Everyone knows practice makes perfect. But is becoming a great musician really just a matter of rehearsing more? The truth is a great musical mind requires a lot more than just hours of music practice. Becoming a great musician is not just about cramming in theory and playing your instrument until your fingers bleed. Indeed, some strategies can help you improve your music skills in rather unconventional – and fun – ways.

Setting more goals

Who would have thought that being good at setting goals could help you be more musical? It might sound odd but it is true. The process of setting goals requires you to be logical and set strategies that are simple and effective. In order to achieve your goals, you first need to know what it is that you want to achieve and how you can get there. You need a plan – which is crucial when it comes to learning faster.

Therefore, by thinking about music more through goal-setting, you will improve your ability to learn. You’ll accomplish tasks quicker and you focus more on the essential.

Talking to like-minded people

Great minds do think alike and if you want to absorb music and learn more about it, you need to surround yourself with other musicians. This isn’t difficult in the modern era of online chat rooms and Snapchat. So, join a music community of people who share your passion and get talking about your common interest.

Playing games

You should occasionally swap your guitar or saxophone to a game controller and play games to boost your musical abilities. Now, while Guitar Hero is certainly not going to teach you how to play the guitar, games like that can hone your musical instincts. You will be able to listen to the rhythm and pitch – especially if you don’t just mindlessly slam the buttons.

Guitar Hero and others are undoubtedly fun games but more ‘serious’ games are available as well. You could train your ear with RelativePitch or improve your rhythm with Steve Reich’s Clapping Music.

Explore and listen new music

Listening to music can help you make you a better musician. But it’s not about any kind of listening; you must listen actively. This means paying all of your attention to the music and exploring music you wouldn’t normally listen to. You want to focus on finding new genres and listen to bands that sing your favourite song differently than what you’re used to – it will help you notice intricate differences and opportunities in music. So, book a tribute act for your summer party or treat concerts like blind dating – the less you know before you listen to it, the better.

These strategies can actually help you become more musical. If you utilise these, you will make playing by ear more natural and you can start improving your improvisation skill. Of course, these strategies don’t mean practice and playing aren’t important. They just show that in order to enhance the impact of your saxophone or guitar lessons, you also need to implement other, less conventional methods.