Practicing vs. Playing: Why Musicians Need to Do Both
When was the last time you sat down at your instrument and played music for fun? I mean, not music you had to practice or prepare, not your students’ repertoire, not music for your next rehearsal, but music you chose to play for yourself, for your own enjoyment?
As professionals, we don’t often make time for this. We assume that all the music we’re being paid to learn and practice will also count as the musical satisfaction we need to keep going in our career.
Plus, we have a lot on our plates: a full calendar, a full studio, a full rehearsal schedule, and all the nonmusical work of responding to emails, sending invoices, maintaining a website, and traveling to and from gigs. Who has time to play for fun?
But this approach can become stifling. Instead of making music as a form of expression and creativity, it becomes something we have to do, a task on our list. In short, it becomes work.
And when it becomes work, you may lose that spark of inspiration. You may miss the connection to the creative process, that feeling of making something personal, real, and deeply authentic. You may lose some of the meaning behind why you started playing in the first place. But you can get it back. The key is to make time to play music for fun and prioritize it.
In this post, you’ll learn four reasons why playing for fun is vital to your music career.
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Reason #1Playing your instrument connects you to your art.
Your day-to-day work may include many non-artistic things, like emails, scheduling, paying bills, and planning. These tasks are important—it’s all part of the job—but it’s easy to let them take up the majority of your time. When that happens, you may inadvertently diminish the more artistic parts of your work: practicing, rehearsing, music listening, etc., in favor of checking things off your list.
Does this seem like mixed-up priorities to you? At our core, we are musicians and artists. We are creators. And when we lose sight of that or let it get buried under the daily and weekly tasks that are a part of life, our work begins to suffer. It starts to feel less like creativity and more like work.
One way to reconnect to your art is by playing your instrument.
Set the timer for 20-30 minutes and take out your instrument (or warm up your voice). Open one of your favorite books, or give yourself a moment to improvise. Sightread a few pieces in a new book or pull out a Bach invention or prelude to work through. No agenda, no expectation, no goals—just a few minutes to play for yourself and reconnect to your art.
In her book, The Art of Practicing, pianist Madeline Bruser talks about following your curiosity as you practice.
She describes cultivating your creative intelligence—keeping your mind engaged in your playing. One way to do this is giving yourself permission to redirect your attention or mix things up. She writes, “You don’t have to do things in the same order as yesterday or pick up where you left off in your last session. You don’t always have to start with the most difficult section or practice every tricky passage three or ten or fifty times in a row. Hidden under such rigid programming is the voice of creative intelligence.”
I’ve been experimenting with this approach in my own practicing: starting in a new place every day, piecing blocks together in a way that feels organic vs. prescribed, letting myself enjoy the repetitions, the slow practice, the independent hand work.
Related: Ep. 088 - The Art of Practicing: What I’m Learning from Madeline Bruser’s Book
Make time for this. Put it on your calendar or your to-do list if you have to. This is such an important part of what we do.
Reason #2Playing your instrument connects you to yourself and reminds you why you started.
It’s easy to get caught up in the busywork and day-to-day tasks of being a professional musician and lose sight of the bigger picture. Spending a few minutes playing your instrument for your own enjoyment helps bring things back into perspective. It helps you connect to yourself, remember why you started, and more importantly, why you chose to make music your career.
A personal example:
When I was in grad school, I remember one of my professors talking about how he challenged himself to learn a Bach prelude by ear.
He listened to it while doing the dishes at night and didn’t sit down to work it out on the piano until he could sing it all from memory. Then, he spent some time each evening working out bits and pieces of it at the piano until he had the whole piece learned, without using notation.
One day, one step at a time.
What first drew you to music? What are your earliest memories of learning and connecting to your instrument? What motivated you to study music, develop your skills, and pursue it professionally?
Take a few minutes to write down your answers. Then, spend some time playing your instrument. Practice being present—listening, feeling, breathing, creating.
Reason #3Playing your instrument is good for your brain.
Music is a release, an escape, an experience. In the midst of stress, overwhelm, indecision, burnout—whatever you might be facing today—music lets you experience freedom and a momentary escape from all the things in life that may be crowding your mind. It’s an invitation to choose rest over productivity, breathe in the midst of overwhelm, and slow down in the midst of busyness.
Music can challenge, renew, and inspire. It can help you gain a new perspective, process emotions, and express yourself. Plus, neuroscientists show it’s good for your brain.
Molly Gebrian, a violist with a background in cognitive neuroscience and author of the book Learn Faster, Perform Better, says we tend to think practicing is about training our bodies, but really, it’s about training our brains. Good practicing is problem-solving.
Related: Ep. 089 - The Science of Practicing: What I’m Learning from Molly Gebrian’s Book
Practicing also activates a complex array of executive functions, including cognitive flexibility and working memory. Neuroscientists confirm that musical training positively affects cognitive development, permanently changing the structure of the brain and enhancing reasoning skills and verbal memory (source: National Institutes of Health).
Reason #4Playing your instrument inspires and rejuvenates your work.
Finally, playing your instrument can inspire and rejuvenate your work. Whether you’re a teacher working on lesson plans or an arts leader tackling your inbox or a freelancer working on budget spreadsheets, taking a break to play your instrument can help you power through the less artistic parts of your job, overcome creative block, and return to whatever work you’re doing with renewed energy, commitment, and attention.
Related: An Inside Look at My Creative Process
Neuroscientists suggest that the brain continues to work on a problem subconsciously when you switch to a different task. Taking breaks, going for a walk, or in this case, taking a few minutes to practice can be an effective way to reset your creative thinking and problem-solving skills (source: National Institutes of Health)
A personal example:
My husband, Steve, is a composer. Recently, he’s started sitting down at the piano each night to play a chorale. This is purely for himself—a way to escape at the end of the day, reconnect to music, and challenge himself to sightread in 4-part harmony. His goal is to sightread one new piece each day, though sometimes, he’ll do more, depending on time. The important thing is that he’s committing himself to do this every day, and he’s consistent about it. That inspires me.
How can you challenge yourself a little each day? What small steps can you take to continue learning and developing your musicianship?
Playing music helps you stop thinking and find clarity. It helps free your mind to think creatively again. It also helps you connect to your core, your inner self. These quiet, self-reflecting moments are vital to living a balanced life and doing your best work.
Looking for some new music to play?
Here are some of my favorites
Conclusion
There’s more to being a musician than practicing. Make sure you’re taking time to play your instrument for fun and make music for your enjoyment, too. This helps connect you to your art and reconnect you to yourself; it’s good for your brain, and it can inspire and rejuvenate your work.
My challenge to you (and myself): Carve out a few minutes each day this week to sit down at your instrument and play. Just play. Don’t spend this time practicing music for your next gig or brushing up on your students’ repertoire. Play something for yourself.
Comment below what you’re playing (or singing) for fun this week. I’d love to encourage you!
