LO 4 COMMITMENT (Showing perseverance, resilience and commitment in activities) 

I have shown commitment in my involvement in trumpet through the amount of time I have devoted towards practice. Since the start of the year, the consistency of my practice has increased to a point where I practice between 4-5 times a week for approximately 3o minutes each time. Considering the amount of work that is given in IB, this is a large portion of the time.

I do not view practising the trumpet as a chore but rather something I want to do. Although when I’m tired or busy I opt to prioritise my academic work over other things, I have been consistent in my practice. Enjoying playing is definitely a large portion of how I am able to maintain consistency in my practice. In the past, when I haven’t practised for durations of time it would typically be because I was not managing my time well.

The only person I interact within this activity is my trumpet teacher who has helped me be consistent in my practice. It is clear when you haven’t practised for a while by the quality of the sound played and he’s noticed when I have taken time off. By setting goals and repeating exercises when I haven’t progressed (usually due to not practising) I have been able to stay committed to this activity. Other than my trumpet teacher it has been up to me to stay on top of my commitment as my parents are not actively involved in making sure that I am practising consistently.

When I was not very committed my progression slowed or even reversed. If I did not play for an extended period of time, my range or tone quality would reduce. When I was consistent with my practice and challenged myself with harder activities, my ability to play increased which would be enough motivation at times to continue wanting to practice to show more improvement. Understanding that being committed doesn’t require one hour a day or that 15 minutes is significantly better than not playing for a day helped improve my commitment.

Outside factors that influenced my commitment would be the amount of work and travelling. More internal factors (more controllable) would be time management, quality of sleep, and prioritisation. Setting goals such as participation in the Jazz band next year and playing at a recital in the near future have also increased my commitment to trumpet as these are unique opportunities that involve an audience greater than only my teacher and I.