Hello everybody, my name Elfy Jo and I’m a professional musician.
In this article I will take a look at the importance of inventiveness during (music) practice sessions.

We all know that “practice makes perfect” but what is the easiest and quickest way?

First of all let me state that music and perfectionism don’t really mix.
Music is always an expression of the way things are at any given moment.
Yes, you will have a style reference according to the piece you are playing and a structure of rhythm and melody to adhere to. However, inside this framework you are free to play and express yourself. This is an interesting balance to achieve and I find that is this spot where the magic happens.

The trick is to build a solid technical basis that will then in turn allow you great flexibility.
For musicians that means a deep understanding and control of instrumental basics such as breath control, scales, chords and musical theory. I’ll admit that sounds a bit daunting at first but if you know me, I never use anything that can’t be used for fun and shenanigans somewhere along the way.

In the practice room this comes down to being inventive with the material at hand. How can you use the melody, rhythm and style of a piece to have a blast? How can you single out rhythm for example and use it to further hone in your technical skills? Can you play the melody in different dynamics without changing the atmosphere? Can you keep the dynamic level the same and dramatically change the feel of the music?

These are all questions to play with as you practice. Your brain will be curious and engaged so you are focussed and easily advancing your skills. You will be having fun and your creativity will be at play. Science is finally giving us proof that play is the quickest and easiest way to creating new neural pathways. Of course kids and creatives alike have known this to be true since forever, haha!