You will set your own goals as you mature as musicians, but to get started, here are a few of mine.

Goal: Rehearse Regularly

Learning to practice well is one of the most important things I can help you do. If you create a regular habit of working on your music, you are succeeding. What you are doing now already matters right now — not everything is for some unforeseeable future.

Create a culture of rehearsal in your life and find joy in it. It really doesn’t matter how much natural talent you started life with — true talent is earned over time. So go practice.

Goal: Face the Music

Facing the music means being real about how you’re doing.

There will be weeks when your practice is simply terrible, and I will never want you to pretend you had a good week when you didn’t. In fact, learning rise up from rubbishy rehearsals or avoid them in the first place is very important work, and I’ll help if you let me.

On the other hand, sometimes you will feel like you are at the top of your game musically. Let that feeling sink into your soul because you’ll need it later during less awesome weeks. Ride that train, baby. And then go practice.

Goal: Steady, Freddy

In addition to being honest with yourself, I expect and hope for a bit more. A steady application of the following tips will really take you places.

• Try it. Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly (at first).

• Listen and feel and think and notice.

• Rehearse.

• Get enough rest. Make sure you eat. Take care of your body.

• Do the performance classes and casual gigs. Learn to perform by performing.

• Be curious. Explore music that isn’t your regular style.

• Bask in the music you already love.

• Ask for help. Ask questions.

• Hold yourself to a high musical standard, but be gentle with yourself as you learn.

• Try it again. You’re getting better and better at this.

• Learn that other instrument if you like. Audition for things that attract you, even if it feels scary.

• Jam with other musicians anytime you can, even if they are way more experienced than you.

You become a runner by running, a writer by writing, and a musician by musicking. Dig in. It takes time, and there is beauty in the time.

My darlings, go practice.