When adults learn an instrument or study singing, they have to juggle music lessons and practice time with other commitments, notably full-time employment. In this guest blog post, David Barton Music pupil, Ruth Carlyle shares her thoughts and personal tips for juggling music lessons/practice and full-time work. Some of her tips may be of interest to anyone taking music lessons and needing to squeeze in time to practise.
Balancing full-time employment with the commitment of studying music requires sensitivity to the needs of employers, as well as managing time for lessons and for practice. This short article opens with the employer relationship, then tips more generally on making the most of limited time to practise.
Work: the employer relationship
When you work full time, fitting in a commitment to a music lesson can be challenging. If you travel for work, or have nights away from home, a music lesson can be a commitment that creates complications for employers as it may reduce your flexibility on particular days or evenings. This requires sensitivity by the adult learner to the needs of their employer.
- Be open with your employer: before making a commitment to music lessons, discuss your plans with your employer and close colleagues. If there are days on which you need to juggle your hours or to leave work promptly, this has an impact on those working with you.
- Work within your organisational culture: if it is culturally acceptable to take a late lunch break to attend a music lesson close to your place of employment, or to work from home on a particular day of the week, plan your music lesson to fit within that culture.
- Plan ahead: employers rarely like surprises. If you are likely to need a day of annual leave for a performance, to take an examination, or as recovery time, book the time as provisional annual leave well in advance of the date so that meetings do not have to be rescheduled. In the case of examinations, this may mean that you are having to hold several days as provisional annual leave until the examination time has been confirmed, so it is important to explain this to your employer.
Music: realistic practice planning
Time to practise will always be limited and activities shaped by the realities of daily living, particularly if you have travel commitments and spend time away from home.
- Think about what you want to learn between lessons: there will be activities that you have discussed with your music teacher for study before the next lesson, but also points that you have identified that you want to try out (such as a different approach to a particular phrase, or shaping the narrative of a piece in your mind). What requires you to have access to the musical instrument, or a private space in which to sing? What could you do just from the printed music without having to perform out loud?
- Plan your activities according to your resources: if you have time travelling or staying in a hotel, you will not be able to perform (unless you are very confident and have very tolerant fellow passengers/guests!), but you will be able to learn lyrics or to think through approaches to a piece. Plan your time so that you have the relevant piece of music with you for practice without performance.
- Make the most of performance time:whilst it is lovely to play through full pieces, making the most of limited performance practice time often requires repetition of difficult passages, including recording yourself and listening to the recording, rather than performing the whole of a piece.
- Keep records:note what you have rehearsed when, so that you can avoid unintentional repetition and pick up from where you finished practising.
Learning a musical instrument or studying singing can be a rewarding complement to full-time work and have a positive impact on health and well-being. Whilst making the commitment is a challenge, for many adult learners it is possible to juggle full-time employment with music lessons and practice.
Having shared my reflections, thoughts and tips from others are warmly welcomed. Don’t forget to share in the comments below.
