Bec's little space 🌾

IF YOU GET TIRED, LEARN TO REST NOT TO QUIT

- Banksy

Hello November

when you get a new piece, always listen to recordings of it. find your favourites. make a playlist. it will inspire you, and prevent you from accidentally misreading your sheet music.

if your instrument is not in good shape, your music will not be in good shape (hey, fellow strings players, when did you last change the strings?).

always have a pencil. always. have lots of them and people will love you.

annonate and highlight your sheet music. these things are not reserved for notes and textbooks, you know? mark down sections, highlight the key change you keep forgetting about. hell, you can even colour-code it! mark down everything you can.

the back of your sheet music is a good place to write miscellaneous instructions such as "memorise by monday".

keep a semblance of order in your sheet music.

think while you're practicing. music practice is an endless cycle of problem solving, and while mechanical repetition is an integral part of it, you need to re-evaluate constantly if you're repeating the right thing.

metronome! enough said.

if you keep on attacking the problem, it will eventually give. or, at least, significantly improve. there is no improvement in giving up on something because it was too difficult.

it will never be perfect, and that's okay.

no decently challenging piece can be learned in a day, no matter how long you spend on it that day—if it can, it's too easy for you, or you're on a professional level. you have to whittle it down day by day, little by little. when it comes to music practice, consistency beats intensity.

track you practice time. i use the forest app for it, and it has worked marvelously so far. if you can, keep a practice journal as well (i'm awfully inconsistent with that).

you are still allowed to have fun and play silly stuff, even if you're a "serious" musician. you can play both a wienavski concerto and the good omens theme, you know?

even if you are less than stellar at your instrument, just put in decent effort, show up to rehearsals, and be polite and honest with your co-musicians (that way, you are much more likely to be liked—and invited to a post-concert bar crawl). you're still learning. most classmates are fine with bit of incompetence, but nobody likes a person who's full of shit.

[ 11.09.23 ]

I’m 25 years old and I’m currently studying a Music Major (I play clarinet). This is actually my second degree. I studied General and Comparative Literature and then a Masters in Libraries and Archives Management, but I’ve come to the realization that music is the thing that fullfills me the most so I’m gonna pursue that now. 

Also, English is not my mother tongue (as I’m from Spain) so please excuse the mistakes I may make in my posts. I’m studying now to get my C2 certificate and I hope, within time, my English level will increase. Also, I'm studying Korean. I have a A1 level since I've been studying for less than a year but I'm highly motivated.

Lastly, I’m working in a Hospital in order to pay for my studies. It's very complicated to find time for everything but I'm confident it will work out.

Pretty much, I think that’s all about me buuut if you have any questions or comments, I’m always up for chatting 🥰 I like coffee, flowers, sunsets, books, cats, picnics and pastel things 💕