My Goals For This Year

The biggest aspect of my playing that I would like to improve on this year in band is practicing because I think if I can enhance the way I practice, everything else I want to improve on will fall into place. For me, the hardest part about practicing is getting myself to take out my instrument and practice. More often than not, I will consider practicing and then decide that watching the Real Housewives of New Jersey seems a lot more interesting than practicing my chromatic scale. My goal for June is to make myself practice 6 days a week. Even if its for a short period of time, I want to get myself into the habit of practicing almost everyday because I know that repetition is the key to improvement. I would also like get rid of my addiction to watching the Real Housewives of New Jersey altogether but I think that may be a bit too ambitious. Along with practicing, I would also like to improve on my sight-reading skills. To put it lightly, I am a horrible sight-reader and I think I've allowed myself to accept this fact for too long. By the end of the school year, I want to be able to play something I've never seen before and have it sound at least slightly how it is supposed to sound. I would also like to improve on my intonation. I think intonation is also something we need to work on as a band. Intonation is so important because you can play everything perfectly and if your instrument is not in tune, you're going to sound terrible no matter what you do. By June, I would like be able to know the tendencies of my instrument and adjust my embouchure accordingly. My final goal for the end of the year is to not be so terrified of playing tests and auditions because I think my nervousness prevents me from reaching my potential. Now, I'm not really sure if I can just cure my nerves altogether, but I'm hoping for at least a small improvement. So, by this June, I hope to improve my practicing habits, my sight-reading ability, my intonation and my nerves. Wish me luck!