Tips for practicing a musical instrument with ADHD

So I’m (somehow) a professional classical musician and managed to eke my way through a music honours degree a couple of years ago, but I’ve always been terrible at practicing, hence the ‘somehow’. Like the ‘once every two weeks maybe kind of terrible. Since being diagnosed with ADHD a couple of months ago, this all now makes sense, but I would love to be able to practice more effectively and regularly. Does anyone have any music specific advice? I see an adhd coach who is helpful but doesn’t have the specific knowledge or experience for this particular struggle.

nottooserious

Nearly the same as pewpew. Often the solution is to start without the pressure to practice long. Just start. And when you play, just keep playing. Very often I make a rest and forget to practice more because of chatting or YouTube for example. Then be gentle and keep going with practicing. And also I allow myself at bad days to practice some basic skills while watching a movie. ;) And last but not least: use your creativity and improvise or try to feel what you want to play just for fun. (Some solo pieces or playing with a play along or with recordings of big inspiring musicians….) And laster but not leaster;) Enjoy the feeling of being proud of yourself about small progresses. Playing some phrases easier, development of sound, or just that you had a flow moment of working intense

Unknown

My wife told me I could try to lower the bar, like break it down into smaller steps, instead of trying to motivate myself to exercise for an hour. For example sitting down, taking my instrument. If that feels okay, just play for 5 minutes. If five minutes are okay, thinking about what I need to really do and add 10 min to do that. If that leaves me at 5-15 minutes every day, its a start. I sometimes forget this approach but will try it again from now on :-)

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