In 2019, I posted a short list of my favorite apps for practice room productivity. I’ve since added a few new tools to the toolkit and added to the list. While still a big fan of pencil, paper, and a simple metronome/tuner, I love discovering and utilizing new apps that help make the most out of practice — inside and outside the practice room! Be sure to check out 2019’s original list copied below the new additions.
If you’ve got a great app or tool you’d like to recommend, please leave a comment or send me a note.
Andante Practice Journal
iOS only
I love this app. Simply and beautifully designed with all-in-one functionality. You can track, time, and log your practice sessions, rate your mood and focus for each session, set practice goals, and even use the tuner and metronome from right within the app instead of toggling back and forth to other apps. Andante really packs a punch without forcing too many unnecessary or clunky features.
photo: andante.app
Toggl Track
iOS and Android
Another time tracking app. I use this when I really want to get a sense of how my practice or preparation is really being divided. How much time am I spending on excerpts? On mental training? On listening? On fundamentals?
You can break things down however you want and even utilize a built-in Pomodoro timer for added productivity and focus. You can view your reports by day, week, month, or any custom range.
Screenshot of Toggl Track on iOS
Screenshot of Random Timer Generator on iOS
Random Timer (any)
This is probably my favorite tool in the practice app kit and I could write an entire article just on the creative ways to use this tool.
Random timers are great way to rehearse the unpredictability of audition day, specifically related to when we play. For example, a very simple exercise to practice with a random timer is as follows:
Warm up as you would on audition day.
Set the timer to go off at a random time between 20 and 60 minutes from now.
When the timer goes off, play one round of a mock audition for your recorder.
But that’s just the beginning. You can get so much more creative!
I especially like to use this to rehearse on-deck room cycles (what you do in the individual warm-up room before taking the stage). Even if the proctor gives you an estimate of how much time you have, it’s always a mystery when the knock on the door will really come. It can easily jolt you. But you can practice that feeling and how you will react. For example:
Warm up as you would on audition day.
Set the timer to go off at a random time between 10 and 30 minutes from now.
When the timer goes off, move to another room (or mentally/symbolically do so) and start your on-deck room cycles.
You are mentally on-deck now. Let’s say the imaginary proctor says you will have 30 minutes in here — we all know that can be a wild under- or over-estimation. Set your timer to go off at a random time between 15 and 45 minutes from now.
When the timer goes off, play a round for your recorder.
Get creative! For any part of the audition experience that involves a jolt of surprise, use this timer.
There are many free random timer apps out there but be sure to select one that lets you specify the parameters AND lets you hide just how long the countdown is — you want to be surprised.
Random Number Generator (any)
The random number generator is something I use simply for picking random rounds for mock auditions. I’ve got a version of my audition list with numbers assigned to each excerpt and if I want a truly random order to a mock round, I will use the number generator to eliminate any personal bias. As with the timer, any free app will do.
Ten Percent
iOS and Android
Those who know me well are probably sick of me talking about this app. There are a lot of great mediation and mindfulness apps on the market but this one is my across-the-board favorite. There are many guided meditations from leading meditation teachers and short (yet insightful) video courses on a wide range of topics such as stress, anxiety, performance, and more. There are also short talks, a podcast, and a fantastic collection of sleep meditations. It’s great for total beginners and advanced meditators alike.
If you are totally new to meditation, be sure to go through the beginners courses. If you are totally skeptical about meditation — well, this is the app for you! Ten Percent was created for the fidgety skeptics within us all!
Screenshot of Ten Percent iOS app; one of my favorite teachers and courses.
