100 days of practice
Happy new year friends! I hope the start of 2025 has been what you need - fun, restful, reflective, productive, rejuvenating etc etc.
Welcome to my 2025 version of 100 days of practice. I tried this project for the first time last year, taking it as a challenge to practice for 100 consecutive days. This year, I’m using it as a tool to keep myself practicing in a mindful and reflective way (I’ve felt myself slipping a little lately). This means there are no rules, I can have a day off here and there, there is no set amount of time that I’m aiming for, it is just a way of logging the first 100 days of 2025 and encouraging myself to articulate my thoughts. A 100 day long experiment, with notes, observations, and ideas.
Day 1 1/01/2025, Wednesday
Total time practiced: 15 minutes
I spent most of the day travelling and got back to my parents house tired from a truly wonderful holiday. While away with my family I employed a 15 minute strategy - I knew it would be kindest on myself if I did some practice consistently, rather than none for days and then tried to cram practice before I start school again next week. I set a timer for 15 mins and did a few minutes each of scales, shifting exercises, bowing etudes, a Kreuzer study, the opening few lines of a Hindemith movement, and about 2 bars of a piece that I’m using to explore different vibrato options. The 15 minute limit actually helped my practice immensely, I’ve been pretty unfocused and mindless during my practice lately as the year wrapped up (hence why I’m embarking on this 100 days of practice project). It was really helpful just getting a little bit in to keep up fitness while taking any and all pressure off to do a solid chunk of practice (an hour +) while trying to enjoy a holiday with my family. It made me focus much harder for those 15 minutes and practice much more efficiently.
Day 2, 2/01/25, Thursday
Total time: somewhere between 10-20 mins
Another day of travel, this time driving to airport, flying, etc taking up the whole day. Listening to orchestra music I need to learn and following along with my part on the plane, and tried silent practicing in the airport for the first time. A good exercise in overcoming social anxiety and actually was helpful practice!
Day 3, 3/01/2025, Friday
Total time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
I used my OG practice strat, cutting my practice into tiny chunks (5/10/15 mins) to make it more manageable. I did this in my first year of uni, to slowly build up my practice. Today’s goal was to slowly wake up my ears and the little critical voice that helps me identify what needs work. The danger here for me, is that voice can get carried away so I needed lots of patience to balance the criticism. Reminders that I’m a little rusty, that I will improve, that things take time are crucial at this point, so only doing 15 mins of practice at a time helped me stay calm. I wrote out some practice goals - including to practice improvising daily, using exercises from a classical improvisation teacher who coaches our quartet every so often. Improv scares me a lot - so I set a timer for 5 mins and got myself in a mindset of curiosity and exploration. Experiment mode. “What happens if….”
I also did uni related things like make a calendar and little mini vision boards with cues for my goals. Helped me visualise the upcoming weeks and what I want to get out of them! Not strictly included in the total time but probably the most beneficial thing I did this day, in some ways.
Day 4 , 4/01/2025, Saturday
Total time: 2 hours
Did NOT want to practice. In a defiant mood about having to practice every day. Wanted to just live my life and be on holiday.
Prioritised my day so I could be at home or close by so I could chip away at practice. A good day for exceeding expectations, which was only possible because I lowered them and prioritised ease and patience over the hustle.
Day 5, 5/01/2025, Sunday
Total time: 1 hour
Practicing in chunks means you can do 5 minutes and then check on your cinnamon buns without burning them.
Big takeaway for this day was making a very intentional decision when meeting resistance around 4pm about doing more practice was to just not. Instead finished a book and had a bath and made green curry. Life is more than practice, especially as I try enjoy the last hours of the winter break. I start again tomorrow.
End of week reflections
Feeling really positive about the way I have used this last week of holiday to ease myself back into practice. Seeing my time increase is satisfying, knowing I’m building up stamina and focus. To balance that, I feel particularly pleased with the patience and grace I;ve held for myself balancing life and work in this last little bit of the winter break. So far the objective of this project is working - I am reconnecting to a thinky, focussed, curious, explorative practice mindset that is where I find the greatest satisfaction. I’m employing strategies I know have worked for me in the past and feeling confident going into first week of term 2!
