by Elliot Eastin (from his article on helium.com) Many have heard (and questioned) the old saying “practice makes perfect”. It’s one of those annoying reminders that to be good at something, you have to work for it. This can be applied to many things, but particularly to the mastery of musical instruments. Many times, learning a musical instrument is frustrating, or boring, but the rewards which you receive from diligent practice and work are well worth it. Practice is an inescapable evil which must be endured by most people wanting to learn an instrument of music. Throughout this article, however, you will learn ten ways to make practicing a more enjoyable experience.

1. Chose a Musical Instrument that really interests you-not everyone else. This is particularly important for those just embarking on their musical journies. If you select an instrument which doesn’t intrest you, you will quickly lose interest in practice. If you are forced to take guitar lessons, but your interests lie in the violin, then you will always be disatisfied with your practice.

2. Be comfortable while you practice. 
This is important because the more positive you can make your practicing experience, the more you will do it, and the better you will get. Make sure that you have a nice place to practice and an environment that makes you comfortable. Make your practice area as free from distraction as possible, allowing you to focus only on the music.

3. Set a reasonable goal for yourself.
 Setting goals often feels like needing to meet a requirement-and that’s exactly the way it should feel. Only after you meet that goal do you feel like you’ve accomplished something. The trick is to find a goal that is reasonable to your situation. Many teachers who teach music recommend a minimum of an hour’s worth of practice everyday. This is probably a good goal. An hour is not that much time to devote to practice, and it is usually a reasonable goal for most musicians.

4. Break up your practice. 
If you break up your practice time into smaller, more manageable chunks, you will find the task of practice much less daunting. If you set a goal of a one hour practice every day, you might consider breaking up the time into thirty minute chunks. Later, once you are more experienced with the piece you are learning, you may want to make the chunks smaller-say, fifteen minutes or so.

5. Try to find music which is interesting to you.
 Though it is impossible to make all practice fun and exciting, try to find pieces which make you want to practice them. Many music stores have all sorts of fascinating music for all levels. If you want to practice more, you have to be interested in what you are learning.

6. Play with expression. 
The more emotion you put into a piece, the more you’ll get out of it. There is a profound difference between perfectly executed music and beautiful music. Beautiful music needn’t be perfect, but it needs to show that you are putting some of yourself into what you are playing. If you can show that you really care about the piece you are playing, it will not matter what level of difficulty the piece is, or even if it is familiar to your audience.

7. Repeat difficult portions a lot!
 Often, when practicing your music, you will find sections that are particularly difficult. Don’t be affraid to take out a pen and write whatever reminders you need to help you to master that section. If you repeat that section and the transitions before and after it ten or fifteen times a practice, then you will find that the section may not have been as difficult as you originally thought.

8. Practice slowly. 
One of the key mistakes that is made by musicians of all ages is the propensity to play really, really quickly. Speed is an element to a piece that you should add later, when you are more experienced with that piece-not when you first begin to learn it. Speed also hinders comprehension of all the musical subtleties of the piece, and it leaves less room for expression.

9. Practice different clefs separately. 
If you are playing an instrument that requires you to play in the bass and treble clef, you need to practice those different parts seperately before combining them. If you try to play both parts of the music all at once, your practice will be unproductive, and you will end up frustrated. Practice both clefs separately and slowly for the best end result.

10. Don’t underestimate the power of duets. 
Duets are unique musically because they allow for two people to play one piece of music as a single entity. Duets sound more complex than solos because they allow for more hands to play together. Duets between two different instruments (like the piano and flute) are also especially rewarding to play. A duet is also helpful to practice because each musician acts as the other’s “accountability partner,” ensuring that each will do his or her part to make the performance truly amazing. These tips, when applied to everyday practice, will help the end result or performace be truly exceptional, and one which the audience will enjoy.

Learn more about this author, Elliot Eastin.