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Thread: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

  1. #1

    Default Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    After I had kids, I found that I had to do two things in order to create the time I wanted for focused practice: give up the evening beer and get rid of the television.

    How have you adjusted your life to accomodate your mandolin practice?

  2. #2
    Registered User Earl Gamage's Avatar
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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    Getting rid of beer and television are good ones, and my kids are grown up. I don't know how anyone with kids can practice much. I am one of the many 50 somthing year olds who have returned to playing because we now have time.

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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    Quote Originally Posted by JonZ View Post
    After I had kids, I found that I had to do two things in order to create the time I wanted for focused practice: give up the evening beer and get rid of the television.

    How have you adjusted your life to accomodate your mandolin practice?
    Retired so I can practice all I want!

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    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    Haven't had a television for something like 7 or 8 years now. In my view television is the most popular distraction and time waister around. It stands in the way of all kinds of achievement. I read that the average (in 2006) American watches over four and a half hours a day.

    Well the truth is that I have no control over my television habits. Its either on all the time or get rid of the dern thing. I chose the second option. I was TV-less for five years, then a three year interval of watching too much and verifying my addiction, and now its been seven years without.

    Beer, well thats a little different.
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    Still Picking and Sawing Jack Roberts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    We have not had a television in over 20 years. We raised two children completely without TV. (They turned out O.K., but I'm easy to please.)

    I still don't have the time to practice I'd like, so I am convinced that adding a TV to our home would seriously degrade our quality of life.

    Maybe I would have more time to practice if I gave up the glass of wine with my wife once in a while, but that would also degrade my quality of life. I think the only way to get more practice time is to give up Mandolin Cafe...
    Ha, ha! keep time: how sour sweet music is,
    When time is broke and no proportion kept!
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    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    I don't have a TV, might watch one or two DVD's a week on the laptop, but while some folk I know are sat in watching the telly of an evening, I'm playing mandolin - that's my idea of a good way to relax after work.

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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    No TV for us either...but wife and daughter watch a couple of "shows" on the computer. We definitely find more satisfaction in playing music.

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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    There is at least one thing I've learned in life that is sure: People make time for what is really important to them. Period.
    ...

  9. #9

    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    Forgot who said it, but simply: people give time to what they love.

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    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    Quote Originally Posted by Caleb View Post
    There is at least one thing I've learned in life that is sure: People make time for what is really important to them. Period.
    Thats it right there.

    I take out a mandolin every day. I rarely miss a day, and when I do its kind of like going to bed without brushing your teeth - it just feels wrong.

    I don't measure how long I play, I guess I would say "a while", which is somewere between 20 minutes and oh something like an hour and 20 minutes.

    And its not the same time every day, but its usually just after work. First thing in the morning on Saturday, and Sunday evening.
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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    Why did you have to give up an evening beer to practice????????

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    Studies dead guys. Mandoviol's Avatar
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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    I put aside the important things (you know, eating, bathing, sleeping, doing work) to play my instruments.
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    Registered User swampy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    Practice when I ought to be sleeping!

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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    Just "knuckle down, buckle down, do it, do it, do it.!"

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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mandoviol View Post
    I put aside the important things (you know, eating, bathing, sleeping, doing work) to play my instruments.
    A pack of cigarettes is food enough if all you have is a mando...sometimes.

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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    I find the best strategy is practicing for a while in the morning, as soon as my last child is on the bus to school. Making this work out means being already organized for work so that I have that block of time still open to practice. I'm more successful at it some days than others and if my kid misses the bus, it messes up the whole plan. I prefer during that morning block to do exercises scales, tremelo work, and perhaps a fiddle tune or tune that incorporates what I've been working on that morning. Later in the evening, I try to stay up for a while after the rest of the family has called it a day, to work more on specific tunes.
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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    Quote Originally Posted by 250sc View Post
    Why did you have to give up an evening beer to practice????????
    The older I got, the more I cut back on drinking. It got to the point where just one beer had a really strong effect on me. It just made me groggy and was not a pleasure anymore. So it wasn't exactly a sacrifice.

    By the way, I do have a television, but only for the occasional DVD (I've had one from Netflix on top of it for a few months now). I'm not anti-TV. Like the person above, I realize that I lack self control, so I limit what is available to me.

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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    I get up early and play for two hours every morning before work, without fail. (If I've been out late the night before, I play guitar, because that's my first instrument and easier for me than mando.) Then I play some more evenings and weekends whenever I get the chance. I love that early morning music time, though -- I'm at my best in the morning.

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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    I get up early and play for two hours every morning before work, without fail. (If I've been out late the night before, I play guitar, because that's my first instrument and easier for me than mando.) Then I play some more evenings and weekends whenever I get the chance. I love that early morning music time, though -- I'm at my best in the morning. And the thought of it makes me jump cheerfully out of bed every day with something to look forward to.

  20. #20

    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    Say again?

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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?



    Sorry, internet connection is dodgy tonight.

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    String-Bending Heretic mandocrucian's Avatar
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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    get rid of the television
    Re: the anti-TV cliches...... Give me a break!
    Either you don't get cable/satellite TV or, if you do, you're too lazy to look through the schedule for what's on. There's PLENTY of worthwhile stuff to watch.

    This past week, there was a 2-hour documentary on Blue Note Records and another (2 hr) doc - The Miles Davis Story both on Ovation. On Smithsonian, there have been docs about Moses Asch & Folkways Records, John Coen of the New Lost City Ramblers, Wanda Jackson. On LINKTV, a slew of docs ranging from Cambodia surf-pop (the band Dengue Fever visiting Cambodia), the Serbian trumpet contest equivalent of Winfield.

    And plenty of concert stuff - CSNY, Todd Rundgren, ZZ Top, Trisha Yearwood, Merle, Willie, Leonard Cohen, - repeats of Soundstage, ACL, Crossroads, Later w/Jools Holland,..... (Channels: Paladia, Ovation, HDNet.)

    Caught docs on both Larry "Wild Man" Fisher and Roky Erikson, believe it or not. Straight No Chaser (T. Monk), Let's Get Lost (Chet Baker), Big Time (Waits). The 4-part Latin Music USA on PBS. The list could go on and on and one and on.

    History Channel, History International, Military History Ch., Animal Planet, Planet Green, LINK, National Georgraphic Channel, Smithsonian Channel, IFC, Sundance, Ovation, Science Ch., Travel Ch (No Reservations w/Anthony Bourdain is a favorite), BBC America, ...... I wonder how much college credit I could CLEP just from watching all that stuff.

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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    Yes, you give up the time that the children are not awake. I have been doing this since the 80's and still get up and play each morning at 5:30.

    The other night I got to play with some professional musicians and I realized it was all worth the effort to be able to express myself and hang with the best.

  24. #24
    Registered User LateBloomer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    I'm a teacher, mother and wife. I play/practice during the summer.

    During the school year teaching keeps me busy between 7:00-3:00, mothering our three children (two of whom are mentally slow) keeps me busy between 5:30-7:00 am, and again between 3:00-8:00 pm. Then I have one hour to spend with my husband before bed at 9:00..... and it all starts again at 5:30 the next morning.

    Occasionally I will practice during my conference period at school... but when you have 140 students each day there is almost always something to grade, organize or prepare for the next day.
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  25. #25

    Default Re: Creating Time to Practice--What Do You Do?

    Quote Originally Posted by mandocrucian View Post
    Re: the anti-TV cliches...... Give me a break!
    I don't see many people saying that TV is bad; it can just suck up a lot of time. With work and kids there are precious few extra hours in a typical day, so tradeoffs have to be made if you want get in some decent practice time. For most people TV watching is the largest chunk of discretionary time to make available for other things.

    My kids watch a lot of great DVDs, mostly of cable TV shows like Mythbusters and Survivor Man. Great stuff, especially without the commercials.

    It is interesting how many people responded with the no TV thing. Maybe because I set the tone when I started the thread.

    Now, as for that part about being to lazy to watch TV: Huh?

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