I've been making music for a long time. Over all these years one of the biggest challenges has been keeping my practice time focused. I've tried many different approaches over the years, from keeping a journal on what I have done to creating practice spreadsheets to keep me on track. They all have their advantages.
I personally like keeping my practice organized for both the short term goals and long term goals. I see my practice as a little reward for myself in my busy life. Looking forward to working on something special is nice and I like to have a basic idea of what that will be. So writing down some goals is a nice task.
Practice is all about evaluation for me. I am always trying to improve so I need to evaluate if what I am doing is working - minute by minute and day by day.
One tool I've used over the years is a mirror and video camera. I use a mirror to evaluate my physical playing in the moment and the video camera for a post-practice reflection. It's amazing the things you don't catch WHILE you are playing.
A while back and very recently I have been posting my practice journal videos on the blockchain. There's nothing pretty about these as they are not meant for entertainment. These let me see some good and bad things I do and help me figure out where to head next.
While some may feel that all the analysis is overkill, and can respect that. I enjoy the nitty gritty of refining my playing. I also spend a lot of time just playing music for fun :)
Rock on,
Buckydurddle!
