What JohninKansas and Weepiper said!

Here's a few random thoughts

• Inspiration. Learning an instrument is hard work and you really need the jitters for it or you won't have the patience to practice enough. You may get that by listening to other players, or just because you like the sound of the instrument.
• Practice slowly. It's really true: if you can't play something perfectly at half speed you'll never play it well at any speed. And if you can't play at half speed, practice at quarter speed. The concertina, especially the Anglo concertina, has unique problems with being played ridiculousy slowly, but you have to find a way of taking a short section you are having trouble with and repeating it until it's automatic.
• Playing in sessions is a great way of getting your general technique loosened up without noticing that you are playing for hours, and for keeping going regardless of mistakes, which is one thing you need to learn to do.
• Playing for dancers as a solo musician is unparalleled as a way to learn to play with a good steady rhythm and again to keep going when you make mistakes.
• Sessions are all very well, but you need to practice carefully (as opposed to justplay) some of the time to undo the damage they do.
• Variety: concentrate hard on one simple tune to play it well; try lots of different tunes; find tunes that you really like or can do something special with.
• An amateur practices until he can play it right: a professional parctices until he can't play it wrong
• We're all different: whatever works for you is fine.

Enough platitudes - Ed.

Anahata