by Aloisia Dauer (17.01.2023)
As the new year begins, many of us experience a yearning for change, a drive to establish goals and incorporate new habits into our daily routine. However, noble aspirations alone are insufficient, as without tangible measures, our resolutions for the new year rapidly become meaningless. In this piece, Aloisia Dauer outlines effective strategies for setting significant musical objectives and realizing them.
For a considerable time, I held the belief that verbalizing goals was sufficient to enhance the likelihood of achieving them. I employed this method for personal and professional aspirations, until I stumbled upon a fascinating study conducted by psychologist Dr. Gail Matthews: The Impact of Commitment, Accountability, and Written Goals on Goal Achievement. She discovered the positive impact of consistently writing down and reflecting upon goals.
Dr. Matthews selected 267 participants, aged 23 to 72, from diverse social and cultural backgrounds for the study, with 149 participants completing it. The subjects had varying professional and personal goals, such as increasing income, learning a new skill, selling a house, and more.
Participants were instructed to identify what they wanted to achieve within four weeks and evaluate their goals based on difficulty, significance, prerequisites, and motivation. They were divided into five groups. Group 1 solely verbalized their goals, and 43% of them achieved their objectives. Groups 2 to 4 wrote down their goals and, in some cases, specific steps towards accomplishing them. More than half, 60%, of these groups attained their goals. Group 5 documented their goals and specific measures, as well as sending a weekly progress report to a designated person. Astoundingly, 76% of participants in this group accomplished their objectives.
This study indicates that writing down goals significantly increases their attainability, and progress is further enhanced by regularly reporting to another person. Accurately stating and documenting objectives assists the mind in comprehending what is required to be accomplished.
This approach has not only improved my personal practices but has also benefited my students, whether they are preparing for a performance or competition, or advancing in their general learning process.
Homepage: https://aloisiadauer.de/
Aloisia Dauer is a violinist, pedagogue, and violin consultant for the Bavarian Singing and Music Schools in Bavaria. In addition, she operates her own online learning platform, called Your Music Mind (Instagram: your.music.mind). ...
Learning objectives for music education are highly individual and can be formulated independently or with the guidance of a teacher. To be effective, learning objectives should:
For larger musical goals, it is recommended to divide them into smaller chunks and plan accordingly. This approach turns complex goals into measurable and easily achievable milestones. Additionally, the sense of achievement, even after short practice sessions, can help sustain motivation.
It's easy to focus on only a few things while practicing, while neglecting other important musical elements. Setting specific practice goals can add variety to the week, make progress visible, and help the musician to concentrate on important elements. Here are some suggestions for small goals when learning a new piece of music:
So, how can we stay motivated to achieve our learning goals and resolutions? Motivation primarily comes from within and starts in our mind. It's sparked by a craving and desire for something. Inner motivation is present when we do something out of pure enjoyment and satisfaction. To succeed, we need realistic musical goals that we can achieve with the instrument in the near future. It also helps to know why we are practicing, such as for difficult technique exercises.
Frustration can set in when we feel like we're not making progress towards our goals: "Can I do this?" - "What can I do?". Self-analysis, such as recording ourselves or playing to a metronome, can help us identify challenges with the instrument, so we can work out how to overcome these difficulties.
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Show YouTube contentNot motivated to practice? Even professional musicians experience this feeling. Sometimes, we just have to get up and start practicing, even if it's only for five or ten minutes. By setting a short practice time, we're more likely to stick with it and often end up playing longer because we enjoy it.
So, how can we build habits that help us achieve our goals? Don't think about if you'll practice, but when. This is a good way to trick yourself. Start by determining:
I'm going to do [SUSTAIN] at [TIME] in [PLACE].
When we receive feedback that we are making progress, we become more motivated to continue on that path. It feels good to see results growing. We stay motivated when musical challenges remain manageable. We enjoy challenges, but only in an optimal difficulty zone. Therefore, it's crucial to set realistic musical goals that we can achieve.
I hope you enjoy your time playing your instrument or singing. It's a gift to experience music, to feel it, to make music together, and to always discover new things. Enjoy experimenting and keep at it! Even if you fall out of your routine, you don't have to wait until the next New Year's Day to start again and work towards your musical goals. As long as you enjoy it, it's worth the effort to keep going, even when it's challenging.
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switch to Stretta Music Worldwidestay on Stretta Music DenmarkThe German-Italian musician, who was born in Basel, began playing the violin and piano at the age of five at the music school in Bad Säckingen (Germany), and later at the Basel Music Academy. She also took viola and piano lessons concurrently with the violin. Between 2005 and 2007, she received private lessons from Univ.-Prof. David Frühwirth. In 2006, Aloisia received instruction at the Music Institute of Chicago from Dr. Roland and Almita Vamos, and shortly thereafter was accepted as a junior student at the University Mozarteum Salzburg. In 2008, she was admitted to the master class of renowned pedagogue Prof. Igor Ozim at the Mozarteum. After her successful graduation, Aloisia Dauer continued her studies in the class of Prof. Harald Herzl, where she completed her artistic master studies and her pedagogical studies with distinction.
Over the past few years, Aloisia has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at numerous concerts and festivals worldwide, including the Stellenbosch Chamber Music Festival in South Africa, "Kultur am Nachmittag" in Grünwald/Munich, Salzburg Chamber Music Festival, concert series Leutkirch "Orgelmatinee zur Marktzeit", Salzburg Castle Concerts and Residence Concerts, International Festival Narni, Festival Junge Klassik, Tyrolean Music Academy, Laufenburger Kulturtage, concerts for the Ursula Rahman Foundation and "Global Citizenship Alliance".
In addition to her concert activities, Aloisia teaches with great passion and took over a violin class and the department head at the JMS Württembergisches Allgäu after her studies. Since September 2018, she has lived in Munich and teaches a violin class and the remedial violin class at the Musikschule Grünwald e.V.. Her students have won multiple 1st prizes at competitions and performance exams. Aloisia's students are members of the Bavarian Youth Baroque Orchestra, BLJO and have successfully passed entrance examinations at music academies. She is a lecturer at international master classes and a regular adjudicator at competitions and professional examinations.
Since 2019, Aloisia Dauer has served as the violin specialist advisor for the Bavarian Singing and Music Schools in Bavaria and is part of the working group of the Association of German Music Schools for the new violin curriculum. In the same year, she was awarded for "Bavaria's most popular music teachers" by BR-Klassik.
She is the founder of Your Music Mind, a learning platform for music students, parents, and teachers about practicing. The platform was created with the aim of providing learning tools such as a practice diary, blog, and videos to enable students to enjoy practicing and making music.