Resources

This week we’re talking to violinist, music educator, and writer Claire Allen. In this episode we’re discussing effective practice, tapping into what students want to improve in their playing, and how understanding ourselves is really the key to effective practice. 

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below:

Episode 17 of the Time to Practice podcast is out this week with a new once-a-month episode that will feature tips and ideas that I often share with teachers and families about practice and the process of learning a musical instrument. This month we’re talking all about ideas for encouragement for teens in our lives.

You can listen to the audio version of this article about encouragement for teens, by clicking the podcast player link below or looking for the Time to Practice podcast in your favorite podcast platform.

On today’s episode of the TIme to Practice podcast we’re speaking with violinist and author Ashley Rescot. Ashley describes herself as an “aficionado of music, pedagogy, family, faith, and language.” She writes about her life as a musician and writes fiction geared toward young musicians that they can connect and relate to. We got a chance to sit down recently and talk about fiction as motivation for young musicians, how the creative process for musicians and writers is related, and of course music practice.

You can find the Time to Practice Podcast on your favorite podcast platforms like Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify & more. Or listen through the podcast player below.

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Highlights from Ashley Rescot:

On practice when she was young:

On this week’s episode of the Time to Practice podcast, we have the pleasure of speaking with violinist, educator, entrepreneur, radio host, and filmmaker Dr. Quinton Morris.

Dr. Morris has performed solo concertos, recitals and presented masterclasses and lectures at some of the world’s most respected venues, including the Seattle Symphony, Carnegie Hall (New York), TEDxSeattle, Seattle Art Museum, Roberts Project (Los Angeles), the Sydney Opera House (Australia), the Louvre Museum (Paris), National Normal Taiwan University (Taiwan), Dong-eui University (Korea), the American String Teachers Association National Conference, the University of Paris – Dauphine School of Business and Tumaini University (Tanzania), among many others. 

He has received numerous awards for his artistic and community service including the Distinguished Alumni and Hall of Fame Award from Renton High School, the Governor’s Arts Award, the Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award and Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award.

Dr. Morris founded Key to Change in 2017 with the goal of providing underserved youth and students of color living in South King County with opportunities to take violin and viola lessons. Since the inception of Key to Change, hundreds of students have had an opportunity to take music lessons, participate in numerous musical outreach activities and learn in a diverse and inclusive environment.

Dr. Morris is an Associate Professor of Violin at Seattle University, where he is the first tenured music professor in 40 years. He is the second living Black violinist in United States history to receive such a distinction. Additionally, he is also the Artist-Scholar in Residence at Classical King FM 98.1, where he hosts the radio and video show Unmute The Voices.

You can find the latest episode of the Time to Practice Podcast on your favorite podcast platform or listen through the link below:

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Highlights Include:

On Practice:

“Be patient and keep going. Progress is like a valley. You have your good days and you have your bad days, but you gotta keep going and you can’t give up. You just gotta power through. Also be patient with yourself. Some days you might be in a cranky mood, but that doesn’t mean you should quit. You should just be cranky for that moment, and then keep going. Some days you’ll feel like you’re on the moon and just so happy and excited. Keep going; understand that success is a process. You gotta go with the flow of life and you’ve got to go with the flow of what is best for you.”

Today we’re speaking with Chenoa Alamu Murphy who is a violinist, teacher, and speaker who offers fabulous courses online about Black Classical Composers & Musicians, as well as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We talk about diversifying our repertoire, some of her story as a musician, incorporating music history we wish we had known growing up, music practice, and more. 

Highlights of My Interview with Chenoa Murphy Include:

On practice as a young student: “I just wanted to get to it and just play it and, and be perfect right away. And I have to admit, I was pretty impatient with myself. So as long as I was getting it, I was happy with things and my progress and whatnot, but otherwise, I do recall my mother practicing with me as, standard in the Suzuki method. However, when I was, on my own, it was just a struggle to get the hours in or, or really even knowing how to practice. So I think that was probably the bigger issue for me is just knowing how to practice.”

On this week’s podcast, we’re talking to Ruth Meints. Ruth is the Executive Director of the Omaha Conservatory of Music and creator of String Sprouts, a program that connects over 1200 students in her community to music lessons. Ruth has a new book out: The Music Teacher’s Little Guide to Big Motivation and I can’t wait to dive in and talk to her all about it.

My Takeaways:

1. Understanding what motivates us (or our children or students) is so important.
2. We tend to try to motivate others the way WE are motivated, so learning about many types of motivation is important when motivating others.
3. Every little bit of practice counts. It’s all important and we can and should celebrate all along the way.

This article is based on this week’s Time to Practice Podcast, episode 12. Christine Goodner is sharing tips about practice on the podcast this week. It has been edited a bit for ease of reading. You can listen to the audio through your favorite podcast platform or through the link below.

This week I’m sharing some ideas with you that I think help make home practice more successful and doable. Especially if you’re an adult:  parent, grandparent, or practice mentor of any kind, and you work with a young music student in your life.

I have five ideas I wanted to share with you this week, from my own experience as a teacher and parent.

Make it a Habit

The first thing I wanted to share today is not the most exciting perhaps, but it is what families have shared with me as the most important thing that has helped make practice work in their family. And that is: be consistent and have a routine.

Again, that’s not a very exciting thing to think about doing, but when we are in the habit of practicing day in and day out, we are more likely to make it happen with less resistance.

When practice is not something on our to-do list that we need to remember, but rather something we do every day it often feels strange not to do it – like buckling our seatbelt, or brushing our teeth before we go to bed, or other habits you may think of that you have in your life.

On this week’s episode, we’re talking to two cellists from Salt Lake City, Brittany Gardner and Kelly McConkie Stewart, who are performers, teachers, parents, sought-after guest clinicians and who run a wonderful cello choir together that has been especially inspiring to them and their students this past year. We're talking about motivation, connection, setting a vision and more. I hope you are as inspired by this conversation and the amazing collaborative relationship they have as I was! Top 3 Takeaways…

Today we’re speaking with violinist, teacher, and author Diane Worthey. Diane teaches in the preparatory Strings Division at the University of Idaho and is the author of the recent book IN ONE EAR & OUT THE OTHER: ANTONIA BRICO & HER AMAZINGLY MUSICAL LIFE and the recipient of the 2021 Paterson Prize for Young Readers. We discussed her journey with practice as a musician, what inspired her to write her book, and her passion for telling untold stories, especially of women in music history, around her.

Three Takeaways from Diane Worthey:

·        When it comes to practice – just do it but also make it fun and change things up. 

·        There are many parallels between the art and discipline of writing and practicing. It’s helpful to remember that some of what makes it challenging to practice and play our instruments is the same as what is hard for any discipline that requires deep work and focus. 

·        There are amazing people all around us that we might not even realize play an important role in history or whose story may not have been told yet. How can you look for the untold stories around you?

On this week’s episode we are speaking with cellist, parent and music educator Maria De Alba. Maria De Alba is a professional and experienced Cellist. She graduated from Shenandoah University, Virginia USA. 

Director of the International Suzuki Monterrey Festival for 7 years and Festival Bach to Cello for 2 years,  She is a Cello Suzuki Teacher trained by the Suzuki Association of Americas, positive parenting coach, happy wife, happy mother of two children: Anna and Mateusz (Cellist and Percussionist) both educated with the method of mother tongue and free learning (Unschool). Maria is a lover of nature, the smell of coffee and spending time with her kids. She currently lives in Europe, Poland where she directs the Suzuki Cello Studio with students from Poland, Mexico and the USA.

My top Takeaways:

1. Daily practice becomes a habit, that habit becomes ability, and then that ability turns into a passion for playing. I loved that!
2. Look below the surface for what is really going on that is getting in the way of practice or motivation.
3. Think outside the box, see what your child would like to do to “play” their instrument vs simply practice just like Maria and her family did downtown when their kids were young. This is often where students find motivation.