Learn a song just for yourself

I’ve been playing instruments for quite a while, and I’ve learned how to play many different instruments that have a lot of different techniques involved in playing them.

One thing that’s helped me keep myself motivated and keep myself learning is by making that process enjoyable. Right now I’m practicing my violin skills and I’ve been able to stay motivated by practicing songs that I enjoy and learning songs that I’ve heard performed on violin for a long time.

I’m not at the point where I can learn violin concertos yet, but there are a few melodies from films that I can learn, and small sections of classical pieces that I can learn. So I learn those small pieces and those small sections. Those are enough because it’s a piece of music that I want to learn just for me to know.

Find a song that you want to learn just for yourself.

It’s easy to get caught up in learning pieces that you need to learn for work, or to get potential work in the future, but remember to take some time in your practice sessions to learn things that you just want to learn for fun. Learn a Disney song that you like. Learn a song from a soundtrack you really enjoy.

If you can’t play it as written right away, play a simplified version of that song.

On guitar I’ve been learning flamenco techniques and classical guitar techniques. I have no real use for those in my work as a musician, but I want to learn them just for myself. It’s something that I find fun. And that keeps me motivated to learn.

Something else I use is just playing around on the instrument. I often do this on piano. Just sit down and play something random. Make up a song you’ve never heard before. It doesn’t have to be good, but doing it more will help make it sound good. It can be a great way to discover the fun of playing an instrument again. I think of it as literally “playing around” on the instrument. You aren’t playing a specific piece or learning a specific technique. It’s definitely not “practice.” It’s pure “play.” Give it a shot.

Learning an instrument can turn into “work” fairly easily because there are so many things to work on and so many things to learn. Try to keep it fun.

ISJ