I recently went to Edinburgh to do an event where I shared the oboe with younger students. It was an absolute blast and amazing to see the excitement about the oboe from the students. Here’s what I learned from it and what it taught me about creating joy in playing.
1. Remember to play, not just practice
As musicians, it’s so easy to get stuck in the practice room doing the same things over and over and focusing on getting it perfect. Practice is such a good tool to get better in our performance, but often we forget to also just play.
When was the last time you picked up your instrument and played whatever you wanted? Just made random noise and noodled around? Playing for enjoyment as well as practicing for improvement are both really important things and neither should be neglected.
I challenge you to take out your instrument and just have a noodle around; you deserve to!
2. Make music with people from different skill levels
This event that I went to was for younger students, and some of them had just started out on the oboe. But there were also teachers and mentors there are well. All together, it was a huge group of oboists that spanned across a large age and skill level range.
Everywhere I looked, I saw people helping each other and learning from one another. I saw the joy of creating something together spread across the group, and I was so glad to be a part of it.
I challenge you to play your instrument with lots of different people from different skill levels; from beginners to professionals. When you are united by the music, it can be so joyful.
3. Visualisation: what would younger you think?
This is something that I love to do and it makes me so excited about playing the oboe. When I went to this event, I performed for the students, and I couldn’t help but imagine what the 9-year-old me would think if she was in the group of students. She would be so excited to be surrounded by oboists and also so proud of current-me for performing for them.
Whenever I am about to do something where I am a little nervous in my playing, I imagine telling my younger self what I am doing and imagining how excited she would be for me. Doing this helps to put what I’m doing into perspective and it often makes me really excited and joyful about it.
So I challenge you, imagine what younger you would think about the amazing things you are doing now.
I’m sending you so much joy and encouragement in your playing!
All my best,
Eleanor
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