One common reason adults hesitate to take music lessons is due to the believed time commitment they need to make to practicing outside of lessons.  It shouldn’t be a barrier because practicing as an adult is 100% about your goals and expectations.  

Reframing Practice Outside of Lessons

Anything is Better Than Nothing

You don’t need to dedicate large chunks of time to practice. You don’t even really need to dedicate any chunks of time if you can integrate practice into your life.  This might date me, but when I was younger, I would watch TV with my guitar in my hands, mute the TV in the commercials, and practice until my program came on.  Though we watch less and less traditional TV with commercials, it’s still a powerful concept: find tiny blocks of time to play.  It doesn’t have to be super serious or focused.  

The point is you’re spending time with your instrument and, like most relationships, any time is better than no time.  

Listening As Practice

Listening to music, thinking about how it is played, visualizing how its played, or deep, active listening are all practice.  When learning music for a project I’m hired onto, the very first thing I do is just listen to it.  Spend time with the music, actively listening, but as a listener, not as a player.  I want to get a feel for the music; its emotion, its vibe, its flow.  After getting a grasp on the big picture, I dive in, work out the parts, practice them on the instrument, and get it performance-ready.  But I encourage you to not underestimate the power of listening as practice. 

Repetition Over Perfection

We are human and therefore we will make mistakes.  The point isn’t to avoid them at all costs or give up when we do, but to accept that it will happen and move through them. Eventually not allowing those mistakes to interrupt the flow.  As Miles Davis has said, “it isn’t the mistake but the note you play after the mistake that makes it a mistake.”  

The point is if you’re playing an exercise or repeating progression or section of a song:

• Keep going
• Recognize the mistake
• Don’t stop or start over
• Fix the mistake the next time you loop through the part.   

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

My orchestra conductor at the University of Florida, Professor Chobaz, used to always say, “If you’re going to make a mistake, make it full-assedly!” in his charming Austrian accent.  As you can see, it has stuck with me and was quite formative.  And so, I pass that on to my students: don’t be afraid of your mistakes, recognize them as opportunities to learn and improve and always remember humans are not perfect: celebrate that. 

Common Adult Practice Styles

There is no right way to practice as an adult or student of any age.  The key is to spend time with your instrument.  Of course, the goal is to get better, so you should focus on what you’re playing while you’re playing it, but as long as you’re trying to get better and spending time doing that, you will get better, even if it is slowly.  

Confucius is quoted as saying, “It doesn’t matter how slow you go as long as you don’t stop.” That resonates with me and is deeply meaningful regardless of what we’re talking about.  Just keep working at it.

Weekenders

If you can only fit in practice on the weekends because of time and/or bandwidth constraints, any time you spend with your instrument is time well spent.  

We’re busy; work, social life, family life, fitness and health, other hobbies and interests. We have limited time and can only fit so much in.  So, if you can get even 5 minutes a week in on a Sunday, it may not be as much as you’d like, but it’s still better than nothing, micro-steps are better than no steps and we can still have a great time in your lessons.  

Evening Decompressors

Maybe you sneak away from the world for 10 minutes to play a song.  That’s wonderful and you’ll get better, little by little, every time you play.  These sorts of practice sessions might not even be intended to “get better” but to give your mind a chance to decompress by doing something you enjoy.  I’m here for that and that is why one of my lesson focuses is stress relief.  Sometimes, we just need to bang on a piano or drum set, or sing our favorite song in the shower.  

One-Song Focus

Some students have a goal where they really just want to play this one song that means the world to themselves or a loved one.  When they play the song, it almost turns into a religious ritual.  This is a beautiful expression deserving of respect and reverence. 

If you want to learn just a single song, we can do exactly that for as long as you would like.  If, after you learn it, you just want to keep perfecting it, let’s do that! If you change your mind at any point and want to learn something new, that’s also fine.  We can hold or change course as long as you’d like.  

Encouraging Adult Learners to Create Practice Habits

Just like with students of any age, my focus is on encouragement mixed with an appropriate level of accountability.  The fact is, ultimate accountability is built through the results the student attains, even if they can’t currently see it.  “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

Encouragement

It generally isn’t my job to twist a student’s arm to practice, and doing so leaves a bad taste in both my and the student’s mouth.  Effectively, it spoils the relationship between the teacher and the student.  A major responsibility of a teacher is building a strong and trusting rapport with the student.  Aside from general friendliness and knowledgeability, being encouraging and reminding the student of the progress they are making is the best, if not only, way to create that rapport.  

Accountability Tools

I generally use the honor system when it comes to practice.  That being said, it is quite easy to tell whether a student has been working on the material and I will not hesitate to bring up whether they are living up to the expectations we have set.  

When we are working with a published book, the main tool I use is simply writing the date on the page we are working on. This functions as a reminder and a metaphoric dog-ear.  It tends to be effective enough for the vast majority of students when paired with teacher-held accountability.  

Another set of tools are schedules, logs, notebooks of staff paper, folders, and email reminders. Their use depends on the student and their preferred method for remembering what they should be practicing.  Having a folder to hold lesson sheets or a notebook for musical notes are extremely effective and strongly suggested for students who want to make real, trackable progress.   Keeping this folder allows us to keep all your music stuff in one place and go back and play music we’ve played before, a real test of progress.

Routine Fitting, Not Changing

One of the keys to staying consistent with practice as an adult is making a routine and integrating it as seamlessly as possible into your regular life.  One way I’ve done that for myself is the method I mentioned above playing on commercial breaks.  But this can be added to most places in your life with a bit of planning and creativity.  Is there a thing you normally do where you could add a small bit of music?  Can you replace some doom-scrolling with sitting down at a piano or singing a favorite song?  You might find that adding more music-making will stimulate your brain and improve your mental health at the same time!  

Progression

It is very important to remember that learning an instrument is like a rollercoaster ride.  Some days you’ll hit a peak and feel super good about your ability, others you’ll be in a valley where nothing feels right.  That’s where an honest, unbiased perspective or a teacher’s feedback really pays off.  You might be having a really bad playing day, but your teacher will still be able to remind you that you’re doing better than you were a week or a month ago.  Keeping your perspective firmly rooted in your overall improvement arc is one of the best ways to keep frustration from getting the best of you.  

Additionally, practice is about small wins that lead to deeper connection with your instrument and to music in general.  Nothing good comes from being too harsh on yourself. The other side of that coin is that if you don’t participate in honest reflection, you won’t progress.  It ends up being a tight-rope walk between seeing and understanding the shortcomings but being patient and giving yourself grace through the process.  

I always come back to the rollercoaster ride analogy and try to point out the arc of progress. As they say, you gotta remember where you came from!  

In Conclusion

Practicing as an adult doesn’t need to be all or nothing. Whether you play to unwind after a long day, dedicate your Sundays to a favorite song, grab five quiet minutes to explore your instrument, or listen to a song with headphones on to get that one note that’s escaping you, it’s all valid and it all counts.

My goal is to help you make music a sustainable, rewarding part of your life. There’s no single right way to practice. Only the way that fits your routine, your mindset, and your goals. And I’ll be right there to offer structure, encouragement, and perspective whenever and however you need it.

If this sounds like what you’ve been looking for, I’d love to meet you. Try a free 30-minute trial lesson or get 50% off your first full hour. More information on lessons is available on my Lessons and Booking page.  Or you can sign up now with the Trial Lesson form!

Let’s make practice something that lifts you up, not weighs you down.

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