2026 Musical Resolutions
Here we go, heading into the start of another year! If you are like me, the urge to make a list of new year’s goals, intentions, and resolutions is undeniable. This is it. This is the year all the changes will stick and I will emerge as the glorious powerhouse that I have secretly been this entire time. Am I right? (I’m totally right!)
It is possible that you have had a similar experience as me in the past. You set your intentions and feel incredibly invested. You start out strong but then begin to fade at around week 2, slowly settling into complacency and old patterns. Sigh.
Not this year, my friend. I am ready for a transformation, and I’m going to take you along with me. I can feel your skepticism and I am prepared for it. Here’s the thing. If we are going to create fulfilling change, we need to shift how we are writing our resolutions. Instead of focusing on what we will accomplish, this year we will focus on how we are working. Shift the paradigm of work, and the accomplishments will take care of themselves.
Take a look at these resolutions, and may the coming year be rich in musical growth.
Embrace Mistakes
Nothing feels worse than being in the groove of a song and then stumbling into one mistake after another. In the pursuit of perfection, however, we overlook one crucial piece of learning. The brain only changes when we make mistakes. It is the discomfort of mistakes that prod neurons into shifting and rewiring. It turns out that mistakes are actually essential for learning and growing.
This year, let’s embrace mistakes! Instead of feeling poorly about ourselves when mistakes happen, shift into curiosity. Start asking questions. Why did that mistake happen? What was the precursor to the mistake? What needs to change so that the behavior is different?
The more open we are to mistakes, the quicker we will progress.
Travel Outside Your Comfort Zone
Oh, comfort zone. How glorious you are. I could bask in this comfort all year…and really not grow at all. Progressing on our musical journey requires us to actively become uncomfortable. Similar to making mistakes, feeling uncomfortable is the prime condition for neural growth. Although undoubtedly scary, the area just outside of our comfort zone is where insights happen, new connections are made, and our horizons expand. We are capable of so much more than we imagine, and it is outside of our comfort zone where that knowledge resides.
This year, let’s commit to pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones! We can all decide on the frequency. Once a week? Once a month? Perhaps there is a challenging song that you have been avoiding or an open-mic night that makes your stomach roll. Let’s do it! The discomfort will be great, but the growth will be greater.
Make Practice Three-Dimensional
Monotony is a precursor to the loss of motivation, decrease in progress, and overall feelings of blah. To keep moving forward with enthusiasm, let’s change how we are practicing. Most likely, when you sit down to practice, you settle into the same routine over and over and over again. Hence, blah.
No two practice sessions ever need to look the same! Some days are for drills, but some are for creative freestyling, and others are for listening to bands and feeling inspired. It’s time to mix up our practices. Nourishing how our brains experience music will increase its ability to learn new skills. Check out this blog post, Redefining Practice, to get an idea of several different practice techniques.
Reflect to Perfect
There is a nugget of learning theory that we fully embrace here at Rock 101. It has to do with how long-term memories are created. In one word: reflection. It is during the act of reflecting on thoughts, actions, and feelings that information shifts from short term memory into long term storage.
Now, if you’re like most of us, you finish your practice sessions by quickly storing equipment and then rushing away to the next activity. Your progression towards your musical goals will skyrocket if you start incorporating a few minutes of reflection before rushing onto the next item on the to-do list.
Here are a few questions to ask that prompt both reflection and learning. Choose 3-4 questions to sit with at the end of each practice session.
What parts of practice went well?
What parts of practice were challenging?
What mistakes did I make today?
What did I absolutely nail today?
What did I learn about myself or my playing today?
How do I feel?
It’s Gonna Be a Good Year
Indeed. By shifting the how of practice, we will find more joy and fulfillment in our musical adventures. The author Berthold Auerbach believed that “music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” That’s what we’re doing this year! I’m on the edge of my seat - I can’t wait to hear how it goes.
- Danielle Parker