Setting Goals for 2014

Setting realistic goals for music study? Great idea. Not thought about it? Why not? One of the best reasons is that it gives you a track to run on. One of the best warnings on goal setting? "You can't ride more than one horse at a time" 

Here are a few additional thoughts. 

For Parents 

1. Whatever goals you set for your children consider the time and personal effort you will have to give to the project? Remember hockey clubs have coaches, kids don't practice on their own. Even Tiger Woods has Sean Foley present when he practices for feedback and instruction. 
   

For Adults 

1. What are you going to give up to make room for music study? 
   

Project Planning 

Here is a personal example. I study jazz drumming. I'm planning on attending a jazz camp for adults next summer. When I arrive there I will have to audition for placement. I want to place as high as possible. :-) 
so, 

1. Each day I practice on the pads for a few minutes, with my metronome, my rudiments and other sticking patterns. I listen carefully for steadiness of rhythm and evenness of tone. 
2. I've engaged drum teachers in January. One for kit, another just for snare work in the concert band. 
3. I listen to jazz drumming daily in the car.
4. I practice on the kit nearly every day for one to two hours. Either alone or with the jazz quartet on Monday mornings and the Hamilton Concert Band on Wednesday nights.
5. I read drum magazines and watch instructional videos for motivation and inspiration. 
6. I'm focusing on the core competencies of drumming: Time, feel, balance, and endurance. I tape many practices for feedback.
7. Special emphasis on the bass drum in the next while and basic Latin grooves. 

This is a sub goal of my drumming aspirations. My larger goal is to be able to play in the finest amateur groups in the GTA and work each summer at the finest audition only jazz camps for adults in the world. My next sub goal after the summer is to bring up my snare work in concert band and to start working on the other percussion  instruments: melodic and pitched. A little OCD perhaps? But, this is how musicians approach their work. 

For yourself 

Goal: Recreational player 
Strategy: Two hours of playing and practice a week 
Tactics: Ditch the TV and web surfing by 2 hours. Tell your kids to go outside and play. Give a list of pieces to your teacher you would like to learn. 

Cheers. 

David

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