Dealing with a lack of motivation at times?

[Michael Bishop]

Hey guys,

Has anyone ever had to deal with a lack of motivation of practice/play at times? That’s been hitting me a little bit lately and was just curious if you’ve ever felt like that and how do you deal with it?

[Anonymous]

Hi Michael – i would suggest re-orgsnising your daily sax routine (assuming you practice nearly every day). This is even more important if you are only working on one project.

What you need to do in this order is
1> 10 mins warm up (different scale every day, long tones another – because you have been playing over 2 years, don’t spend hours doing these)

2> tune the mouthpiece 5 mins (doesn’t have to be perfect)

3> this is the most important thing to do next – get out your favourite sax sheet & backing track – that must be one of your easy ones to play. play this several times as expressively as you can for up to 15 mins.

4> After completing number 3> you must judge the state of mind you are in. This is very important – if you have had a long day it is possible you could be mentally exhausted ( if thats the case then stop playing, don’t try any sax work that involves trying to improve something or involves learning something new – the mind can get tired just like the body can get physically exhausted). If you carry on you wont achieve anything by forcing yourself to carry in, and you wont enjoy, and eventually will resent it)

5> providing you are not mentally tired, then now is the time to pull out the work you are doing. Stop doing it when you notice you are losing concentration.

6> this next one is what some pro’s do – they have a fun jam section for 10 to 20 mins (similar to step 3)

You will if you are trying to learn something, its better to play some easy fun songs first, rather than to jump straight into something hard

[paddy jordan]

Interesting point Michael i think lack of motivation is more to do with pay back that actual motivation in pay back i refer to practice time = progress. well in the scheme of things we practice or wood shedding daily but on that basis we don,t see increments of progress that are obvious, so mentally there is no reward for all your effort no pay back or so it seems = a lost of interest or a lack of motivation develops.Here,s the thing practice 100 weeks daily take one week or 1% you notice nothing but its still a lot of time and effort put in there, but take 10 weeks or 10% then you you certainly notice. This is where learning any instrument stops most people but not not us guys because we see a little further ahead than that, thats my take on that i may be wrong but thats what this forum is all about peoples idea,s
Paddy

[Marc]

Yep… it happens to all of us one moment or another.
What I do is going back to basics: music theory, solfége, and any other non-sax related stuff. Some times I play the piano, simple tunes, just to relax and put my mind away…

[Michael Bishop]

I think there’s a variety of things that can happen which makes us feel like this from time-to-time…right now we’re in the middle of moving into a new house we bought (we’re in it Nov.1st) and while my practice hasn’t stopped–it’s always been regular–I think with just taking a couple of days to go hiking, fishing, something along these lines would do me a lot of good. Ever have that feeling that you need to just “get away” for a couple of days? That’s more so what I’ve been feeling; which is probably a better way of putting it than having a lack of motivation.

[Anonymous]

just remember Michael the mind set of someone who plays the sax for a living is completely different to the mind set of someone like yourself who plays the sax for fun.

They have to spend more time in a day keeping their playing at that high standard of playing – its a job for them, they have to do it, but an enviable one.

Like any job, we have to have holidays & get away from it all!

Look at all the new bands – how many are still together after 10 years of touring – they get fed up of the same routine, and want to split up and do their own thing.

variety is the spice of life – it applies to all relationships, including the one with your sax!

For this reason, every few months i take stock, and change my practice routine, particularly if i feel i’m seeing no improvement.

The one i’ve passed on to you is one the pro passes onto young players, so they don’t get bored or fed up.

If you feel you need to get away – then thats an awesome idea man.

If you spend too much time focusing on whether or not you have inproved while you are practicing – you’ll end up killing the fun of playing, and end up being over critical of yourself.

[john]

take a break once in a while….absence makes the heart grow fonder.

[Michael Bishop]

Very well said Johnny–I’m taking a 3-day fly fishing trip, big brown trout are eating heavily in preparation for the annual fall spawn and it’s the best time of year to go after them here, really looking forward to it 🙂 I used to be a professional guide and I don’t fish for them while they’re spawning, but it’s before the spawn that it’s good to target them. The last 2 world record Brown Trout caught-and-released on a fly rod (not just one world record, we’re talking 2 world records back-to-back) took place here in Arkansas if that says anything about it, one on the Little Red River and the other on the White River. Gorgeous country side, youtube has loads of videos on both of these places. I live 1 hour away from the Little Red River. By the way, your pic. you sent me looks great on my new wall, thanks much 🙂

[Anonymous]

My advice to anyone who experiences boredom with their practice regimen, is to acquire a hymn book with the SATB (4 voices) music. The tunes are easier to follow and one can concentrate on just enjoying the sound of the sax. When I feel like taking a break from learning I play through fifty or so of these tunes, one after another, then I put my sax away. It also lifts my mood when I’m feeling a little blue.

[Michael Bishop]

Good stuff Jeffrey….In my case, I wouldn’t say it was boredom, it was a lot going on that was slightly “robbing” me of energy and being able to focus if you get my meaning. Take a look at my experience that I just shared here on the forum, that Johnny asked me to share, about my recent medical visit and what came out of it.

[Author]

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