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The capitalized term SMART Goals is an acronym and refers to an evidenced-based formula for achieving a goal. The term "evidence-based" means using the best available research to inform decision-making, interventions, or strategies based on scientific research, and I propose we bring evidence-based practices into our work as musicians.  A "smart goal" for any violinist would be "I want to practice my vibrato more." And who can argue with that? It is not a bad start, but it is akin to saying come to my house for dinner & leaves us with several voids: Where do I live? How do you get there? What date works best? When should you arrive? Are there any cats? Are you allergic to cats? Do you have any food preferences? Etcetera, etcera. Saying, "Come to my house for dinner," is not specific enough to create the best outcome, and the same problem happens when we settle with using vague goals for our violin playing. Using the "SMART goal" paradigm, the goal to practice vibrato more would turn into: "At the start of every practice session, Monday-Friday, for the next 3 months, I will set my timer for 8 minutes and work on technical exercises X, Y & Z, being conscious of the excess tension I am holding in my *tongue and eyes and then I will spend 6 minutes playing 1-octave G, D & A major scales in whole notes while I transfer my vibrato technicals into my violin playing." *I know that probably sounds weird, but believe it or not, this body part is usually too activated and tense. Phew! Can we agree that's quite a different goal? Which violinists will make better use of their time and progress faster? What exactly is a SMART goal? The capitalized term SMART Goals is an acronym and refers to an evidenced-based formula for achieving a goal. The term "evidence-based" means using the best available research to inform decision-making, interventions, or strategies based on scientific research and proven outcomes and is the standard approach in the medical field. It can also be seen in education, sports, and policymaking. I propose we bring evidence-based practices into our work as musicians. The SMART acronym stands for:
The gist of the entire SMART goal concept is getting specific. Let's look at each SMART goal template component to understand better how this can benefit a violinist. Specific: Define goals clearly and precisely. Taking our example of "to practice vibrato more," we can add a particular quality to this goal; perhaps we seek to make our vibrato more natural and less tense. Or, perhaps a particular finger, part of the hand, or arm needs to be adjusted in its angle to get a better-sounding vibrato. If you are still trying to figure out what better means for your musical goal, think about techniques because these are the ingredients for making something better. Measurable: Establish criteria for tracking progress. The example provided used time as a measurement: 8 minutes of technicals followed by 6 minutes of applying these into one-octave scales. Additional measurements for musicians include the quantity of repetitions, the number of bars to memorize, or a metronome tempo. Achievable: Set realistic and attainable goals. Yes, it's very exciting to set the goal to learn all of the unaccompanied solo Bach Partitas and Sonatas, but is this achievable for a 17-year-old high school senior to accomplish in 3 months while concurrently auditioning for different colleges? Realistic: Ensure goals align with broader objectives. This ties in with the achievable aspect of SMART goals. Our sample high-school-aged violinist above may be prodigious in their capacity, but this also occurs while completing their high school coursework and in the middle of their basketball season. You get the idea, which is why each part needs to be individualized to the musician and the context of their broader life. Time-bound: Set deadlines for goal completion. For this 17-year-old talented student in the middle of their extra-curricular sports, auditions, and coursework, perhaps they can learn the entire repertoire of unaccompanied Bach. It is just that the timeline needs to be appropriate, and they can focus on one Sonata or Partita every 6 months for the next 3 years. Timelines, when used appropriately, create the structure to soar. Drawbacks of the SMART goals system: It is exciting to use formats like the SMART goals to help us achieve our human potential and use evidence-based research to support us in living our dreams, but they are without limitations. 1- The first drawback is that it may be too cumbersome and time-consuming to apply a SMART goal to every portion of a musician's practice curriculum (scales, rhythm, etudes, repertoire, ensemble pieces & solo preparation). It could easily take an hour to collaborate on creating a SMART goal for each portion of a violin student's curriculum, which is not likely a good use of time. m 2- Next, SMART goals do not permit the exploration element because it is so specific. Playing music should involve playing in the true sense of the word "play." Resources for goal setting: I am no stranger to writing about the importance of setting goals, and I aimed to model & create structures for this for my students when I was actively teaching. I started thinking of goals as being like GPS coordinates for your dreams when I first wrote about this subject in 2018. This led to the creation of goal-setting resources (like the Rainbow Goal Sheets for sale in the store and free samples on the FREEBIES page). My passion for this topic continues because I find it relevant as I progress through different developmental stages as an adult. I also chose the example of vibrato in this post because some students and teachers need help with this element of music-making. If you have yet to see my video on vibrato, check it out here and learn an easier and ergonomic way to do vibrato on the violin. Lastly, please help yourself and download the SMART goal worksheets below to use with your students to help make this concept more tangible and accountable in a lesson structure.
What do you think of SMART goals? Can you see yourself using this? Do you have any criticisms? Please join in the conversation and post some feedback below.
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“A dream without a plan is just a wish.” Dream Trees help you slow down and create the life you want. You can use these beautiful sheets to define your dreams and map them into actionable goals. Plus, many of the designs in the Dream Trees collection are infused with sacred geometry to help your soul remember higher truths. Learn more below.  I developed some bad habits in nursing school and yes, you read that correctly and yes you are in the right place. This really is a project about playing/teaching/loving the violin. It’s a long story (click here to get a glimpse) but at the heart of it, I believe we heal through our passions and I hope to merge the world of healthcare with the arts. Before this new career in nursing, I spent 23 years teaching music, performing and composing. Music is still my passion and I work on this project whenever I get some free time to help me stay connected to this love. I don't have all the answers but I believe that music is an essential component of humanity living more peacefully so I have made it my mission to help bring more music into the world. Back to my nursing story, even though I graduated nursing school in June 2019, I immediately plunged into preparing for the national licensing exam (aka the NCLEX), finding a job and then training for this intricate and exciting new job as a dialysis nurse. It's been intense and my health and long term goals took a back seat. I am just starting to get settled from all of these changes and sat down recently with my fancy new Passion Planner and a cup of dark coffee (my favorite). I purchased this particular planner because it comes with goal mapping tools. However, there was one problem, they are not beautiful. I believe beauty connects us to truth and wanted this to be incorporated with my goal setting so I developed the Dream Trees. I know that if you are a musician you have a special type of passion for working on making your dreams come true so I thought these would be perfect to share with this group. Scroll down for examples of how to use Dream Trees. Visit the FREEBIES page to download a sample. View the entire collection on the store.   Win the book Vio's Violin by Kenesha T. Ryce & a $40 gift certificate to the Music for Young Violinists store. Entering is easy, scroll down to learn how.  What was the best that happened this past school year? Wow, just wow! It's so precious to have a moment to reflect on another school year. I just finished nursing school and am one step closer to bridging the gap between the arts and healing. My family is on a plane to visit and celebrate my graduation as I type and I am practicing my self-control by refraining from sampling the cookies I bought for my party. At the beginning of the school year, I asked: "What's the best that can happen?" Now, with another year under our belts, I would love to hear back from you: "What was the best that actually did happen?" Please share in the blog comments by the end of this weekend, and you will be entered into a M4YV giveaway contest. The winner will be chosen at random by the end of the day on Sunday, June 16. They will win this fantastic book pictured above to inspire violin practice + a $40 gift certificate to the M4YV store. Need a little inspiration to keep up the momentum on summer break?
Head on over to the M4YV sheet music store for some instant downloads where everything is 40% off thru the end of the weekend. Counting stones are a variation on the abacus. They are easy to make and as simple as getting a jar and 10-20 of your favorite stones (or really, anything that is small, personal and is readily available). You can see a version I made as gifts for my students one year here.  Counting stones will help make violin practice successful for the following reasons: 1- Anytime you can make something personal by choosing a unique stone (or sticker or toy, etc...) it will bring a positive connection to the experience. As advanced as the frontal lobes of our brains may be, what drives the show in our life experiences is the unconscious part of our minds. Making a simple positive connection like choosing your personalized counting stones will bring this positive influence into violin practice and help encourage the practice process. Helping to make a positive and personal connection is equally useful for a 5-year-old as it is for a 57-year-old, or in other words, is applicable for all ages. 2- Violinists need ways to release the repetitive stress involved in playing to avoid an injury. Laying practice stones out on the music stand will create a built-in mechanism for regularly relieving the arm from holding the instrument up (of using the left arm). Since I have injured myself in part thru lack of implementing healthy practice techniques such as this, I feel strongly about emphasizing this subject for future musicians to help preserve their music making experience. This led to inviting physiatrist Dr. Lin to do a presentation for my studio informing violinists and their parents about preventing violin related overuse stress injuries. The presentation, The content shared by Dr. Lin in his presentation The Violinist Athlete and Injury Prevention, is concise and solution oriented. 3- Tangible goals and tangible results. I was once teaching a 10-year old student named Julia, who came into her lesson with a look of wonder in her eyes as she stated: "Isn't it amazing that I just move my fingers and arms around and all this beautiful music comes out?!" She perfectly captured the awe of this magical experience of creating invisible art (which is what music is). Other art forms are visible - painting, films, the martial arts, etc... We violinists create invisible art and having something concrete to aid in our process such as counting stones can be useful in tracking progress and bringing a sense of groundedness to our practicing. 4- Optimize practice methodologies. In the correlating video, I show how to use practice stones to create better sequencing in violin practice. Too often students will play thru something 10x but only reinforce the incorrect bowing. With practice stones, a student can lay out an alternating pattern with one type of stone representing doing the correct bowing in the air and the other kind of stone for implementing the proper bowing on the instrument. Calendars, Goals & the BIG Secret About Our Teaching Learn how to teach goal setting and organization to your violin students by using a calendar and working backward. Not a teacher? Not a problem, this is still great content for students and parents to help you streamline your goals and clarify your focus. You will find it especially useful if you are preparing for a performance. Plus, I also share what I think is the big secret about the work we do as violin teachers: We are not just teaching the violin... We are not just teaching music...  We are teaching our students life - how to live a life with purpose and for how to navigate and process the complexities of the human experience. That is the “Big Secret” alluded to in the title and more specifically that by teaching our students to have success with their violin skills and musical expression we are sharing with them a template for how to have success in other areas of their life as well. One way we can do this is to set goals and use a calendar to create a plan for how to turn these goals into a reality. Goals are like GPS coordinates for your dreams. All of my advanced and older students get a hard copy of a 9-month calendar at the beginning of the school year and we sit down together and write in all of the performances, dress rehearsals, group classes and auditions. Then, we work backward from this structure to plan for our musical goals to best prepare for them and have success. For my younger or less advanced students, I give them a 3-month calendar in the months preceding our solo recital and do a shorter version of the planning mentioned above. In short, we are using music and the violin to teach our young students how to make their dreams come true and we need to offer them concrete tools in this process. Hardcopies of calendars that are organized by the teacher and student together help both parties clarify goals and create a structure for achieving success in these desired outcomes. To see a demonstration in more detail of how to use a calendar to support your violin goals please view the video below. |
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AuthorHi! It's me, Heather. I absolutely love working on the Music for Young Violinists project and all the many facets: blogging, website, music, teaching materials, freebies, videos, newsletter and giveaway contests. The best part is connecting with you so feel free to drop me a line. You can learn more about me on the "ABOUT" page. Thanks! |
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