These are "upgrades" that make your normal practice that much better, no matter what instrument/voice or style.

CREATIVE TRANSFER

Keep on tap some tracks of artists who inspire you!

Keep your aesthetic world expanded during practice by interleaving these inspirations.

Videos can be great because you can learn from their physical posture, playing technique, facial expressions, etc.

Audio can be great if you want to focus on how it sounds and feels.

Don't just be inspired: CREATIVELY TRANSFER.

The simplest example is 1:1 - find an artist who is playing a piece that you're working on, and literally just impersonate them.

Play their exact licks, their exact phrasing.

Or, just listen to their tone, articulation, emotion... transfer it to something totally different.

Become more and more a SOUND ARTIST.

My application: Baroque violin to scales. Sheherezade horn section

PERFORM & EVALUATE SEPARATELY

If you're evaluating how you're doing, that's very left brain, analytical, and focused on the past, and generally critical.

It's not a great mindset to be in when you're performing.

When you're performing it's best to be focused on the present & very near future, "full brain" - left brain is operating any technical stuff, and right brain is generating musical/emotional attunement.

You want to practice being in the most effective mindset.

That means when you are playing your instrument, focus on performing!

Use a recorder - video or audio - to record your performance. Then listen back and analyze.

Make a list of all the things you'd like to celebrate or fix.

Often, things will converge into a single, simple solution for improvement.

You can only half-ass your self-evaluation while in the midst of playing or singing.

You can only half-ass your performance while in the midst of self-evaluation.

So do them both fully, by separating performing & evaluating.

USE BACKING TRACKS, NOT METRONOMES

Have you listened to a metronome lately?

It freaking sucks!

It's unmusical.

The difference between metronome click & backing track is that a typical metronome doesn't have phrasing, nor artistically satisfying subdivision or internal patterning.

You can find pure percussion backing tracks, like these:

DILLA BEATS DRUM GROOVE

FAST METAL 140BPM

GROOVY DRUMS 90BPM

or get interesting with

9x4 TAKE-TATAKE-TAKETINA LOOP

They are far more interesting than a metronome and will invite more musicality, phrasing, and precision (due to engaging subdivisions).

I like using these for scales, arpeggios, flexibilities, and more.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR! GO GET IT

... or post your favorite practice upgrade below