Here’s something new I’m trying this year to encourage personal practice outside of rehearsal, based on some of my reading of Brené Brown this summer.
The issue has been that personal practice is hard to maintain, even with an accountability group chat and a very reasonable goal (5 minutes x 5 days/week). And of course, I do my best to remind the singers that personal practice is a silver bullet of making practice fun – they are better prepared on their own problem spots, and we get to spend more time making music and tackling new repertoire.
I don’t actually start asking for personal practice right away in the year – I like to let my students get their years rolling before I push it. But with October 1 starts practice. And this year, that includes Accountability Pairs.
Singers will still be reporting their practice in our group chat: something very simple and short such as:
7:50-7:56
I Can’ Tarry – notes mm 57-65
Help! – chorus
Accountability Pairs have one job – to notice your partner practicing or not practicing. If you see them regularly report their practice, you send them a supportive note. If they miss more than 2 or 3 days in a row, you send them a supportive note.
That simple – just a personal reminder that someone’s paying attention. I’m hoping it will help with consistency and, over time, make the ensemble better.