tonic blog | The new way to practice

tonic blog | The new way to practice

How to maintain motivation to practise?

How to maintain motivation to practise?

Let’s explore! We’ve all had days when we’re itching to get our hands on our instruments, dreaming of the moment when we get to the practice room to try out that new piece. And then we have days when the muse is simply not cooperating, when even

  • Panzhu Wang
Panzhu Wang Mar 15, 2023 • 5 min read
Developing SMART Goals
Practice

Developing SMART Goals

Setting guidelines to help you achieve your goals, no matter what they are, can be intimidating. Even establishing an initial goal can be just as tricky. Creating a plan to help yourself can be like climbing a mountain or even cooking. Your goal? You’re hungry and need to make

  • Rose Joynt
Rose Joynt Feb 26, 2023 • 6 min read
How I had fun with Tonic’s New Year’s Practice Challenge
Community Blog

How I had fun with Tonic’s New Year’s Practice Challenge

On January 8th, 2023, Tonic kicked off the New Year by launching a new community feature called  “Challenges”. Challenges allow people in the community to work together towards a specific goal. In this case, it was to accumulate 1,000 hours of total practice. When users sign up and practice

  • Piergiorgio Wilson
Piergiorgio Wilson Feb 4, 2023 • 3 min read
Tonic Progress Challenge #1
Community Blog

Tonic Progress Challenge #1

🚀 Have you ever thought about the power of progress? Oftentimes we watch and listen to musicians playing a piece, executed to what seems like perfection, marvelling at the skill at their instrument. But how did they actually get there? For most, if not all, it takes a lot of hard

  • Anni
Anni Feb 2, 2023 • 2 min read
Stringed Instrument Care

Stringed Instrument Care

Aside from learning how to play our instruments, it is also crucial to know how to maintain and care for our musical companions.

  • Lily Rivers
Lily Rivers Dec 19, 2022 • 5 min read
How to program a recital

How to program a recital

What comes to mind when you see the word “recital”? Flashbacks to the days of parents or teachers constantly reminding you to practice for that big end-of-year performance? Perhaps panicking inside your practice room, anxiously attacking a pesky section of Paganini’s 24th caprice or a nerve-wrecking Rachmaninoff piano etude?

  • Lionel Tan
Lionel Tan Dec 13, 2022 • 6 min read
Involving mental practice into your daily practice session
Community Blog

Involving mental practice into your daily practice session

Have you ever thought about practicing your music while you were commuting to school or work, or maybe idling in the park or waiting for your boy/girlfriend on the street corner?

  • Sabrina Ho
Sabrina Ho Nov 29, 2022 • 7 min read
The difficulty of choosing a path
Community Blog

The difficulty of choosing a path

I didn’t choose music. When I was a child, I remember believing that when the time came to figure out what I should do with my life, I would know what to do.

  • Elizabeth Riley
Elizabeth Riley Oct 4, 2022 • 4 min read
My NSO Summer Music Institute experience
Community Blog

My NSO Summer Music Institute experience

Through NSOSMI, I developed immensely as both a musician and a person.

  • Chloe Yena Kim
Chloe Yena Kim Sep 22, 2022 • 4 min read
Introducing: Studios 4
Studios

Introducing: Studios 4

New Studio Refinements to help you connect and focus On Tonic, Studios are the place where the magic happens. At our very core, we want to encourage the act of sharing practice, and the vulnerability and trust that comes with it. Though it’s a relatively new idea, most musicians

  • Rose Xi
  • Ray Chen
Rose Xi, Ray Chen Sep 12, 2022 • 3 min read
Music Makes Us Feel Things
Community Blog

Music Makes Us Feel Things

There is subtle music all this time—mixed with the sound of rain and the pitch-perfect banter—but there is something else. This movie uses frequencies of sound beyond conscious comprehension, frequencies that we can’t exactly hear but we can feel.

  • Irene
Irene Aug 30, 2022 • 5 min read
Introducing: new dashboard and profiles

Introducing: new dashboard and profiles

More insights, more control, more you 🌟 We’ve just wrapped up a really big update and can’t wait to share it with you! For the past few months, we’ve been working on ways to help you practice better and improve faster. With these new updates, you’ll be

  • Ray Chen
  • Rose Xi
Ray Chen, Rose Xi Aug 25, 2022 • 2 min read
Introducing the Tonic logo
Brand

Introducing the Tonic logo

It’s a big day at Tonic— today we’re thrilled to unveil our new logo! We believe there is magic in opening up the creative process, so we wanted to share our thinking and passion behind the work. After welcoming our new name, we soon found ourselves asking — how

  • Analía Ibargoyen
  • Danny Salvatori
Analía Ibargoyen, Danny Salvatori Aug 3, 2022 • 4 min read
Realities of musical performance and injuries
Community Blog

Realities of musical performance and injuries

There is a real danger musicians must consider: 50 to 76 percent of professional musicians have reported sustaining musculoskeletal injuries at some point in their careers.

  • Linda K Salem
Linda K Salem Jul 20, 2022 • 5 min read
Harmonious vs obsessive passion: on the making and unmaking of our identities
Community Blog

Harmonious vs obsessive passion: on the making and unmaking of our identities

The word amateur comes from the Latin word amātor - one who loves, devotes, or admires. It requires passion; it becomes an identity.

  • AK
AK Jul 6, 2022 • 5 min read
Introducing: Studios 3
Studios

Introducing: Studios 3

Welcome! We’re so excited to share the big updates of Studios 3 with you! We’re brushing off the dust from our latest Studio construction. Read on for how we’re including feedback and coffee during your practice sessions! ☕️ This release is all about Studios, the heart of the

  • Rose Xi
  • Ray Chen
Rose Xi, Ray Chen Jun 27, 2022 • 3 min read
Listening vs. playing music, what difference do you hear?
Community Blog

Listening vs. playing music, what difference do you hear?

When you listen to music, it may be from two different angles: are you playing or are you listening, are you performing or are you part of the audience?

  • Lily Rivers
Lily Rivers Jun 20, 2022 • 5 min read
Living without regrets: Attempting life as an adult musician
Community Blog

Living without regrets: Attempting life as an adult musician

No matter what age you are, music can be an incredible, invisible force bringing us all together in times of both sorrow and joy.

  • Rose Joynt
Rose Joynt Jun 15, 2022 • 6 min read
Tonic is an elixir for practicing 🧉
Community Blog

Tonic is an elixir for practicing 🧉

Tonic has changed my perspective on practicing. It is so accessible on my phone: all I need to do is open the app, open a studio, and start practicing.

  • Cody Kelly
Cody Kelly Jun 6, 2022 • 5 min read
Ode to the joy of practice (aka why we built Tonic)
Brand

Ode to the joy of practice (aka why we built Tonic)

Professional musicians would have you believe that they always knew music was their calling from the magical first moment they picked up their instruments, like a knight pulling a sword out of stone, or a wizard receiving their wand. That wasn’t the case for me. Sure, I enjoyed playing

  • Ray Chen
Ray Chen May 12, 2022 • 3 min read
The contest between harmony and re-invention
Brand

The contest between harmony and re-invention

🌸Springtime is upon us, and this year especially, it feels like the time for hopeful new beginnings. While the flowers bloom outside our home offices, we’re excited to announce a new name and new look for (the app formerly known as) Pocket Conservatory. You may have already seen some

  • Rose Xi
  • Ray Chen
Rose Xi, Ray Chen Apr 25, 2022 • 3 min read
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