This week’s episode of the Time to Practice podcast is the second in a two-part…
Playing the Long Game: A Conversation with Susanna Klein
In this week’s episode, we’re speaking to violinist and practice expert Susanna Klein. Susanna shares her own experience with music practice, how her perspective changed about music practice after incorporating ideas from sports psychology, and thoughts on supporting our children in their music practice. You can find the transcript for this week’s interview below.
About Susanna Kelien (from her Practizma Journal): ” Susanna Klein is a professional violinist and practice researcher. She has held positions in the Colorado,m Memphis, and Richmond Symphonies and enjoys playing chamber music with the Atlantic Chamber Ensemble and Trio 826. Currently, she is Assistant Professor of Violin and Coordinator of Strings at Virginia Commonwealth University. She writes, blogs, and presents nationally on technology-assisted practice. She still likes to practice (most days).”
To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible , Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below:
Playing the Long Game with Susanna Klein – Time To Practice
Highlights from this week’s Episode:
On the challenge of switching to a focus on joy in practice:
“And there’s some internal resistance, I think, in all of us. You know, parents, teachers, professional musicians. I think there’s some internal resistance to that joy piece because we think, you know, most of us grew up practicing somewhat miserably, and so we just kind of pass that forward and we think, well, difficult work is gonna require sacrifice, and you know, there’s this whole sort of narrative around it. But I really think we know so much more about human nature now, and the stories that we tell ourselves and that we tell our students and our kids are important, you know?
And I think for myself, I think I made myself miserable because I was thoroughly convinced that that was the best way. It was almost strategic rather than accidental. If, you know, if I just really think that I suck, then I will practice more. And if I will practice more, then I won’t suck anymore, and then I’ll be happy. You know, I’ve come to rewind on all of that in myself through the lens of my students. They’re, they’re really the ones who have taught me essentially the value of, cultivating joy or cultivating a more positive mindset.”
On supporting our children’s practice:
“I think parents have really good instincts about their kids and they kind of know sort of what works with their kids, right? Like I have one kid who I have to be very careful not to suggest too much stuff because that will make him intractable, right? So I just said, well it’s up to you. You know, we can take those parental insights and try to use them to our advantage. . . They’re learning how to channel their own energy. I think things that I see overused are sort of the rewards system, right?
If you practice this much and you practice really hard, I’ll give you a whatever. I’ve seen everything from iPhones to Xboxes to all sorts of very expensive lavish gifts, right? For a certain track record of whatever. I mean that does work, but it doesn’t really build their own inner capacity to deal with some of the boredom and some of the challenges of practice that are still gonna be there after rewards are over. “
On the fact we are always resetting things as both parents and teachers:
“We’re constantly resetting. Right? And regret, regret is the big teacher in our lives, you know, there’s nothing wrong with regret. Regret is awesome. I mean, it doesn’t feel awesome obviously, but it is the thing that lets you know, “oh, maybe I need to find another way.” I need to ask somebody else. I need to look up something. I need to try. I need to just try a different approach. See what works. It doesn’t mean you failed, it means you are learning. That’s what, that’s what it means that little bit of discomfort.”
Be sure to check out Susanna’s resources through the links below!
Links in this week’s episode:
Susanna’s Website: practizma.com
Susanna’s YouTube Channel: Youtube.com/practiceblitz
Connect with Susanna on Instagram: instagram.com/practizma