Daily Routine part 2 - The 10 minute rule

As I was searching the web for some articles about practicing I came across one by Josh Bledsoe who is getting his DMA in Trombone at ASU. His article talked about the 10 minute rule. Basically, if you have tasks that you want to get done over time but never seem to get them done, you spend ten minutes a day on them. As simple as it sounds this is a really good approach that I have been trying over the last couple days. For me it is things like reading a book, score studying, blogging, etc.

How can the ten minute rule apply to practicing? Think back to my previous post about the daily routine. If you took all the areas that need attention in brass playing and gave 10 minutes to each then you could have a fairly lengthy routine that never gets bogged down in one area. That's the whole point of the 10 minute rule, it is a short enough amount of time where you can spend the whole 10 minutes being focused on whatever it is you are working on. Imagine spending 10 minutes a day working the upper register. That would be 1hr and 10 minutes per week spent in that range. Plus, those 70 minutes will probably be more focused and concentrated than if you just sat down and started playing. This leads me to another topic for later: having a goal while you practice.

So over the next few days/weeks try spending 10 minutes a day doing something that you would like to get done; Cleaning a room, reading, listen to music, research, whatever. See if you don't begin to chip away at the task without over working yourself.

Be back in 10....

Posted in: Music Education,Practicing