seanm -> RE: Work and Flamenco (Jun. 9 2006 15:14:53)
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Hi guys! I can totally relate espesically since I was a professional classical player for many years and practiced 6-8 hours a day for a long time. Now I work in IT and have the same situation. Here is what I do in case it give you any ideas or inspiration 1) Since my field is still kinda dot-com-y I can shift my day forward an hour or so (I work basically 10 - 6). This is great for me because I'm a morning person when it comes to practice. 2) Everyday, I get up early and work hard to get completely ready for work by 8 - 8:30 (i.e. dog walked, lunches made, espresso in the cup). This leaves me with 1- 1.5 hours every morning to practice. 3) Very important, I don't waste this time 'rehearsing' or just palying through tunes because my mind is so fresh and open it the best time for me to work on slow practice, compas practice, technique and new material. 4) I play or practice performing after work or at the end of a morning session when being tired doesn't matter as much for me. 5) I also go to work with my head filled with flamenco but while there I listen to a tune or two, on the bus I read tabs or indiscretely tap palmas or compas or do memory work. As a side note, when I used to work at a music store when I was doing my music degree I had a full hour for lunch so I kept a practice guitar in the back room and practiced for that hour as well. Great break in the day :) I think one of the main things that is good for me is that I try to be as efficient as possible so I ussually feel as though I'm making progress and don't pine for more practice time. The only time I do wish this is when learning new material but then again it does force me to do more memory work and less 'rote' learning. Finally (whew!) ... it is DEFINITELY better to do a half hour a day rather than one massive session for a number of reasons such as keeping your body used to simply playing every day and having to re-focus everyday etc. This can be a big discussion so I'll leave it at that. Hope this helps. Sean Sean
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