New Year’s resolutions are a great way to start afresh. The beginning of a new year means you have a chance to start all over with a clean slate. Out with the old and in with the new. It is also a good time to analyse the progress of your musical plans. As a musician or singer, you might have found 2021 a little better than 2020 as the world opened up more giving you a chance to practise in groups and maybe even perform in public.
For some, it is time to dust off the cobwebs on the piano, and open those neglected books of scales. Time to forgive yourself for the forgotten promises of the last year, and start a new chapter in your musical ambitions. One full of hope – more realistic, doable, and exciting than the last. Are you moving towards your musical goals or have you lost your way during the pandemic and find yourself now meandering? Wherever you find yourself on the musical path, these practical ideas can make your musical dreams and hopes take shape as you move towards your goals in 2022.
Resolutions for musicians
1. Fix a realistic practice routine
You know yourself best. So, make a realistic schedule for practice and do all you can to ensure you follow it. For instance, every day, go over the next day’s practice schedule and be very serious about adhering to it.
How many hours a day should you play? While this may vary from person to person, it would be a good idea to play for at least 1-2 hours every day so you get a chance to get a feel of your music. It takes time to immerse yourself into your music. Give yourself that time. Playing randomly, whimsically, and infrequently will not allow you to progress much in your music and this will eventually extinguish that fire within you.
Tip: At the same time, don’t overdo it. You should not become too tired or bored to play the next day. Make sure you stop your practice at an interesting point – so you look forward to playing or singing the next day.
2. Learn a new instrument
Tip: If you really get a hang of your instrument, you can even fill in for a member of your group and add your own inimitable style to the performance. Audiences always love to cheer multi-skilled performers.
3. Push your limits
Have you been planning to perform in a concert or go on tour, or perform solo, or record yourself, or even just write a song? The new year is the perfect time to do something that you always wanted to do. Go for an audition, participate in a competition, sing karaoke in public. Just go for it!
Tip: Get out of your comfort zone and see where that takes you! Experiment, be dynamic! A small tweak in your activities can bring about a giant transformation within you. You can also get some tips on how to perform on stage from a veteran performer.
4. Compose your own song
Few things are as invigorating as creating something original. If you have never tried it before, you could learn songwriting at your own pace. You will feel alive when you come up with a fresh piece that comes from a special place within you.
Tip: If you already write songs, make a goal- like one song a week or 5 songs by the end of the year. A target that is challenging and yet achievable.
5. Learn music production and editing
Once you have written, sung, and performed your song, it is important to know how to go about producing it. To present it to the public. Mixing, editing, and producing music are integral elements of music today. It can help you sound distinct, lend variations to your piece, and cater to a larger audience than your song originally attended.
Tip: Make sure that 2022 sees you delving deeper into different aspects of music. And the heartening thing is that this isn’t rocket science, you can learn music production on GarageBand and apply it immediately!
6. Connect with your prospective listeners
You must have heard of ‘Network or it will not work’!
The success of your music depends a great deal on how well you distribute it. So, the more people you know, the larger your audience can be. And the faster your music channel builds a fanbase – a good way to get recognised by the industry. So make that YouTube video and share it with your friends and family, promote yourself on Meta, and go all out to ensure you are being followed on Instagram. The more you are LIKEd, the more people will listen and watch your music.
Tip: Learn some expert tips on how to grow on Spotify.
7. Include different genres to your music portfolio
‘Variety is the spice of life that gives it all its flavour.’ So, ensure that your music is not boxed into one category. Audiences can be fickle about their preferences. One day, it could be rock, another day pop, and another classical. It would help you if you were versatile enough to play different genres. Naturally, everyone has a style and genre they are most comfortable with but in the race to be different, it is important to be multifaceted.
Tip: You could listen to different genres and see which one matches your music style best and then find your space within it.
8. Brush up on your musical skills
Perhaps you learnt classical singing as a child and then branched out into Western vocals, or you used to write poems and songs but then became a pianist. This new year, revisit your past lessons and passions and see how you can diversify your musical skills – to add to your music repertoire.
Tip: It could even be a skill that you wished you learnt as a child like playing the harmonica. This is the time to give wings to your dreams!
9. Get in shape
Exercising more, eating right, and losing weight are some of the most common New Year’s resolutions. Even for musicians and singers these are essential. After all, your body is the medium through which you produce your music. Be mindful of your activities – keep your vocal cords free-flowing and flexible and your mind active and agile.
Tip: Breathing exercises can help you sing better. Here are more tips to improve your singing voice.
10. Collaborate more
Tip: Get together with different artistes online or offline in the new year, as the situation permits, so you can learn more actively and bounce ideas off each other. The more different the artistes’ styles the more range and variety there will be in your musical productions.
Hope you get off to a crackling start to the new year with these tips. Visit sapaindia.com for all your music-related interests.
Wish you a very Happy New Year! And hope your resolutions are as successful at the end as they were in the beginning!
