100 Days of Practice Challenge 2019 - Day 30 Check-in

According to my practice trackers, I completed Day 30 of my 100 Days of Practice Challenge on Wednesday. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I decided to do a 100 Day Music Practice Challenge as well as a 100 Days of Budo Practice Challenge simultaneously. It has been an interesting journey so far.

100 Day Music Practice Challenge (Round 2) So Far

Very early on, I hit a couple of snags in my music practice challenge that affected working on my featured trio of pieces: Danza del gaucho matrero (Ginastera), Papillons (Schumann), and Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Iz’s version). The first piece to hit a roadblock was Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I truly love this song. Sadly, I would need to capo my ukulele down seven frets to transpose it into a key that works for my voice. That just doesn’t give me much to work with fret-wise.

Rather than futz around with trying to make it work, I decided to work on Happy Together (The Turtles) as my non-dominant instruments project. I can comfortably sing it in the original key. Besides, I will have an easier time coming up with a cajón groove for Happy Together.

Schumann’s Papillons presented me with two challenges. It didn’t take long for me to realize that although I like listening to this work occasionally, I don’t really click with it. I don’t feel any emotional connection to it. However, since my late piano teacher Mrs. Ginzburg bequeathed this work to me, I want to unlock whatever lessons she wanted me to take from it.

The second challenge is potentially dangerous from a musician health perspective. Those who have been following the 100 days of practice challenge on the Studio’s Instagram can plainly see that I have small hands. Not much I can do about that.

Papillons is chock full of blocked octaves at a fast tempo. From Day 1, I recognized that another round of Tennis Elbow and Golfer’s Elbow may lie in my near future. I’ve had those repetitive strain injuries enough from from playing ragtime and other works with blocked chords and octaves to know that this is going to be a huge problem. By my fourth practice working on Papillons (Day 25 of the challenge), sure enough, the first signs of Golfer’s Elbow were making themselves known. I was seriously contemplating dropping it.

After discussing the situation with my brother (fellow pianist and music teacher), I decided to stick with it. Perhaps the lesson Mrs. Ginzburg wanted me to learn is how to play such pieces injury-free. So, I’ve taken everything back to square one and am breaking everything down into very small chunks, constantly assessing and adjusting until I have released all tension in my hands and arms before moving on to the following notes. This is going to be an arduous journey.

Featured piece #3, Danza del gaucho matrero, has been a fun ride so far. It’s so much easier to relearn old repertoire. It’s like reconnecting with an old friend. Sure, we fought a lot at the beginning but now, it’s just pure fun. Crazy, discordant fun, but fun nonetheless.

One observation I have noticed is that balancing my work on these three pieces, while juggling work on choir repertoire and my advanced students’ repertoire is hard. I’ve fallen behind on my student repertoire recording project. I haven’t spit out a technical requirements video in a while either. I think I will need to start budgeting how much time I spend on each area in my practice plan and set a timer.

I’m already getting ideas for future challenges, after checking out what others are doing in their 100 days of practice challenge on Instagram. Although I don't think I’ll ever do a #100daysofBach challenge, I think 100 Days of Sight-Reading, 100 Days of Baroque (OR Classical OR Romantic OR Impressionistic OR Contemporary Classical OR jazz) would be exciting adventures.

January 2019 Music Practice Tracker

I was trying to be smart and fit my tracker onto a single page. Not doing that again. Credit: R-M Arca.

February 2019 Music Practice Tracker

This is a bit easier for me to get my brain around. It’s also good for those days when I didn’t write down a log entry. I still kept up with the 100 Days of Practice Challenge posts in Instagram, at least. Credit: R-M Arca.

Learning to Release

Day 30/100 of the 100 Days of Music Practice Challenge: After each blocked octave in Papillons No. 3, I am forcing myself to relax before proceeding. It’s tedious but necessary if I want to avoid Golfer’s Elbow. Credit: R-M Arca.

Teachers Need Light Practice Days Too

Ear training drills have been my usual go-to on light practice days. We all need light days during this practice challenge.

Choir Practice

The life of a church musician. Snatching a bit of calmness between choir practice and the start of Mass . Credit: R-M Arca.

100 Days of Budo Practice Challenge So Far

“Budo” is the Japanese term for “the way of martial arts” or “the way of war.” For those just joining in, in addition to teaching piano and playing a bunch of musical instruments, I practice four non-mainstream Japanese martial arts at Ka Muso Kai (a dojo affiliated with the Canadian Kendo Federation, which, in turn is affiliated with the All Japan Kendo Federation): Iaido, Jodo, Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu, and Choken Battojutsu Kagéryu. Last summer, I earned my Nidan (second degree black belt) in both Iaido and Jodo. The grading was the culmination of a vigorous weekend-long seminar and the gradings ran back-to-back. “Intense” doesn’t begin to describe that experience.

Iaido is the art of drawing the sword. It translates to "the way of harmonizing one's self in action at all times and in all conditions." Jodo is the art of the short staff. It was founded by Musô Gonnosuke Katsukichi, the only person known to have defeated Miyamoto Musashi in a duel. The Japanese police use a variant of Jodo to this day. Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu is Miyamoto Musashi's two-sword art ("Two Heavens as One"). Choken Battojutsu Kagéryu is one of the few surviving Japanese long-sword arts. The founder was Yamamoto Hisaya Masakatsu, a retainer of the famous Tachibana clan.

Prior to the challenge, I tried to train two to three times a week (dojo and at home). Some weeks were better than others. It was much easier when I trained at the dojo twice a week. Due to my teaching schedule, I can now only train at the dojo once a week, so I felt I needed to do something to not let things erode. Plus, with over 120 techniques floating in my head, I knew I needed to practice more secure them more firmly into memory. Enter the 100 Day martial arts practice challenge.

I must admit, adding a second 100 day practice challenge has made my days a bit more complicated. This is, by far, the longest uninterrupted stretch I have practiced budo for. There were days when my plans to squeeze in a 20 - 30 minute training session got derailed, becoming a 5 - 10 minute study session.

Recording my training sessions has been highly educational. “Camera Sensei” has pointed out problems that I thought I had already fixed, from dropped sword tips to stride lengths that are too short to be stable, and from kinked wrists to sloppy footwork. With Camera Sensei’s help, I have worked through some of those trouble spots.

Initially, I started jotting down a study/training plan for the next day in my Budo Notebook. I noticed a definite increase in my budo study sessions when I did not write out a plan. I better go back to writing a plan so I can budget my time better on designated “at home” training days.

January 2019 Budo Tracker

As you can see, the week before I started the 100 Days of Budo Practice Challenge wasn’t very productive. Credit: R-M Arca.

Senpai Duties

On the day I taught one of my kouhai Uke nagashi, the third Seitei Iaido kata, I showed the gang a practice drill that my senpai showed me to get the draw nice and tight. Credit: K. Yee.

February 2019 Budo Practice Tracker

I can safely say that this is the most practising and studying I have done over and extended period of time. Credit: R-M Arca.

Mokuso

After a long day of teaching, meditation is a good thing.

Double-wide, 45

Day 24/100 of the 100 Days of Budo Practice challenge: Practising the footwork for Kuritsuke, one Jodo kihon that I should be more consistent on.

It’s been neat to see the steady progress being made musically and budo-wise. However, this 100 Days of Practice Challenge does reveal that there is always room for improvement. Well, whether music or budo, the journey is more important than the destination.

To find out more about my 100 Days of Practice Challenge Rules, check out my Reflecting on My First 100 Days of Practice Challenge post.

To follow my 100 Days of Practice Challenge, head over to Musespeak Studio’s Instagram:

Our 60 Day Practice Challenge - in the Students' Words

Last time, I shared my takeaways from my first 100 Days of Practice Challenge. My students who have completed the 60 Days of Practice Challenge have submitted their surveys. Here’s what they have to share on practising for 60 days in a row:

What was the easiest part for you about the challenge?

• Remembering to practice everyday because now it is just a part of my daily routine.

• Keeping track. Finding a way to practice everyday.

• Having the small online practices that still count for something.

• This wasn’t much of a challenge for me because I practice everyday anyways.

• For me, the easiest part of the challenge was probably being able to take a lazy day when I was sick, or not feeling my best.

• By listening to my pieces everyday and by being in band.

• It wasn’t much different from the thirty day and I practice daily anyways.

• The easiest part was doing the hand drills or listening to my pieces because it was something I could do really fast and call it practise.

• Finding any aspect of music to practice, such as music apps, listening to pieces, theory, and drumming.

What was the hardest part for you about the challenge?

• Making sure I don’t skip a day even when I don’t feel like doing piano or when I’m really busy.

• Knowing what to practice. Making it a variety every day.

• Having the motivation to practice on days I’m tired.

• The hardest part for me about the challenge was not being able to take a break. Another thing that was hard was probably at the beginning, thinking “I have so many more days left!”

• The hardest part was trying to get to the piano when you have lots of homework or working up the courage to perform in front.

• Nothing.

• The hardest part was playing everyday because it was challenging to balance school and music. I would have to remember to practise, even on days I was busy, so I can learn my pieces or so I don’t have to restart the challenge.

• Finding time on the piano is a challenge.

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

• Not much since the last challenge.

• I feel my playing has improved much quicker than it did before.

• Just learning pieces/trouble spots/scales faster.

• No.

• The same.

• I think that my playing has changed during the challenge, because the more I practiced, the better I got at my songs and scales.

• Yes, I feel that I am getting better and faster at learning new pieces.

• I have been able to learn songs faster.

• I think so because I feel that I’m not stressing to get all of my pieces ready in a short time but I have a week to slowly play my pieces.

• Yes, my practicing has become more focused.

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

• Not really.

• The challenges help me improve my piano skills.

• I feel I am more interested in practicing since my skill and confidence in the pieces has improved.

• I noticed how much practicing, even small practices affect how fast you learn things.

• It took longer.

• I have discovered that if I push myself on things I don’t really want to do ( a part of a piece or something), I can get better at it and it can become a piece that I actually like!

• I have been doing more practice and noticed that I am surrounded by music [more than] I thought.

• Not really.

• I’ve noticed that I’m learning pieces a little bit quicker compared to last year.

• I’ve discovered that I’m constantly surrounded by music, so it’s easier to take a moment and practice in different forms.

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

• Nope!

• I think that next round, we should be allowed one break day ;-) .

• Nope. :-)

• 100 days of practice but not every single day

• Set reminders to practice more regularly.

Most of my students are in the throes of the 100 Days of Practice Challenge. A couple have opted to go back to the 30 Days of Practice Challenge, which is fine. They have picked a goal that they are more confident they can achieve and are committing to it. What more can a music teacher ask for?

*

Thank you to my students Henry, Kateri, Claire, Tanya, Alexandra, Haley, Erika, P. and Anon. for sharing their feedback here.

Reflecting on My First 100 Days of Practice 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.

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. But I knew that going in. 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:

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 1: Mass of Glory | Day 2: Mass of Glory | Day 3: Come Now is the Time to Worship | Day 4: Spanish Alleluia | Day 5: Morning Prayer | Day 6: Pirates of the Caribbean | Day 7: Nocturne in e minor, op. 72 no. 1 | Day 8: Oath Sign | Day 9: Etude in A-flat Major, op. 30, no. 19 | Day 10: Oath Sign | Day 11: Someone to Lava | Day 12: Perfect Ear app drills | Day 13: Pirates of the Caribbean | Day 14: Game of Thrones Medley | Day 15: Danza de la moza donosa | Day 16: Oath Sign | Day 17: Oath Sign | Day 18: Basic cajón exercise | Day 19: Game of Thrones Medley (tap practice) | Day 20: Prelude & Fugue in d minor, BWV 851

***

Day 21: Danza del viejo boyero | Day 22: Dance of the Aborigines | Day 23: Grade 10 RCM piano technical exercises | Day 24: Seven of Hearts | Day 25: Perfect Ear app drills | Day 26: Samba groove rhythm work | Day 27: Samba groove drill on cajón | Day 28: Danza del gaucho matrero | Day 29: Foggy Day Blues | Day 30: Nocturne in e minor, op. 72 no. 1 & Our God

***

Day 31: O Canada & Awesome God | Day 32: Choir practice photo | Day 33: Sight singing and Boomwhackers | Day 34: The Avengers | Day 35: Lied | Day 36: The Avengers & Lied | Day 37: La Puerta del Vino | Day 38: Ear training: singing intervals | Day 39: Ready the Way | Day 40: Scorestudy Sunday photo

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 51: Sing We Now of Christmas | Day 52: Danza del viejo boyero | Day 53: Mass of St. Ann | Day 54: Perfect Ear app drills | Day 55: Pirates of the Caribbean | Day 56: Prelude & Fugue in d, BWV 851 | Day 57: Nocturne in e minor, op. 72, no. 1 | Day 58: Days of Elijah Clip 1 & 2 | Day 59: Days of Elijah Clip 1 & 2 | Day 60: Choir Practice photo

***

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

***

Day 71: III maj7 - VI maj7 - ii7 flat 5 - v7 - i7 progression | Day 72: Days of Elijah | Day 73: Gentle Waltz | Day 74: Joy to the World | Day 75: Holy is His Name | Day 76: O Come all Ye Faithful | Day 77: Choir practice photo | Day 78: The Most Amazing Sheep Game | Day 79: The Most Amazing Sheep Game | Day 80: Child of the Poor/What Child is This?

***

Day 81: Let Heaven Rejoice | Day 82: The Most Amazing Sheep Game | Day 83: Note Rush app | Day 84: Perfect Ear app | Day 85: Perfect Ear app | Day 86: Perfect Ear app | Day 87: Arpeggii practice | Day 88: Tetria A Theme | Day 89: Perfect Ear app | Day 90: Pirates of the Caribbean

***

Day 91: Seven of Hearts | Day 92: Nocturne in e minor, op. 72 no. 1 | Day 93: Game of Thrones Medley | Day 94: Perfect Ear app | Day 95: Choir practice photo | Day 96: Perfect Ear app | Day 97: La puerta del vino | Day 98: Hotel California | Day 99: Prelude and Fugue in d, BWV 851 | Day 100: Gentle Waltz, Seven of Hearts, Nocturne in e, op. 72 no. 1 & Pirates of the Caribbean

#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:

1. Practice for 100 consecutive days, unless I was too sick. Restart the count if any healthy days are missed.

2. No time limit. Focus on quality, mindful practice versus quantity.

3. All instruments counted (piano, voice, cajón, melodica, ukulele, playing & singing, conducting).

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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:

1. 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.

2. No time limit. Focus on quality, mindful practice versus quantity.

3. All disciplines that I study (Iaido, Jodo, Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu, and Choken Battojutsu Kagéryu). Kata, kihon, waza, and other related drills.

4. Studying the training manuals, notes, photos and training related videos count.

5. Martial arts demonstrations count (they are usually on less than ideal conditions, so as sensei says, “Epic training conditions!”).

6. Keep a daily log.

7. Reward: Dinner most likely at a Japanese restaurant. Japanese martial arts, after all.

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

Day 1: Practice Buddy photo | Day 2: In Christ Alone Recording Photo | Day 3: Practice Buddy photo | Day 4: Scales | Day 5: Arpeggii | Day 6: Cajón drill | Day 7: Scorestudy photo & video | Day 8: Game of Thrones Medley | Day 9: Pirates of the Caribbean | Day 10: Someone to Lava & Sonata in G Minor, Hob. XVI:44 | Day 11: Sonata in D, op. 12 no. 3 | Day 12: Perfect Ear app | Day 13: Perfect Ear app | Day 14: Mass of Glory | Day 15: Game of Thrones Medley | Day 16: Sonatina in D, op. 36 no. 6 | Day 17: Perfect Ear app | Day 18: Nocturne in e minor, op. 72 no. 1 | Day 19: Anthem | Day 20: Choir practice photo | Day 21: Perfect Ear app | Day 22: Pirates of the Caribbean | Day 23: Seven of Hearts | Day 24: Prelude & Fugue in d minor, BWV 851 | Day 25: Spanish Alleluia | Day 26: Des pas sur la neige | Day 27: New cajón groove | Day 28: Choir practice photo | Day 29: Perfect Ear app | Day 30: Sonatina in D, op. 36, no. 6, 1st mvt.

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.

Work and Budo Modifications with a Back Injury

As some of you know, I injured my back a couple of weeks ago. No, I wasn’t doing anything really cool like one of our awesome Iaido or Jodo kata, or going really wild on the cajón. I was simply sitting poorly at my desk and twisted funny when I got up to grab something from the printer. That’s when I felt a terrible twinge in my lower back. Next thing I knew, my body completely closed in and I could barely walk.

Thankfully, I was able to see my chiropractor the following day for an emergency adjustment. He said that I completely jammed up my sacral region. I then compounded things by still using my active sitting discs while doubled up in pain for an additional day, thus aggravating my coccyx (tailbone) while sitting.

“This isn’t going to feel better right away,” he told me. “It will take a few adjustments.” He sent me hobbling off with the following advice, “Keep moving and try to avoid sitting as much as you can.” Well, considering that I need to sit at two of my instruments and work on a computer quite a bit, adjustments needed to be made.

Modifying the Studio for a Back Injury

The first thing that I rolled out of the studio was my exercise ball, which I used as my teaching chair. Next, I raised the stand for my digital piano so that I could play from standing. I spend half my time teaching from standing, so that wasn’t a big deal. However, I needed to come up with a different way to rest my muscles during lessons somehow.

I discovered during one of my shorter ushering shifts was that kneeling and going in and out of seiza was perfectly fine for my back. Seiza is the formal Japanese way of sitting, which we use in martial arts training. It’s more of a kneeling sit, although our buttocks float over our ankles. So teaching from kneeling or seiza made the afternoon and evening lessons go well. And stretching. Lots of stretching. I used these sacral release stretches quit a bit.

I’ve been getting into Child’s pose more regularly since my back injury. Credit: Iveto

My trusty Dr. Ho and Maestro’s old infrared pad have been a great help in the healing process. When I’m out running errands or working at one of my part-time jobs, I use Icy Hot patches.

Five days after my injury, I bought a Coccyx wedge to use in the car. I thought I could use it in the office and studio, but half the time, the wedge went flying off the seat because I move so much.

Coccyx cushion. Credit: R-M Arca.

One week after my back injury, I bought a kneeling chair from Staples to use in the office and studio. Too bad I got rid of my original chair a few years back. I am sitting in this one properly though, which is a huge improvement from last time.

Now that I’m using the kneeling chair properly (no slouching), things are going swimmingly. Credit: R-M Arca.

I’m in the process of building up my sitting endurance at the piano and cajón. I sit more or less properly at my instruments, so the only big change is that I still need to do short practice sessions with time to do sacral release stretches in between.

It was extremely easy to reconfigure my piano studio in such as way that I could take it easy on my back. Credit: R-M Arca.

Modifying Budo Training with a Back Injury

My chiropractor and massage therapist probably got tired of me asking, “When can I go back to training?” One visit, my chiropractor asked me describe the movements involved when we train. He was already grimacing when I started to show how we unsheathe our swords. I promptly stopped before my back said, “Don’t make me do sayabiki!”

Then, I tried to slowly demonstrate Uke nagashi, our third Iaido kata from the seitei set:

He stopped me very quickly and told me hold off until my back had healed some more. “No twisting.”

I have had to make myself content with practising my footwork and moving in and out of seiza. I have also been drilling small sections in my kata, such as o-chiburi, that don’t involve me to change directions. My visualization isn’t the greatest, but I’ve been mentally reviewing my troublespots and asking sensei questions every few days about something I’ve noticed or read.

However, the main way that I’ve been keeping up with training is studying. I’ve got years’ worth of notes to review, as well as manuals for the four marital arts we practice (Iaido, Jodo, Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu, and Choken Battojutsu Kageryu). Plus, there are always videos featuring some of of our sensei that I can watch.

Today, my chiropractor cleared me to ease myself back into regular training. I have a feeling that I’ll be doing a lot of solo practice at “Tai Chi slow” speed, taking time to dissect every movement for the first little while.

Lessons Learned from Injuring my Back

If anything, hurting my back has given me the opportunity to assess and adjust how I move and sit. During the first few days, I really had to break down how I did things like get on or off my bed into small segments. I am certainly sitting and getting on and off chairs more carefully these days.

I have definitely become more mindful of my body’s state as a result. Being more mindful can only be good, right?