Other ways of practicing.
Use your head. Yes, use your head. You can practice in your head.
It goes like this. Right this way, follow me. Watch your step.
You can be in your car. On a train to work. On a boat to work. On a lounge chair. In a doctor’s waiting room. My point is you are in transition time. You do know “transition time”, every one experiences those every day. It is those time where you just become a package. There is nothing to do, not much to think about either. It’s the “in-between-two-things” time. I picked places where your body is not moving. Where you are either lying down or sitting down. That’s better for what you want to do.
You want to use your brain. Moving the body distract the brain.
So, you place your hands on an imaginary keyboard or holding some invisible drum sticks. And you start practicing. You move those hands, those fingers just like you would if you had the real instrument in front of you. Musicians do it all the time. They don’t necessarily need a drum set to get going. Just a steering wheel will do. By the way, if you are in Chicago and you see some nut banging on the steering wheel while waiting for the light to turn, she’s probably one of my student. I take responsibility for her. It’s my fault. But if you are in a place where moving your hands would be too weird, just close your eyes and imagine moving your hands. Study shows that you get a lot of benefit doing just that, it trains you to feel your instrument. It still counts apparently.
That’s 2 ways to practice without an instrument. That’s not bad for one blog. Free little nuggets of knowledge.