#100DaysOfPractice music challenge gets underway!

Music students from across East Ayrshire are being encouraged to practise their instrument every day for 100 days and raise money for a good cause while doing so.

Starting on Wednesday 17 March, young musicians will be participating in a series of weekly music themes while they practise and all money raised will be donated to the Kris Boyd Charity, which helps young people with mental health and wellbeing.

The local fundraising initiative is the brainchild of Emma Tomlinson, Upper Strings Tutor with East Ayrshire Music Service, who was inspired by the growing number of professional musicians sharing snippets of their daily practice on social media platforms. 

Emma explained: “There’s been a growing number of musicians sharing short video clips and photos of their daily practice on social media and I thought our own East Ayrshire Music Service could get involved and raise money for a local charity at the same time.

“The aim of this initiative is to engage our students in healthy practice with their instrument, and to bring the musical community together in a fun and learning process.

“To keep engagement high and interested peaked, the students can get involved in a series of weekly themes, for example, practise in fancy dress, practise in the garden and practise with pets and we plan to highlight different schools, musical disciplines, benefits of learning an instrument and practice tips over the duration of the project.

“Music practise doesn’t have to last for hours - doing one tiny thing, every day, can make a huge difference to a musician’s ability to play well. Musicians can do as much or as little practice as they wish, just as long as they do something each day.

“We will be sharing sentences, images and videos on the East Ayrshire Music Service and Youth Music Initiative Social Media pages and we would like as many followers as possible to support this cause.”

“The last 12 months have been particularly difficult for our young people as they have missed out on group music tuition and social interaction with fellow musicians. Music is uplifting and can help greatly with our general mental health and wellbeing.

“This initiative will give our young people a chance to practise with their peers and raise money for a very worthwhile cause at the same time and we hope that friends and family will consider sponsoring our young musicians. #100daysofpractice will also raise the profile and importance of learning music in East Ayrshire.”

Donations for #100DaysOfPractice can be made here.  

#100daysofpractice is running from Wednesday 17 March until Friday 25 June 2021, last day of term.

#100daysofpractice #EACMusic @EACMusicService @ea_youth @eastayrshire @KrisBoydCharity