I recently had a bit of a discussion with another musician similar to this. She said that even though she's not into self-help books (and neither am I), she suggested Wayne Dyer's "Excuses Begone." I've only just started reading it, but I'm finding it making me aware of excuses we all make that keep us from getting what we want. In fact, "I'm too tired" is one of the excuses that he mentions in his list of excuses.

I'm finding that just realizing this is a big step forward for me, and I haven't even gotten to the part about how to make the excuses begone.

More specifically to practicing, I've been studying with a teacher since last November, and this is the first time I've had tons of time available to practice. I've never in my life done a practice session on my own for more than an hour. What I've been generally doing now is 20-30 minute sessions. One will usually be warming up, stretches and technique stuff, then a break, then theory kinds of stuff, break, etc. I feel like having the shorter sessions and the breaks gives the material time to soak in and perhaps my hands to rest a little if I'm pushing them. Overall, the lessons also keep me motivated because you never want to go to a lesson and say you've done nothing! I also try to do some fun stuff such as improvising on songs but I've been slacking on that part lately.

Hey there Andree. Sorry to everybody for being away from the forum for a bit. Life's been…interesting.

I have particularly strong feelings about this concept. I can't say for sure but I feel that there is a definite syndrome (or however you want to classify it) for music majors right out of school. I graduated in 2005, took a year of (mostly just being lazy and recovering) then tried my hand at grad school, doing very poorly. I experienced a major musical slump after coming out of school. And I've seen it in several of my music major friends. We run the risk of becoming burned out on music after all that intensity. I spent a long time not even touching my keyboard in my room (I'm talking like, the better part of a year with only a few exceptions). This all made me very depressed. Eventually I discovered that I needed to fall in love with music again. If I loved music the way I tell myself I do, then coming to the piano to play shouldn't be a problem. It was especially important for me as I consider myself something of an aspiring composer.

I'm doing much better these days and finding exciting ways to live as a working musician. I suppose that you would have to go on something of a soul searching journey if it's that bad. That's what I did. But things are far better for me since I have. Once you feel better about coming to the piano, then you have to find the balance; music and practice isn't supposed to be all fun and games, but you don't want it to become a chore.

I suppose the first helpful thing I can say is that you're not alone in feeling that way. I think a lot of university-trained musicians feel that way.

While I do appreciate your input on the previous situation, I think it’s a bit harsh to jump to the conclusion that post-graduation laziness is a sign that perhaps I need to re-evaluate my career goals.

I know I am not the only one to be frustrated and exhausted after studying for a few years in a stressful learning environment and I was just wondering how other ex-students coped with it at the time.

I have since gone back to my many hours a day practice routine and while I am not gigging much as of now, I’m back into shape at least.

I’d like to thank Joe and Brian – good comments from you guys!

I totally relate to the experience you describe. It’s a nightmare.

The following has helped me get round this:

- NEVER punish yourself for past laziness – always think positively about what you can do today or tomorrow rather than feeling guilty about what you could have done yesterday but didn’t.

- Just do what you can do – if you don’t feel like practicing, there’s no sense in forcing it. Just do some scales or a bit of bach if that’s all you can do, anything to keep your fingers moving.

- Sometimes, just sitting at the piano and playing can lead to hours of practice – the amount of times I’ve spent hours thinking about practicing, then when I finally sit down and start, I then find it very difficult to stop.

- Go out to free gigs for inspiration

- By far the best solution is to get paid work playing. (Easier said than done, I know)

- The most important thing is to stay happy – musicians are always vulnerable to depression. Fighting this depression rather than succombing to it, or even worse, indulging in it, is the key to making music.

- Be patient with yourself !

Hope this helps and I wish you all the very best.

You know, sometimes taking some time off from music is actually good for your musicianship. Every other person I know takes vacations, why can’t we?

After I left college, there were a few times where I hardly played for a week or more. Every time I returned to the guitar I felt like I’d gotten out of a rut, especially right after college when my goals had been rather narrow. I remember feeling like I’d finally absorbed everything I’d learned and could now forget about it and just make music.

Once you start getting more and more work, your practice time will be dominated by learning material for the next gig. Practicing becomes the actual job.

I also gave myself a “default” for practicing. If I’m not feeling very motivated to work on whatever I should be working on, or can’t decide what to work on, I learn a Beatles tune. I learn as many parts as I can, on different instruments, try it in different keys, etc. There’s a wealth of knowledge in each song, and it never hurts to know more Beatles songs!