Crafting Invitations
A Guided Process for Starting More Easily, Practicing More Often, and Enjoying It More: A simple, infinitely variable, and repeatable system for integrating nearly any new learning, skill, or habit more enjoyably into your life.
Crafting Invitations
A simple, infinitely variable, and repeatable system for integrating piano and nearly any new learning, skill, or habit more enjoyably into your life.
What You’ll Need:
Your phone, a pencil, sticky notes, and one or more rubber bands.
1.Identify Three Openings in Your Day:
Choose three moments that already happen regularly where a small musical action would actually be possible. (See the Situations menu below for ideas).
2.Match Each Opening With One Small Form of Practice:
Choose an action that fits the situation. Keep the action small and realistic. For example, you could listen to a practice track while walking the dog—but you probably cannot play the piano at the same time. (See the Forms of Connection menu below).
3.Turn Each Action Into an Invitation:
Avoid reminders like "I should practice." That language turns the moment into an obligation. Instead, write a question that invites curiosity:
- "What would listening to my practice track feel like right now?"
- "What would tapping this rhythm on my lap be like right now?"
- "What would playing one measure feel like before I sit down?"
The invitation helps you discover what is actually true for your body, heart, hands, ears, and creative self through direct experience—rather than simply repeating what your tired or distracted mind predicts.
4.Choose the Reminder Most Likely to Reach You:
Place each invitation where you will encounter it during the opening you chose. (See the Types of Remindersmenu below).
5.Lock the Setup (The Rubber Band Trick):
Wrap one or more rubber bands around your phone so that using it becomes inconvenient and mildly annoying. Do not remove the rubber bands until you have:
- Chosen three openings.
- Selected one small musical action for each opening.
- Written or scheduled all three invitations.
- Put each reminder in its proper location.
You may work around the rubber bands, but do not remove them early. This is a temporary interruption that helps you complete the setup instead of getting pulled back into your usual phone habits.
6.Respond Honestly When Each Invitation Appears:
Your thinking mind cannot know in advance what the experience will feel like. You have to try it and feel it directly. You have two choices:
- Yes: Try the action.
- No: Decline the invitation and continue your day.
The goal is not to say yes every time. The goal is to notice the opening and occasionally accept the invitation long enough to discover what is actually true for you.
7.Notice What You Discover:
After several days, ask yourself: Did this work for me? What would I keep or change? You are learning where and how music can naturally fit into the life you already have.
8.Revise the Process (Optional):
Keep what worked and change what did not. You might move a reminder, change the action, make it smaller, or choose a different opening. This process is infinitely repeatable. Return to it whenever practice disappears from your awareness, becomes difficult to begin, or needs more room to grow.
The Invitation Recipe Menu
Mix and match from these three categories to build your daily invitations.
1. Situations (Your Openings)
Work & Commute Transitions
- Right after closing the work laptop, logging out, or finishing work for the day
- Sitting in the car after parking (arriving home, to work, or to hobbies)
- During a boring Zoom/Teams meeting that doesn't require your camera (or could have been an email)
- Waiting for a file to export, a game build to compile, or a spreadsheet to load
- Taking off scrubs, work clothes, or shoes at the end of a long shift
- During a lunch break
Daily Home Routines
- While brewing a morning beverage, doing dishes, or prepping lunch
- The moment you catch yourself reaching for your phone to doomscroll
- Waiting for a spouse or loved one to get ready
- The exact moment before sitting on the couch to unwind (or while sitting on it)
- When turning on the television
- Before or right after using the bathroom or shower
Active & Leisure Time
- Walking the dog or strolling through the yard and garden
- During the drive to tennis, pickleball, or a book club meetup
- Cooling down on the treadmill or stretching after a workout
- Walking directly past the piano on the way to another room
- In bed before sleep
2. Types of Reminders
Environmental Design (Lowest friction)
- Headphones already plugged into the keyboard and resting on the keys (or placed with the dog leash)
- Sheet music left open to the exact measure you need to look at
- The keyboard physically moved into your direct line of sight
- A practice book deliberately placed on your favorite couch cushion
Routine Stacking (Tying to existing habits)
- Paired with the morning coffee (e.g., first sip equals first note)
- Triggered immediately by shutting the home office door or parking the car
- Tied to changing into comfortable clothes after work
- Done right before turning on the TV or opening a streaming app
Digital Cues
- A recurring 5-minute calendar block labeled with a micro-task
- A photo of your sheet music set as your phone's lock-screen wallpaper
- A phone alarm titled with an easy invitation (e.g., "Play 2 measures")
- An automated Slack or Teams reminder to yourself
Physical Notes & Visual Cues
- A sticky note on the TV remote, steering wheel, coffee maker, or dog leash
- A bright bookmark, practice card, or note placed at eye level near the piano
Social Accountability
- Texting a studio classmate right after you complete a micro-practice
- Asking a spouse or loved one to casually ask, "Did you touch the keys today?" or pairing the invitation with a shared walk
3. Forms of Connection (The Practice)
Listen, Mental & Auditory
- Listen to the specific practice track for the piece you are learning
- Listen specifically for one rhythm, melody line, or pattern to stand out
- Visualize your hands playing the notes while simply looking at the sheet music
- Learning as Recharge: A Restful Listening Practice for Exhausted Days
Move, Tactile & Off-Bench
- Tap the rhythm of a tricky measure on your desk, lap, or steering wheel
- Silently finger the notes on your lap or a tabletop
- Tap the rhythm along with the audio practice track
- The Jellyfish Hand for Remembering to Breathe When You Play (Great for keyboard typing, or in bed before sleep)
Play At the Piano (Low-pressure playing)
- Put your headphones on to instantly eliminate anxiety and block out the room
- Play through just one single measure or short section
- Play with video practice tracks—at your same level, or against a different level
- Play a completely familiar and easy piece just to feel the keys under your hands
- Play one hand entirely alone
- Follow along with the August Practice Lab:
- More Present at the Piano:
Sing or Hum
- Hum the melody or a specific phrase aloud
- Sing the letter names of the notes while tapping the beat
Look and Mark (Score marking)
- Write the letter names for a single difficult phrase
- Highlight or circle one specific note, dynamic symbol, or recurring pattern
- Mark the exact spot you want to start your next session
Journaling & Writing
- Creating Invitations (what you've been doing through this page)
- Find What Makes You Want to Practice