Fellow Musicians

[Stabber1010]

I have been playing piano for 7 years now. I still take lessons, since I did 2 years classical and now I'm on 4 years jazz. (I don't consider first year, since it was mostly learning your fingering, how to play the instrument really)

I'd like to ask people here on the Escapist what their experiences are in practicing. Do you guys find it hard to practice half the time, where you just don't feel like it?

Now, I try and practice an hour of every day, at least but on some days it gets really hard to get into it. Either because I'm distracted or have to do something else. (like study for my SATs)

And yes, I'm aware an hour isn't enough at my level.

So what's your thoughts on practicing?

Also, how do you guys and gals feel about preforming in front of crowds? (As a narcissistic egomaniac, I love it!)

Another thing I wanted to talk about is lessons. I have been thinking of teaching beginner piano for a while now, any tips?

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I'm self taught on guitar and piano.

This means that while practicing never ever feels like a chore or a pain, my skill level is less than that of those who learned through lessons.

As for crowds, the bigger the better.

Here's me a couple of years ago in front of a few hundred:

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Practicing is good i guess, I have huge stage fright(ironically I perform in school plays) but i love the roar of that crowd that gives me a heart ache to sing. GET A TEACHER IF YOU MUST!

 

[zen5887]

I've been playing Bass for about 4 years, two and a half of which I've been studying at uni. My practice schedule is pretty slack, a few hours a week if I'm lucky. Having said that, I play in bands a fair bit, so its not like the ol' Bass is gathering dust. I am a bit iffy about practicing for 6 hours a day though, I feel that it's a bit too much and you'll start to do yourself damage. In a perfect world I'd get about two hours practice in a day, but right now I'd be happy with half an hour of good, effectice practice a day.

On the topic of playing live - Its pretty much the best part of music. I get a bit worried at the start but those nervs are usually gone by the first or second song. I also feel that if you're not exausted by the end of the gig, you're not doing it right =D

 

[A_Parked_Car]

I have been playing bass for three years, drums for four years and guitar for six months. I'm self taught on all of them and I really have a slack practicing regime. I play when I feel like it, which happens to be pretty much everyday anyways.
However, I did classical piano for twelve years and I hated it. I was forced to practice with a timer and everything for an hour a day. It was horrible.
I play drums in front of crowds quite a bit. I always get nervous before playing, but once I'm up there I actually relax a lot and just have fun.

 

[Rainbowloid]

I've been playing viola for about 7 years, and I don't practice nearly enough. When I do practice, I love it and wonder why the hell I don't play more. I've been told by all of my teachers (and pretty much everyone else...) that I have a natural talent for it, but no practice means I'm not exactly great at it.

As for crowds, I want them to go far, far away from me. I prefer to play for myself. I start shaking uncontrollably in front of crowds.

 

[Raven's Nest]

Practise? Pfft practise is for rookies...

Been playing guitar and bass for about 9 years now. I don't practise by myself any more. That said, I'm in a few bands and therefore play gigs at least once a fortnight. Unless I'm learning something new I don't pick it up inbetween sessions/gigs...

Get out there and play in front of a crowd... It's theomly way youlll truly get better

 

[flashgriffin]

Practicing is always painful.
I'm a musician of 15 years (violin since I was 3) and I'm now a music composition student at the University of Toronto. I write music for orchestras bu I still have to play. Playing itself is fun, exhilarating, but practicing...dear god if only there was an easier way.

 

[MONSTERheart]

Try and practice in a wide variety of styles.

I play guitar and I play blues, hard rock, acoustic ballads, some metal, etc.

If your ever feeling bored with it find something interesting to play.

 

[Daedalus1942]

I have been playing piano for 7 years now. I still take lessons, since I did 2 years classical and now I'm on 4 years jazz. (I don't consider first year, since it was mostly learning your fingering, how to play the instrument really)

I'd like to ask people here on the Escapist what their experiences are in practicing. Do you guys find it hard to practice half the time, where you just don't feel like it?

Now, I try and practice an hour of every day, at least but on some days it gets really hard to get into it. Either because I'm distracted or have to do something else. (like study for my SATs)

And yes, I'm aware an hour isn't enough at my level.

So what's your thoughts on practicing?

Also, how do you guys and gals feel about preforming in front of crowds? (As a narcissistic egomaniac, I love it!)

Another thing I wanted to talk about is lessons. I have been thinking of teaching beginner piano for a while now, any tips?

I don't think an hour's too little.
I used to work at a music school, where they were training me to be a world class drummer. They treated me like shit, forced me to practice 4 hours a day (which I did), changed teachers on me 4 fucking times. All this went on for 6 months. I Was told to drive to Caringbah (from Pendle Hill) so I could run around and do errands for them to "pay" for the lessons.
The guy that ran it, Ross (not his real name, he wouldn't tell me, what a douchebage), was a pompous arsehole and as egotistical and as narcissistic as they come.
I poured all my effort into that crap, and then after 6 months, they said "You're not at the level we'd expect from you by now, we're dropping you".
Since then I've had no interest in drumming (but I am a sound engineer so It's sort of related).
In any case, If you can do an hour a day practice (and you're not playing professionally yet) I don't see anything wrong with that.
It beats being forced to practice 4 hours a day and starting to hate it.

 

[Blue Musician]

Practice is not a bad things, but it can be annoying.
I play piano (have been for 2 years) and recorder (8 years).

Recorder I do not practice a lot, like 45 min. a day.
Piano is another story. I do not own a piano, I have to practice in a keyboard, and when I play on it I normally do for say 25 minutes.
Yet on a REAL piano I practice up to 5 hours. And believe me, it feels good.

If you had a piano teacher before, you can teach beginning tips for piano, but if you haven't had one, I'd recommend getting one first.

Also I mostly play classical, but I can play some more modern stuff. It's just that it feel kinda weird in comparison to classical, but it's okay.

 

[Klumpfot]

I tend to play songs written for different instruments to get a new perspective on playing/writing music. I played the sax for three years in my youth, and am now a bassist of about 5 years. As for practice, I work in at least 10 hours a week.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

I never practiced playing drums, and I almost never study for tests. I became one of the best drummers to come from my high school. I haven't played drums recently because I broke my hand and it's still messed up. Drums are different I guess. You don't really practice, it's more like playing for the hell of it.

 

[AquaAscension]

I've only been playing about 3 years now on guitar. I'm self taught, and I know almost no covers. It's way easier to just improvise something that sounds good, but then I run into the problem that everything I play starts to sound the same because I have a limited experience in the different styles. I guess the practice is about 1 - 8 hours a week. Probably usually falling in the upper side of that scale. My favorite is improvising with other people though... it forces you to mesh with their sound and improve your own playing... very good practice so long as you can find people who don't mind a sour note or two and are also pretty chill.

 

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

I play bass it to learn bass you just print off tabs and play. It's really simple but if you want to play the more higher level stuff get lessons.

I'm self taught over 4 years and i would say i'm mediocre. Mostly it's just technique once you have it you can play pretty well.

 

[Ham_authority95]

I've been playing bass for 2 years now and just sitting down and practicing is painful for me to do for more than an hour and a half per day.

Instead, I usually just improvise/compose or jam with friends.

As for playing shows, it is the best thing you can do for yourself.

It keeps you motivated to play, it keeps you playing with other people, and it sets high standards for your playing.

Plus, shows(for me) are just the best part of playing music.

 

[Ham_authority95]

Double posted. Ignore this.

 

[Dark assassin for hire]

I PLAY THE CLARINET, I'VE BEEN PLAYING SINCE FORTH GRADE (i am in eighth grade ( it's one AM where i am and I'm to lazy to do math)) AND I WAS THE BEST OF MY SECTION IN SIXTH GRADE!!

I like playing random songs, bits of songs, remixes, several songs at once, and my own/improvised music. I enjoy playing when I have the time. It's mow pretty easy because me and my old teacher found all these weird things and a way to play a note he hadn't noticed the finger placings for before. I was also to play the high notes shortly after picking it up.

 

[MrLS]

Myself have been playing the Guitar, Drums, Piano and Bass for a while now (I gave up counting on years, drums are up at somewhere like 6-7 years now)

I write my own songs and play improv mostly, had a period where I just kept breaking strings but I kept playing so I didin't learn much songs so I just play my own stuff, Jazz, Rock, Metal and Blues pretty much all of those tickle my musical bone. I have a band but we have neither a bassist or singer (I just jump between bass and guitar sometimes, for the ''lulz'' so to say).

Oh by the way, we have a usergroup for this. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/The-Musician-League

 

[300lb. Samoan]

I love playing the drums, but I don't get to practice any more. The neighbors in my area call the cops if I so much as crash a cymbal. I only get to play at rehearsal, which is kind of nice because by the time I do get to play I really really want to play. When I studied percussion in college, though, I couldn't hardly make myself practice. It isn't something I can force myself to do, because I don't seem to get much out of it unless I am enjoying it.