Record your practice sessions, get feedback, track progress | NovemberStrain challenge
- Gabriel Tudorica
- Nov 2
- 3 min read
Hey there JamChallengers 👋! Welcome back to our monthly community challenge!
This month at JamChallenged, we're mixing things up with a continuous challenge format. Instead of working toward one specific song, you'll share your actual practice sessions (rough takes, mistakes and all) throughout the month - how cool is this 😎.
So, crank up the effort, ride the tension, and let your progress scream — this is the #NovemberStrain.
The #NovemberStrain challenge
Throughout November, share what you’re really working on — scales, riffs, sections of songs, full pieces, or improvisations.
Post your clips (mistakes welcome!) to inspire others and discover new ideas for your own practice.
Try posting several times this month to track your progress.
Remember: the goal is progression, not perfection.
⚙️How it works
Go through your practice routine as you normally would for 10-30 minutes.
Toward the end of your practice session, record 15-60 seconds of your playing - just use your phone!
In our Discord community, create a new post in the appropriate channel depending on your instrument and skill level (e.g. piano-intermediate) and publish your recording together with a short description on what you want to achieve with this practice routine.
Optionally: Get feedback from others.
Revisit your routine after a few days or a week. Record and post another update under the same thread to show your progress.
💡Why this works for you: Recording your practice creates accountability, documents progress, and opens the door to feedback that accelerates improvement. At the end of the month you'll see real progress which will prove to you that you can get better.
🎶Format to share
🎥 Clip length: 15-60 seconds clips from whatever you are working on.
🎧 Format: Use audio only or video (with or without your face - whatever works for you).
📱Phone quality is totally ok, no need to edit anything!
The goal is to show the work in progress, not performances.
🔗 Share using youtube or ig links.
#NovemberStrain goal
✅Goal: Post at least one practice clip per week (4 clips minimum).
🌟Bonus: Post 10+ times to earn "NovemberStrainer" role on our Discord.
🏆Leaderboard points system
To make it a bit more interesting, we'll starting the leaderboard points system as follows:
🎵Post a practice clip: 50 points.
💬Comment on someone's clip with constructive feedback: 10 points.
🔁Post 3 times in a week: 20 (bonus) points
🔥Post 7 days in a row: 50 (bonus) points.
Leaderboard will update regularly (link will be provided once we get some entries).
Top contributors get featured on all our social media and website!
📅Timeline
🚀 How to join
Join our Discord community, if you haven't already => https://www.jamchallenged.com/getting-started
In our Discord community, find the channel of interest depending on your instrument and skill level. These are structured based on instrument and skill level (e.g. piano-beginner, piano-intermediate, piano-advanced).
Can't find your instrument? You must have a very cool one! All other instrument interpretations can be posted under the misc-beginner, misc-intermediate and misc-advanced channels.
Once you found your channel (e.g. piano-beginner), you can post your practice recording there. Make sure to tag it with #NovemberStrain, share it on social media and ask your friends for support.
While you are there, check if you find other practice recordings by other community members. Provide some constructive feedback, win some points or just get inspired by them.
🧙 Bonus – Create Your Own Challenge!
Don’t forget: you can always launch your own challenge in the community! Maybe a riff your music club is learning, a solo that inspired you or anything else. The more creative, the better!
👉 Ready to jump in? Join us on Discord and let’s make this October one to remember: https://www.jamchallenged.com/getting-started.
