Today is 30th November, which means that Advent begins tomorrow. The countdown to Christmas!
And with Christmas in full swing, it’s natural that for many of us our practice sessions may go out of the window!
Even when they are ‘in the window’, we can become distracted by excitement at what’s to come.
Maybe next Saturday you’re going out for a Christmas work’s do and that’ll be on your mind for your whole practice session.
The week after that you’re going to the Christmas markets the day after and you’re just super excited!
Maybe the week after that your practice session is a little…worse for wear…thanks to the…Mulled Wine or the...Bailey’s Hot Chocolate.
Not to mention Christmas week itself - notoriously a laaaaaaazy week, and one in which barely anything gets done. Aside from cooking Christmas Dinner and one mammoth washing up chore on the big day (and then relying on heaps of leftovers to sustain yourself for the rest of the week), everything from practice to homework to housework to exercise becomes kind of…seconded!
But that’s fine, because we’re going to get ahead of the game.
If you’ve been learning since last year or prior then you’ve already got the entirety of 2024 under your belt up to now anyway, and if not you’ll still have plenty to be going off.
So step one into reassuring yourself in a few week’s time when the climax - and anticlimax - of Christmas hits is…
Write Down Five Piano Practice Wins You Have Achieved in 2024
The term ‘win’ is, of course, subjective. One person’s development of a fluid scale might be another person’s walk in the park, so they may consider an extremely intricate passage from a specific piece of music as a win. You will find, however, that there will be much progress in your piano practice in 2024 as you write them down.
Don’t be afraid of getting into the nitty gritty, either.
For example, you could write:
“I am very pleased that I can now perform a confident D major arpeggio”,
…but why write something generic like that when you could also write:
“I can now descend my arpeggios as confidently as I can ascend, and my evenness and tempo has dramatically increased and improved”.
If you’re not already keeping a homework or practice diary, this may be a good sign to start one as looking back, you’ll realise how far you really have come!
If you love learning the piano regardless of the external influences of life, then practising may not be an issue for you going forward. However, if you’re struggling to focus amid the excitement of the festivities, consider a rethink. Rather than neglecting practice, try to
Make Your Piano Practice All About Christmas
It’s a similar principle to doing a jigsaw puzzle: if you’re doing a jigsaw of a picture you don’t actually like, you’ll be less motivated to do it.
Obviously the theory is you like the things you are learning when it comes to piano, but if you’ve a jigsaw puzzle on the go and somebody buys you a nice, shiny new one then that immediately becomes more interesting and your motivation goes away from what you’re working on and towards the more ‘current’ one.
This is also true of practice: If you feel that the music you are learning isn’t fully honouring the feel that you wish to feel in your current situation, make it work!
Think how exciting it is when you switch on a radio station in December and all the Christmas songs start being played! It’s such a refreshing change, even if the stations are usually quite good at playing a mix.
What songs would get you in the mood?
Perhaps a traditional song or a carol?
Maybe a Christmas pop song? (A dying breed, I know…)
Maybe some classical Christmas, such as Bach’s ‘Christmas Oratorio’.
Maybe just a non-festive but seasonal piece, such as ‘Let It Snow’ or Chopin’s ‘Winter Wind’ Etude (not for the faint hearted, mind…)
The point is, music is incredibly powerful at depicting just about any feeling, emotion, sensation, thought or idea that you can throw at it, so whatever you’re feeling excited about outside of the practice room…music has your back and there will be something to reflect this inside the room too.
If you need some inspiration to get you in the mood for something festive or - in this case - wintery, here’s me performing Debussy’s Prelude No. VI: Des Pas Sur La Neige - which translates as ‘Footprints in the Snow’. Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for piano tips, tricks and more videos of me showing off like this! ;
Jack Mitchell Smith is a piano teacher based in Macclesfield, Cheshire. Click here to find out more.
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