Never Stop - How To Keep The Young Performer Playing.

Learning to play an instrument can be terribly difficult as I doesn’t only entail being able to read notes and aiming for a flexible coordination, but also an emotional involvement. In many cases I have seen over my years in education a difficulty in the upkeep of a solid and continuous practice scheme. I have seen that this usually occurs when the young performer is used to a certain ‘investment and return’’, this is dependent on how fast he or she makes certain connections between the notes and the physical execution.  At the start of the journey things can come together quickly but because of increasingly difficult connection that have to be made it is understandable that the young performed will find it hard to keep the input the same and achieve and equally satisfying result. The mental effort will have to increase and this doesn’t only mean more practice, but usually it means a stronger concentration and, at times, it means that the young performer will have to chance their learning methods in order to stay inspired.  The way the young performer is learning music is in constant motion. Even at the highest level of instrumental playing, one will constantly change internal learning methods. In upcoming videos is shall give examples of this process. At the beginner stage this is no different. The more complex the music becomes and the more layers are added and the more conscious we need to be. This change of internal learning methods requires more mental effort. The result can be that the young performer would like to give up.  Everyone needs to be satisfied or feel fulfilled in what one does, obviously in some parts of life things just needs to be done in order to, somewhere along the line, achieve moments of happiness or satisfaction. In playing an instrument the fulfilment comes from very different aspects coming together, such as, note reading, physical and mental freedom and emotional involvement. It is if paramount importance to not loose sense of the bigger picture, as we are all striving for moments of fulfilment. Passing exams and preparing for concerts are part of this process. 
A young performer might currently not be aware of the benefits and therefore the music supporter should be there to support him/her to never stop and always discuss options to continue the practice routine. Practicing less, but keeping a consistency, choosing different pieces and stepping out of the exam system for a while can all aid development.  Encouragement to make sure that the music never stops is essential.