A week of....

Chopin.

Celebrations in his native Poland.

200 years since he was born.

There is disagreement about his actual birth date.

So, they are holding a WEEK long performance.

It covers both the suspected dates.

Day and night you can hear his piano music.

Which has got me thinking.

Do you have an exam or performance soon?

How about a week of YOUR music?

Think of it, playing those pieces whenever you get the chance?

Maybe not the same ones all day AND night. Hz

Little notebook

Some people are great at remembering things.

They know exactly what their teacher asked them to work on.

Others are useless at remembering things.

They use it as an excuse to work on nothing all week.

Which kind of person are you?

Hmmmm. I thought so.

Why not buy a little notebook?

Ask your teacher to write your homework in it each week.

Read it before you start each practise session.

And try to do everything on the list.

Remember to take it to each lesson.

Let me know if it works for you. Hz

Commitment is.....

Commitment is - practising your instrument every day.

Then, walking 2 miles through snow and ice to get to your lesson.

AND, playing wonderful work when you got there.

Music to my ears!!

Bravo if you did that this week.

All that work has paid off.

Your music is sounding great.

You feel so happy about it.

I love hearing it.

And even your teacher was smiling.

Then you had to walk 2 miles home after dark in the snow and ice.

That is real commitment. Love, Hz

Just do it now

Why do you avoid it?

You always put off your practising.

You say you'll do it later.

After watching tv.

After chores.

Then it gets too late.

You say you'll double up tomorrow.

You say you'll do lots of work at the weekend instead.

And then tomorrow or at the weekend you say the same.

How about you stop making excuses and JUST DO IT NOW?

Little and often works best. Just do that. Hz

Check in

How did your practising go in 2009?

Come on, I heard how it went, so own up!

• Every day? I LOVE YOU!!!
• Three times a week? Well done, but can we double up?
• Only the night before your lesson? The stress is killing me.
• Once in a blue moon? Can you try doing 10 minutes a day?
• Never? Aghhhh!! Do we need to talk?

Better that's out of the way.

How about we try turning over a new leaf in 2010?

Day one is coming up!!

Go on - give that instrument a play. Hz

Don't let the holiday stop you

The holiday is nearly here!

So, remember the Summer holiday?

When you left your instrument alone and unplayed.

When the dust accumulated.

When you forgot most of what you had learnt.

This holiday, you could try doing it differently.

By trying to continue your daily practising?

It doesn't have to be a chore.

You might look forward to an hour away from the tv.

You might even enjoy it.

Let me know if you give it a try. Hz

More than a lot of note bashing

Did you know that while you are learning to play an instrument you are also building up useful qualities that affect the rest of your life? Such as -

• patience
• confidence
• self-esteem
• improving your work
• setting achievable aims
• persistence
• satisfaction at seeing a job well done
• learning to work well alone
• communication
• and it's something you can still enjoy when you are old like me!

Lots of reasons to get that instrument out tonight, then. Hz

Doing it well

Ready to try something new in your practising this week?

How about you do your work as well as you possibly can each time?

Every scale.

Every exercise.

Every part of every piece?

Paying attention to making the most beautiful sound you can make.

See, a lot of the time, we make do with the minimum.

We think of other things while we work and then rush out the door at the end.

Sounds like someone released from jail.

With a bit of extra effort, we can transform our work.

Guess what? You'll feel so much better about it. Hz