Top 10 Tips: How To Keep Your New Year's Resolutions

Those of you who have spent a decent chunk of their teenage years listening to Nirvana/Foo Fighters/The Eagles/Simon & Garfunkel/Iron Maiden/Metallica/Nick Drake/Sleater Kinney/The Smiths/Hole/Stone Roses/Camera Obscura/Mozart/Bach/Berlioz/Stravinsky/Miles Davis/Ella Fitzgerald/Charlie Parker/Chet Baker/Lead Belly/Sonny Boy Williamson/any music at all will understand there comes a point when you think to yourself ‘I really should pick up an instrument’.
It’s a nice thought and one which a lot of people simultaneously seem to have around New Year. We’ve come prepared for this.
A lot of resolutions can somehow go missing and get lost amid the other white noise which tends to distract at this time of year – like a pair of nice socks put into an oversubscribed wash cycle, one is bound to get lost. So without further ado, here’s Musicroom’s guide for sticking to your Musical New Year’s Resolutions this year:

STEP ONE: BUY AN INSTRUMENT. It’s kind of important you do this first – and lucky for you we’ve got a seriously great SALE on right now so you can buy your first guitar/keyboard/etc for cheap. Check in-store if you need advice on what kind of instrument might suit you best as our staff are always on hand to help you out.

STEP TWO: BUY THE RIGHT BOOKS. We’ve also got a huge amount of beginners books for any instrument on sale at the moment so make sure you head on over HERE to check them out. We’re also going to be releasing an instrument-by-instrument guide on the top 10 books to buy in the blog over the coming few days.

STEP THREE: We recommend you put aside a strictly regular time 2 – 3 times a week where you sit down and just focus on what needs to be done – those bold few of you out there who have decided to teach yourselves, this is ultimately your only chance to start things off correctly. Once the routine is in place, however, this won’t seem such a chore – it will happen automatically and you’ll begin to enjoy the time you get to yourself to focus.

STEP FOUR: Keep a diary of your progress, note down what you’re finding tough and what you’re finding easy. This way you can track your progress better than just blindly following a guide.

STEP FIVE: Once you’ve noted down your progress you can now read this through and from that it can inform your GOALS. Setting yourself goals each week will give you confidence to keep it going and also give you an incentive. Week by week you can gauge your progress as it becomes tangible through achieving goals and taking note of problems.

STEP SIX: Be patient! You’re not going to master an extremely difficult piece immediately. Take your time with your instrument and take it from us you will really need to have a firm grip on the basics in order to make real progress. You can’t cheat!

STEP SEVEN: If you have friends who are musicians then don’t be too embarrassed or proud to ask them for help. Musicians are (VERY generally speaking) nice people who will help you out in your time of need.. so give them a call if you’re struggling with your bowing technique or if you’re wondering whether your fingers are meant to bleed after a particularly long practice session.

STEP EIGHT: Give yourself a break when you need it. Don’t try to practice every hour of the day because you’ll just end up going insane, breaking your instrument over your head and wishing you’d never read this STUPID guide in the first place.

STEP NINE: Online tutorials are a great tool for beginner musicians, especially when facing a problem. We have some great tutorials up on our YouTube now for you to check out with some excellent presenters who also happen to be professional musicians and music teachers. Have a look for yourself here.

STEP TEN: Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for any support you might need. We have a Twitter page HERE and our Facebook is HERE – give us a shout with whatever you need and we’ll do our best to sort it for you.
Best of luck!