I should practice today, but I don't want to.

[tbdana]

I still struggle with this, even though I like practicing.

Something is wrong with my brain.

I'm sure everyone else here practices religiously, every day, yes?

[Doug Elliott]

I don't remember the last time I actually practiced. For years I've been getting by on only playing gigs. But sometimes that means going a week or two, or even three, without playing, or maybe just a few notes trying mouthpieces. Sometimes tuba, not trombone.

[Bach5G]

Most days, but not all. Some days more than others.

[tbdana]

Even when I really really really don't want to practice (like today ), I try to at least do a warmup.

If I get through my warmup, I usually have enough inspiration to do my daily routine, which is Marshall Gilkes' routine (posted in this forum somewhere) plus speed and flexibility exercises. That takes me about an hour.

And if I make it an hour, I usually am inspired to break out some etudes, or a Jamey Absersol thing, or some piece I'm working on, and make it two hours.

And if I make it two hours and still have chops left, then I get into some new stuff and some good practice.

BTW, I'm about 50/50 on actually practicing today. I'm typing this while in the midst of various phone interviews I have to conduct, and when I'm done with that then I have to have the mental energy to practice. And the mental energy is sometimes tough to come by.

But it's all about consistency. That is the most important thing. It's better for me to do my warmup and some of my daily routine for 30 minutes five days a week, than get in two 2-hour practice sessions in a week.

The struggle continues...

[dukesboneman]

I try to get in at least an hour a day. Sometimes, I too don`t feel it. And that`s OK
Sometimes your body is telling you it needs a break from the rigger.
Sometimes a day away brings back into better focus the next day
I`ve played with a couple of retired Symphonic players over the years that have told me that once they retired they were tired of "Chasing the Beast" meaning having to keep their chops in perfect condition all the time.
I can understand that now. I`m 68 and play all the time, but sometimes I just need to keep it in the case, so to speak.
I studied with Jiggs Whigham in the 1980`s and even he said that for 2 or 3 weeks a year he goes on Vacation.
NO horn, NO music because he needs to decompress .
Don`t put too much pressure on yourself. We only get one shot at this life, Practicing isn`t everything.
Take a walk, have a beer, read your kids a story, It`s OK

[JerryY]

Then don't. I'm too busy with two jobs and other hobbies. Life can be busy and fun, don't over think it. Play because it's fun, an outlet for stress and the social interaction. I stay in shape, I just make it another job.

[TomWest]

I often have resistance to practicing, but when I finally drag myself into the room where my trombone lives and I get started, I can forget about all the things that have made me feel… like I don’t want to practice.

[Kingfan]

I know how you feel. After 55 years of playing, I have no motivation to practice. Never did since I was in music school in the 70s. May give it up altogether.

[harrisonreed]

No, you have to practice 40 hours a day!

[OneTon]

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion, or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle, or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether uou are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better start running. Thomas Friedman

[Kbiggs]

Nothing wrong with you. Most people are like this.

When I was a counselor, I called it “the bathtub phenomenon.” Tell a little it’s bath time and they run away screaming, “No! No! No! I don’t want to!” Once they’re in the bath for 10-15 minutes and it’s time to get out, they say, “No! No! No! I don’t want to!”

*****
With respect to Thomas Friedman—and it’s a good metaphor for motivation—we’re humans. We have a prefrontal cortex that allows us to think, reflect, abstract, have faith and imagination, as well as self-reflection, doubt, judgment, anxiety, and loathing. That’s in addition to the core emotions like fear, sadness, joy, anger, and curiosity (or however you want to divide up thoughts and feelings). Animals don’t have that curse.

[Burgerbob]

I can barely stay away from the horn for more than 24 hours.

[musicofnote]

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[tbdana]

Anyone who has shared their lives with dogs knows that dogs are deeply and intensely emotional.

Oh, and by the way, after starting this thread because I didn't want to practice yesterday, I went and practicd for an hour. It was terrible. I just wasn't motivated. But I did it, and that's what counts.

[Kbiggs]

Nothing wrong with you. Most people are like this.

When I was a counselor, I called it “the bathtub phenomenon.” Tell a little it’s bath time and they run away screaming, “No! No! No! I don’t want to!” Once they’re in the bath for 10-15 minutes and it’s time to get out, they say, “No! No! No! I don’t want to!”

*****
With respect to Thomas Friedman—and it’s a good metaphor for motivation—we’re humans. We have a prefrontal cortex that allows us to think, reflect, abstract, have faith and imagination, as well as self-reflection, doubt, judgment, anxiety, and loathing. That’s in addition to the core emotions like fear, sadness, joy, anger, and curiosity (or however you want to divide up thoughts and feelings). Animals don’t have that curse.

What curse? Mammals do have prefrontal cortexes, also have emotions. As neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux wrote, "It's not anthropomorphism to claim animals have emotions. It is however to claim, that they experience them as humans do." found in his "Anxious: Using the Brain to Understand and Treat Fear and Anxiety". In the meantime, Jaak Panksepp ("Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotion") who is famous for the rat belly tickling, also mapped out the areas of the brains in several mammalian species where, when appropriately stimulated corresponded to what he called the Affects, the study and research of which he appropriately named "Affective Neuroscience": for example https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181986/

This idea is actually nothing new and several research institutes recently have replicated this with dogs using fMRI, for example the Hungarian "Family Dog Project" of the ELTE (Eötvös Loránd University), lead by Dr. Adam Miklosi. for example https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... RI_studies.

I understand what you’re saying. Yes, animals have emotions, and yes I implied above that they don’t. That wasn’t my intent because the studies you cited, reinforced by personal experience, demonstrates they do. Mea culpa.

LeDoux’s comment on anthropomorphism reminds me of Wittgenstein’s comment on language and animals: If a lion could speak, we could not understand him. (Philosophical Investigations, p.223) That comment seems mysterious, but the straightforward way to interpet that is even if we taught a lion to speak English (or any language), we would have such difficulty understanding what the lion meant from many reasons: it’s a completely different species, it has completely different experiences, it has a completely different view of the world, etc.

Animals express something, which we call emotions. How certain are we that what a dog experiences as sadness, or joy, or guilt is what we experience? We can observe a dog’s grin and tail wag, which we believe indicate happiness, joy, feeling pleasant or content. Most human societies and languages have multiple words for things, including emotions: Emotion “wheels” are one attempt to categorize the subtle shades of meaning we have for different emotions. What about cats? Cows? Gazelles? Rats?

We could, if we want to be reductionist and simplify our understanding of the world, rely on behavourism and all its forms. Behaiourism can describe what happens, but it rarely produces a satisfactory (or truly accurate) answer for why something happened, what happened in the mind of the subject, and how did a thought or feeling bring about a particular action.

But getting back to the point of “the curse”: Humans have the ability of self-reflection. We know that we think, and judge, and reflect, and encourage, and criticize ourselves because, in part, we share a language. We talk about these things, and there are sufficient experiments (and shared experiences) to verify those shared meanings.

We also know that human beings are walking contradictions: we can wish for something, want it badly, yet take no action to acquire it whether it’s weight loss, stopping smoking, signing up for classes, getting a better job, etc. If it were logical—and if our minds and our emotions didn’t intrude and get in the way—we’d do those things with little hesitation.

So—is there really such a thing as motivation? What happened in tbdana’s mind and body when she felt like she didn’t want to practice? How did she end up practicing? If the practice session occurred, why? Why did she think it was “terrible” but she continued? When we have unpleasant experiences, humans tend to stop what they’re doing. Was it obligation? Fear? Guilt?

*****
My apologies for the rant. The philosophical and psychological aspects of this are fascinating.

And sometimes we just have to do it—practice, that is. Drag the body, the mind and the feelings will follow.

[musicofnote]

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[harrisonreed]

Whether you were going to practice or not was set the moment the Universe stopped having infinite density.

[trombonedemon]

I'll just go to youtube and see everyone with gig I want. Usually puts a fire on my arse.

[VJOFan]

When chasing auditions or trying to be ready for any gig that came up, practicing was not a problem.

As a very occasional sub around town practicing is now done in fits and starts to avoid total embarrassment.

I also find myself making up performance opportunities to spur other fits of practice. Even playing a comedy Christmas number on my pBone is enough to inspire a few weeks of regular practicing.

Recreational runners often talk about their "why" that gets them out the door for workouts. I think musicians need to be clear on their why too, so as to not hold themselves to unnecessary standards, and to just appreciate the Joy in Being Able [Norman Bolter] to do music at all.

[imsevimse]

Anyone who has shared their lives with dogs knows that dogs are deeply and intensely emotional.

Oh, and by the way, after starting this thread because I didn't want to practice yesterday, I went and practicd for an hour. It was terrible. I just wasn't motivated. But I did it, and that's what counts.

viewtopic.php?p=246113#p246113

/Tom

[Bach5G]

The reference to running reminds me of a moment a few years ago when an Olympic-level runner came out to talk to a run group I was part of. He said there were mornings he did not want to train. Shitty weather, niggling aches and pains, just not feeling it. Whatever. Do or do not.

[musicofnote]

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[BrassSection]

My goal is to practice at least twice a week…being busy down on the farm I’m lucky to get one in a week. Always take trumpet home to practice on, it rarely gets out of the case until Sunday morning pre-service practice. Saturday nights I do look over the play list and to see what musicians we will have so,I can decide which horn to use for which song. One song last week I figured the French horn would sound good…that's why we call it practice. Upper octave sounded to high for the key we were playing, dropped an octave and it still didn’t sound right. Tried trumpet in the lower range, that was the answer. Flugalhorn woulda been perfect if I had one.

During Covid actually I practiced more. Grandson was home from school, I was going thru 2 knee replacements so even with grandson taking care of the farm we had plenty of time to practice together with his band music, some trumpet duets, and scales to keep both of our chops in shape for when we would return to playing. Was good bond reenforcing time too!

[Bach5G]

I recently printed an article that set out classical guitar practice sessions of 15, 30, 60 and 120 minutes. For the 15 minute session, it advises focusing on one thing intently for 15 minutes. Don’t feel like practising? Give yourself 15 minutes.

Alternatively, and from a trombone perspective, check out the Markey thread. Don’t feel like practising? Load the Markey video on your phone and let him tell you what to do.

[Mikebmiller]

I have been playing for 50 years. I have had periods where I get highly motivated to practice and others where I just rely on 2-3 rehearsals a week to stay in shape. Lately I have been in that second mode. But after next week, all my bands are off until September, so I guess I will have to bust out the horn and play for at least 30 minutes a few times a week so that I remember what position Bb is in.

[tbdana]

I have been playing for 50 years. I have had periods where I get highly motivated to practice and others where I just rely on 2-3 rehearsals a week to stay in shape. Lately I have been in that second mode. But after next week, all my bands are off until September, so I guess I will have to bust out the horn and play for at least 30 minutes a few times a week so that I remember what position Bb is in.

Maybe it's because I'm old, or maybe it's because I'm only 1 year back from a 30-year layoff, but if I take even one day off I feel it. If I take two days off, I hear it. If I take three days off, other people hear it.