Does one need an end goal for practice?

Ive been a music educator for quite some time now and i have noticed a very different approach toward practice that I feel vs. my students’ attitude toward it.

I’m going to come off as a “Boomer” as many of my students have poked fun at but I can’t be anything but given my level of experience in comparison to theirs, so here goes...

I don’t believe that the expression of emotion through practice needs a justification and therefore an end goal. That the justification come intrinsically through the expression itself. Sure, it’s great to put your stuff out there, recognition feels good for anyone, but let’s not forget what we are really doing in the first place.

1. We are gaining knowledge, expanding our own horizons and peering to the mind of a person who had the guts to say, “this is my idea, these are my feelings that I am willing to share”

2. We strengthening our memory as would be when exercising any body part. I’m doing so, we are working to insure that our brains continue to function well into our futures.

3. People who practice maintain a conduit to the mind of a composer‘a past. Those people felt what they needed to say and how they said it should continue on and as performers it’s our job to do so.

4. Developing a repertoire gives each performer a catalog of art that had the potential to be shared.

5. Practice is meditative, calming to the senses, focusing, and on some ways escapism. In a world where there is so much information, constant over stimulation of the senses, practice gives some relief to that.
   

Musicians are custodians of culture, history, and emotion. We play a vital role in the evolution of the human experience.