I was reading a Rolling Stone interview with Chris Martin as Coldplay were preparing to release “Vida La Vida or Death and All His Friends.” It was candid and informal which I really dig about some of the Rolling Stone interviews.
Anyways, there was a point where Martin said Coldplay practiced everyday for 2 years before Parachutes came out. That kind of practice can get you pretty tight as a group, but how do you keep that up without it becoming tedious?
1. Have a longer term goal (6 months to a year) as the fuel to keep you going.
2. Have a goal for each practice so you make the most of the practice
3. Bring yourself into the now when you practice. There are probably other things on your mind, but you’re here now playing music!
4. Imagine yourself in the future as a better player, songwriter, rapper, etc.. and use that as motivation. You’ll be surprised if you look back after a year when you notice your growth.
5. If practicing and playing isn’t fun, why are you doing this?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsz-EeNZBkI&feature=related]Hoover
Take Control of Your Music
3 Comments
I could not agree more. I think it’s so important to rehearse and prepare for your shows and recordings. It’s also a learned talent to be onstage and present what you do to an audience. So I think it’s smart to do both simultaneously. Plus, you get feedback from the audience on what is and isn’t working… So you know what to work on the next day! 🙂
I loved this post!
I’m going to practise like crazy now…
stephen
stephencarmichael.com
There was a great interview with Van Morrison on Q with Jian Ghomeshi. Where Van Morrison talked about not practicing and rehearsing, but just “doing it for real” it’s an interesting contrast to the cold play approach. However, I bet unless you are really gifted or experienced, the average person would probably blow it on stage by just doing it for real.
Here is a link to the interview, http://www.cbc.ca/q/uncut/#
(sorry i could paste a direct link, just scroll down to October 1, 2009 Van Morrison if you want to hear it).