Maybe this will help others. It is an approach I learnt to support running long distance every day for decades and I've adapted it to produce consistent practice on the saxophone.
We all have days when we don't want to play, though the reason may escape us. On these days of not wanting to practice, I have a sliding "scale" of activities and I commit to do at least step 1:
- Get my sax out of its case (or pick it up if it is sitting on its stand) while listening to my current favourite sax music (currently goto music is Branford Marsalis, "La Valse Kendall").
- Put a reed on the mouthpiece and do 2 minutes of mouthpiece exercises.
- Assemble my sax and practice for 15 minutes.
- Practice for 30 minutes.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4ODYGs1H9Y
- Practice for 1 hour.
- Practice for as long as I want.
Each step feels like no commitment and gently leads me to enjoy and want more. Listening to Branford I want to play and the mouthpiece exercise is only 2 minutes. By then, I'm hungry to play the first few notes of "La Valse Kendall". Before I know it an hour has elapsed.
That's the carrot. There is also a stick. If I do miss a day (by not doing at least Step1 above), I must limit my practice the following day for a maximum of 15 minutes, then 30 the day after, 60 the day after etc. So, when contemplating missing a day, it seems much more than that will be missed. This is designed to get me to pick up the sax and listen to Branford. And I'm away...
What do you think? Could this help you?