I am always thinking about ways to encourage and challenge our students to develop new practice habits. I’m also committed to challenging myself and our team to do the same. This week I am just finishing up a great book called Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. Truth be told it is not the kind of book I would generally read, but it was free on my Kindle lending library when I had Covid and I was bored out of my gourd in quarantine so I thought, what they heck?

The book is surprisingly interesting and easy to read even though it is written by a behavioral scientist PhD. But the whole point of the book is that if we want to make big changes, *we have to start small with things we already want and or/are motivated to do or achieve. Practically, Fogg then argues that in order to develop a new habit, we need to have an anchor moment, something that is already steady in our life that happens daily ideally, and we need to make that thing our prompt to do this new habit. This is most effective he writes, if we do the new thing right after that prompt. He then suggests starting small and celebrating every time you achieve the new goal.

Fogg for example wanted to get in shape. Most people join a gym, make a goal of running a mile, etc. His goal, two push-ups every time after he went pee. Easy right? And so he would do it! If he felt like doing more, he did. If he didn’t, he just did the two. Then he suggests doing something simple yet meaningful right afterwards that celebrates the achievement. That reward he suggests makes us feel good and want to do it again.

So my challenge here to our students, especially busy students like working adults—but this applies for everyone that wants to grow—is to find an anchor moment and make a very simple goal that you institute this week. Here are some examples:

·         Every time you pee at home, wash your hands, then go play your newest scale. It will take a minute, that’s it! Then celebrate. If you did that alone, you would master that scale this week easy! Feel like doing more? Awesome, do all 12 or as many of you know of that scale! Celebrate extra! Maybe a piece of chocolate or something!

·         Adults, every time you start the coffee pot, sit down and play through your newest piece. If you are a piano player, maybe it’s just one hand. That’s fine. The next morning, do the other. If you do both, even better, celebrate extra. Maybe even make that coffee Irish or cowboy or something! Your coffee will be ready and you will have just got a great short practice session in!

·         Maybe you are waiting for your grill to heat up, or your dinner is in the Instant Pot—sit down and knock out that new scale, exercise, or portion of piece.

You will note that I wrote that *we have to start small with things we already want and or/are motivated to do or achieve. If you or your child don’t want to practice, or aren’t motivated to, this new habit probably won’t develop. That’s a motivation issue, and Fogg would suggest we find something we actually want and start working backwards from there. I have some ideas for that too, and I will share those in a follow up.

Remember these should be simple and tiny new habits. Start small. It’s a tiny new habit, but it could seriously be monumental in your musical development! And it is a healthy habit that just could become one of the favorite parts of your daily routine!  I would love to hear your thoughts on other ideas to implement!