Part of the difficulty in practicing post-college is you are on your own.
But that's what practicing is, right? Hours and hours all by your lonesome, right? No big deal! (Once my friend--an international piano student--told us she lost track of time one night at the conservatory. She got up to use the restroom at like 2 am when the school closed, precisely when the guard went around to shut off the lights and lock up the doors. She ended up staying the whole night! Which, by the way, is SOOOOOOO CREEPY!! The Boston Conservatory is haunted. There are stories. Next post, perhaps.)
I think I've been thinking about visiting my friends in practice rooms because I saw some of my lovely Boston friends this past weekend at a clarinet wedding in Baltimore. :) I would give anything to take a break from practicing and see who else was getting a drink at the same time as me, and then decide to pack up and go to coffee instead of finishing the practice session! Haha! Now when I take breaks, it's like...get up, get a drink, bang my head on the wall a few times, practice more, repeat.
Practice rooms at first were terrifying. They are NOT sound proof. All the more motivation to improve. I remember a few rooms that were my favorite spots to practice. If they were open, the practicing would be better--better acoustics=longer patience/temper with yourself! Or if it had a skinny mirror.
I loved one in particular--not for any other reason than it had a beautiful view of the Boston skyline at night. Loved practicing like that.
Obviously, practicing since the start of the blog is going a lot better & easier. But it used to be so nice to hear a couple compliments from friends passing by back in the day. A compliment goes a hell of a long way when usually you are soooooo used to "constructive criticism" from yourself or teachers. I don't know why I put that in quotes. It was constructive. I swear, no sarcasm. Really. God, I hate tone in online-writing.
Another good motivator while in the practice rooms is the ability to spy on your competition. Hahaha! Seriously! Then it occurs to you that no matter how good or bad the people around you are, your own ability is not affected. But, you keep spying anyway, since you got in the habit. Shhhh!!
But you know what the best practice break is??? Gossiping. Oh how I miss those times!
I am so SO happy to have seen some old friends this past weekend. It really brought back a lot of fabulous memories and it definitely doesn't seem like 10 years has passed since we all met, terrified of the practice rooms. And to a couple of the ladies who I missed--NEXT TIME!!!
Life long friends. Aren't they the best??
