We went to Los Angeles to meet with award-winning multi-instrumentalist, jazz theorist, and author of Music Theory Made Simple, Adrian Valia. We learned more about his thoughts on the Soundbrenner Core 2's newest features, such as the practice tracker, and how it helps with music practice and motivation.
So, how do you stay motivated during music practice?
“I guess when I struggle with motivation, I just try to find the reason why I'm doing music in the first place. It sounds a bit extreme when sometimes you're just feeling lazy, but you have to keep a very strong goal in mind, like a very strong motivator. If you don't have that, if you're just thinking, 'Well, I just need to do that to get better,' that's not enough for me. I have to go a bit deeper and think — where do I want to see myself in five years? I need to connect with that idea and think that the only way to get there is one step at a time every single day.”
How does the Core 2’s practice tracker feature help music practice motivation?
“It's cool! The fact that you can not only keep yourself accountable, but you can see how many hours you practice and how much closer you are to reaching your particular goals is important. Especially with something like practice, which is often done alone, it’s really important to have an external reference and to see how you're progressing — so you make sure that you're getting to where you want to be.”
What are the benefits of being able to share your music practice session with a community of musicians?
“For me, being able to see someone else's journey and how they're getting to where they want to be, whether that's in terms of consistency or musicianship, is motivating. It gives me more energy when I'm able to keep myself accountable to others and see how they are doing as well.”
How does the vibrating metronome help with music practice?
“The great thing about the Core 2 is that you can feel the rhythm yourself, and you're not relying on external sources. You have to embody that particular tempo, which is paramount when you're practicing. In real life, you won't have a click track — if you don't have that, it's really important to develop your internal rhythm. I think this is a great tool to bridge the gap between having absolutely nothing and having a very annoying metronome. This is a great way of internalizing rhythm.”
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