I’ve spent some time looking online for various different practice logs this week, just out of curiosity.  There are many, and most are pretty much the same; day, time, length of practice, what you practiced, maybe someplace for a parent to sign off. These things are all well and good and if you or your child find them helpful, use them. They can be fun, maybe even reward children when they reach a certain goal or time period (assuming it is a legitimate record and not fudged).

But do you know what is missing from most of the records I have seen, which I think may be equally as important if not more than a practice record? Full disclosure, I don’t keep a practice record. Mentally however, I do have an organized plan and use of my time. What’s missing is a record of listening. Listening to music is an essential part of the musical journey, and not just casually listening, but careful, serious, active, investigative listening that fuels and inspires our practice and music making.

So that’s what I would like to challenge you (and myself as well) with here. What if we recorded listening sessions? At least once or twice a week for 10-15 minutes of serious listening. It could be weekly listening to a specific work. It could be intentionally seeking out new material. Both would be excellent. As this post is already getting too long, let me leave it here with this challenge and I will follow up with a post with suggestions for listening and even how to log it:

What have you listened to this week that you have heard before, what specifically did you give special attention to, how did it grip you? 

Did you learn or hear anything new from it? What inspired you in it?

What might you like to understand better or facilitate on your instrument that you heard in it?

And now, how about the same with a new work or something you have not heard before?