Self-motivating

[Light Seeker]

I love playing music with other people, but I have a terribly difficult time motivating myself to sit there and practice by myself if there's nobody available to play with. How do you, fellow congaplace users, motivate yourselves to practice/play when you're alone?

[bongosnotbombs]

I'm motivated to practice because I want to keep up! There are a lot of great players around here.
It helps that I have a teacher like Sandy Perez who is so cool and laid back and lays all this really
cool and funky Matanzas material on us. It's kind of funny but he's such a nice guy I want to make sure and
improve and learn his material well not just for myself as a player, but also for him and his reputation as a teacher and player.

[congamyk]

I get a lot of inspiration to practice from youtube.
Especially when I see videos like this 8 year old kid!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZqRn0ovdAI

Also the new congamasterclass videos are inspiring.

[windhorse]

The thing that has me motivated right now is having set up two gigs in April, and taking bata lessons where I'm getting beat up..
Some of my practice is while driving and in the shower believe it or not.. These alone times can be good for self-reflective practice with timing and singing.
To quote my teacher, "There's nothing like a gig to motivate you to become a better musician."
Your awareness is heightened, your motivation is greatest, you go over and over your parts and you come out the other side a changed man. More confident, and better.
That being said, my first four years of playing drums was spent practicing for hours every day, until my neck and back stiffened up and I couldn't lift my arms.
Now, I really don't spend near us much time on focused technique and rhythm practice. Now, it's more about timing, but every now and then I get the drums out and spend an an hour or two on basics really slow. One of the things that motivates me is the sound of my drums and the feel of them on my hands. Another is just trying to keep up with my friends who are constantly advancing and learning. And now, trying to learn the calls of the Iya so that I know where my pattern starts and changes..
We practice at least once and usually twice a week together, and these times allow for some technical practice, but much of it is also teaching others which helps your own chops and overall awareness.

[thomas newton]

First, there is nothing wrong with not wanting to sit and play. Like anything else you are developing or learning, you will hit difficulties, plateaus, and just days when you don't feel like it. This is ok - it's normal, don't beat yourself up about it. After 4 years if you don't get bored sometimes, you would be a freaking superhero.

Secondly, just to comment on an earlier post by windhorse, hurting myself playing would be one of the best ways to put me off returning to the drums. In a year of playing, I have only had significantly sore hands, enough to keep me awake, once. Again a bit of discomfort is not a problem and is normal, like when you go to the gym, for example. I do strongly agree with him tho that teaching someone something is one of the best ways to improve yourself - in any field.

The best ways I have found are:

Make sure your practice place is warm, comfortable and without distractions as far as you can. Also that you are not hungry, tired, feeling like you should be doing something else, etc.

Put on a film or watch tv and just sit at the drum - more often than not I find that I forget what I'm watching and I end up practicing pretty enthusiastically once my hands and the drum have warmed up.

As congamyk has said, browse youtube. It's a very powerful stimulus to watch good players and remind yourself why you are practicing in the first place. It's also good to see bad players sometimes, try and identify their 'mistakes' and allow yourself to think just how far along the road you have traveled.

I use Percussion Studio to accompany me, so I don't feel like I'm playing alone. It doesn't stop, make mistakes, get cruzado, get tired, but doesn't comment when I do all these things.

Sometimes when I don't feel much like it, I say that I will just sit for ten minutes. I always find that I play for longer and often am loathe to stop once warmed up. If you have promised yourself to play ten minutes and you get up after the ten that's a success, if you say, 'Right I'm determined to play for 2 hours,' and you get up after an hour you will feel failure. Sitting down is the important thing not the playing for hours, that will take care of itself.

Remember that listening to music, reading theory, the forums, the history of your instrument and the culture it came from or just talking to someone with similar interests is 'doing congas' and can make for productive breaks from actual playing.

Just a noobs tuppence worth.

[ABAKUA]

These 2 pics on my desktop do it for me.

[CongaTick]

I agree with everything that's been said. I can only add that though I practice/play almost every day for about an hour, there are days when I feel less enthusiastic as I set up my drums and start tuning up. Until I sit down and begin and allow myself to be taken by the music, the sound, the rhythm. One thing I will say is that there are no bad practices. If you are true to your love of your music, you will learn something every time you play.

[Joseph]

A few applicable quotes from George Leonard's book "Mastery"

“The use of the word …practice as a verb…is clear to all of us. You practice your trumpet, your dance routine, your multiplication tables,…. To practice in this sense implies something separate from the rest of your life. You practice in order to learn a skill, in order to improve yourself, in order to get ahead…
….For one who is on the master’s journey, however, the word is best conceived as a noun, not as something you do, but as something you have, something you are. In this sense, the word is akin to the Chinese word tao, and the Japanese word do, both of which mean, literally, road or path.
Practice is the path upon which you travel, just that.....
...Ultimately the master and the master's path are one"

“To practice regularly, even when you seem to be getting nowhere, might at first seem onerous. But the day eventually comes when practicing becomes a treasured part of your life. You settle into it as if your favorite easy chair, unaware of time and the turbulence of the world. It will still be there for you tomorrow. It will never go away”

“Satisfaction lies in mindful repetition, the discovery of endless richness in subtle variations on familiar themes”

[KKonga]

I can not wait to get home everyday to play my drums. Personally I don't need motivation. I love my instruments and practice makes it more enjoyable. I have drums set up in my living room and play daily. I think it's a personal thing and has to become part of your fabric. Playing often will only make you better and as you progress you won't need motivation. When your alone is a good time to try new things. Again it's all up to you and what you want out of music.
Enjoy!!!
KK

[vinnieL]

I certainely can understand that it can be difficult to stay motivated. I myself have been very tired lately because ive been working a lot of hours and i work at night. So honestly I have not been hitting the congas as much as i would like to lately. This week the bug hit me again and ive started going at it again. I have been on a hunt trying to find a couple of people that play some instrument guitar,piano, a horn anything but haven't come up with anyone to play with. It would be real nice to just get together with a couple of people and just jam a little. But ultimately for me it's just the music that draws my attention and the love of the drum that always brings me back to them.