Are you booked in for your first music lesson of the new year?
Still need to dust off your instrument and find last years music?
Don’t worry, all the teachers are doing the same!
Here’s a quick checklist to use before you rock up for the first 2023 lesson.
Take Care of Your Instrument
- Find and get out your instrument. Make sure it’s in its case and all your accessories are with the instrument.
- Show your instrument some TLC. Give it a dust and/or a polish with a dry cloth.
- String instruments, get some new strings and bring them to the lesson for your teacher to put on.
- Wind instruments, take them apart, give them a good clean and get some new reeds (for reed instruments)
- Play the instruement, makes some noises, some squeaks and whistles and warm it up after it’s holiday. Vocalists, you can do this too!
- Check the tune. Play some open strings or some simple scales and check the tuning of your instruement. You can find tuners here.
Take Care of Your Hands
- Try some quick and easy hand exercises to get your fingers working. You can find some of our teachers favourites here.
- Take a look at your fingernails and check they don’t reach past the tips of your fingers. In the pic below, left hand is good, right hand is too long.
Left hand nails – YES Right hand nails – No
Trying to play on strings with long nails means you can’t press the strings effectively. You may even get your nails tangled in the strings or the nail might crack or break on the string. Pianists, that clicky clacky sound can be soooo annoying when you’re trying to play and you don’t want to catch a nail between the keys!
Start Your Creative Process- Get Inspired!
- Start a playlist with some of your favourite music from the last year
- Write down the Top 3 artists you’re following right now
- Listen to some of the music that inspired you to start learning music
- Take some notes to share with your teacher about the repertoire and techniques you are want to master this year.
- If you need a Mood Booster, try our playlist here.
Remind Your Brain & Your Body You Are a Musician
- Play/sing through your warmups, scales, exercises and pieces from your last 5 lessons.
- Circle things on the page that you just can’t remember or that you don’t like anymore
- Make some music, no matter what it is.
Author of Atomic Habits, James Clear says that to achieve you must do…every day. If you are a musician, then you need to do something musciany every day.
And remember, YOU are the Music.
See you in your lesson and
Happy Musicking! 🎶
