As for me, there’s no point in doing the 60 Day Practice Challenge. Between studio recording projects, piano parties, a Christmas recital, and Christmas Masses, I have plenty to work on from now until past New Year’s. Making the #100daysofpractice challenge should be doable.

Social Media Links

Follow @musespeakstudio

Embed Block

Add an embed URL or code.

FOLLOW THE STUDIO on Instagram

This student never fails to bring a smile to my face with her theory homework. #funwiththeory #doodlesofinstagram #doodles #musicteachersofinstagram #musicteacherlife #funtimesatpianolessons

This week's Practice Time with Ms. Rhona sessions will be on Monday @ 9:30 PM, Wednesday at 9:15 PM and Friday at 5:00 PM MDT. Come hang out in my practice room and pick up some practice ideas. Link to the Studio's YouTube Channel is in the bio. #pra

Editing theory together is so much fun! #musictheory #onlinetheorylessons #onlinemusiclessons #onlinepianolessons #funtimesatpiano #zoomstudio

My student was definitely trying to tell a story with the placement of her stickers. #funtimesatpiano #funwithstickers #pianolesson #stickers #dinosaurs

Affiliate Links

As a Sheetmusicplus and CD Japan affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The earnings help fund the Studio’s blog and YouTube channels. Your support is greatly appreciated.