Practice routine for busy mom

[Laura Castro]

Hi! My kids (9 and 11) are taking violin lesson (they’re in Suzuki books 2 and 3, working with their teacher remotely). I’m mostly self-taught, having taken lessons on and off when available over the past 30+ years. I would call myself a proficient fiddler, but I’d always love to improve! We subscribed here on the suggestion of the kids’ teacher.

I’m trying to develop a practice routine for myself, and I’m finding it to be difficult. Both my kids take violin and piano lessons, so they practice daily. We also homeschool. Even when writing “practice” on my own to-do list, I find I never actually pick up my fiddle. I feel like if I had a list of things to practice, and I left my fiddle out on a stand (upstairs, since we also have 2 huge dogs and 2 cats who would probably destroy it if I left it in plain sight), I might practice more often and improve. But what ends up happening is, if I happen to have 15 minutes and actually remember to practice, I just briefly run through songs that I enjoy and put it away.

I’d love to incorporate the resources on this website, as well, but it’s pretty overwhelming! Does anyone have any tips? Thanks!

[George Bretz]

Laura,
You sound a lot like me! My son was even a Suzuki kid….35 years ago! That’s an excellent foundation for them.
I too consider myself a competent fiddler. I also just ran through tunes I knew or wanted to learn, until I joined this site.
You sound like a victim of what we all fall prey to: ‘life gets in the way’. Don’t beat yourself up. Stay at it.
Retirement was a great benefit to time management for me. You have a ways to go.
On to your dilemma. Things to consider:

*you know there is a ‘techniques’ tab on the site. Maybe find a technique you want to focus on for a bit.
Chopping and position shifting helped me. Also, you really have to focus on those things in limited doses. Five to ten minutes a day can really help your chopping or shifting or vibrato etc.

*sounds like you have a list. I keep one on my music stand. A list of things to work on.

*if you can, try to play with others. Even if it’s once every few weeks or even if it’s with your kids. You may hear a new tune you are driven to learn.

*finally, there is nothing wrong with running through a few tunes…have fun, it’s good for your brain.

Others will chime in here. Casey is pretty busy but he monitors the sight and will offer suggestions.
He is a truly fine fiddler. I’m just helping with moderating.
Best wishes,
George

[Lisa Harper]

Hi Laura, I also have a really busy life and it took a while (like a couple years) to figure out what I needed to make progress, even if slowly. So you are ahead of the game! For me it was 1) figuring out the style I wanted to study; 2) finding accountability; and 3) finding a jam so I could play with others. Surprisingly, the jam I recently joined is not the style I chose to work on — but it’s been such great fun. Despite being so busy, I had to give myself permission to do both. Many skills transferred! In the end, playing with others accomplishes all three, though I’ve found it valuable to study with expert help in a group class setting. This was possible remotely so I could take classes over zoom after work.
Lisa

[David Bernard]

Hi Laura,
I thought I should chime in here. I started playing fiddle when I was 48! With two small kids and a business to run, my wife thought I was crazy. I tell her, as far as midlife crises go, she got off lucky. Anyway, I am a now 64 and a fairly decent, gigging , fiddle player. Here are few things I’ve learned.

1. Same thing George and Lisa say. Play with other people.!You got to have a reason for getting better. Mine was I needed to be at a level where I could play in local bluegrass jams. If you aren’t playing with other people, find a jam! Maybe you are already a festival jammer. If not check out that scene. Camps are also a really great place for the whole family to learn how to jam and have a blast. The point here is, practice makes more sense if you are actually practicing something you are going to be performing. Actually work on a repertoire that will be useful. That is why the bluegrass or Irish thing is cool. It’s a shared repertoire so you can show up at a festival or camp and jump. right in. If I were you I would get one kid playing bass. Put the other on guitar or banjo. Tell them they get everything you earn while busking. You’ll all get good fast.

2. Think like an athlete. If you have a little time, work out. Learning fiddle tunes is great but you also have work on stuff that needs work. And don’t try to boil the ocean. Just focus on one thing at a time. . Like building speed. or double stops, or Learning a specific classic lick. And keep focusing on that until it really feels comfortable. With some things, it can take a long time… you know like weeks or months or even years. Be patient.

3. Practice for me was and still is an escape. It’s like meditation or yoga, or running. It feels good so I made it a priority even when my wife and kids were not really very happy to see daddy disappear for awhile. I had to fight for my alone time because it was a priority for me. Some dudes go to the golf course. or jump on their mt bikes. I grab my fiddle. ( often times it was very late at night after everybody went to bed. I would slink off to the garage) Anyway, don’t let anybody tell you it shouldn’t be high on your todo list.

That’s my 2 cents
good luck
Dave

[Laura Castro]

Thanks, all! Luckily I’ve had a lot of opportunities to play with others in bands and at jams in the past, but unfortunately most of those folks are gone now. 🙁 I recently started a jam in my town. It’s mostly old country and folk, and we’re a pretty varied group. Last time we had 4 electric basses, 6ish guitars and me on the fiddle. I’m always the only fiddle player as I don’t know anyone else in our area that plays. The closest bluegrass jam is 4 hours away.

I feel like my biggest challenge is not knowing what I really need to work on, and then carving time out of my day to actually work on it. Exercise and practice are my two things that I try to do every day. Exercise almost always happens, but practice doesn’t.

I’m looking forward to exploring the site a little more and finding some new tunes!

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