Guest blog by blondviolinist
Practicing
“I like to play, but I don’t like to practice.” I’ve heard those words a lot, and they always make me smile. They also give me an urge to throw the speaker into the nearest creek. What do they think practicing is? Not playing their instrument? If you are serious about music, you are going to spend more time playing your instrument in the “practice room” than performing in public. The better your practice techniques, the more fun you will have while you practice, and the more your skills will grow. (Yes. I listed fun first. Fun is the most important part. Don’t even try to argue with me.)
There are two key aspects to practicing a musical instrument well: creativity and consistency. They go hand in hand: creative approaches to practicing won’t help if your practice time is too inconsistent for them to make a difference in your playing. In an average week, you should be playing your instrument at least six days a week.
Uh oh. I just lost half of you. “I can’t do six days a week!” Well, no. Maybe you can’t do 30 or 60 minutes of practice six days a week. But can you manage 10 minutes a day? Six 10 minute practice sessions spread over the week will be exponentially more productive than one 60 min. practice session.
Hmm. Some of you are still looking at me funny. No, really! It’s the everydayness that counts. Playing music is a physical skill. It has much more in common with athletics than with academics. Your body requires repetition to learn things. That’s why you need to spend at least a little time with the instrument every day. You will get so much more out of your practice time.
Schedule your practice. With my adult students, we often talk through their schedule to determine what days are going to be light practice days, and what days can be longer practice days. Say Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are busy work days. Fine. Schedule only 10 or 15 minutes practice on those days. Have more time on the weekend? Great! Make those days your long days, where you can spend 30-40 minutes with your instrument.
Consistency also matters in the way you practice. Remember what I said about playing music being a physical skill? Your body will learn what you do the most frequently.
Let me repeat that, in case anyone missed it: your body will learn what you do the most frequently.
You all don’t look scared yet. You should be. Remember how you practiced that tricky section in your last piece? The one you played about twenty times before you got it right? Yes, that one. Did you stop practicing that passage when you got it right? No? Good for you! How many times did you play it right? Three times.
Uh oh. “Your body will learn what you do the most frequently.” How many times did you play it incorrectly? And how many times did you play it correctly? And which way do you think is in your muscle memory and in your ear’s memory? Yep. You guessed it. Not the right way.
No, no, don’t get discouraged! This is where the good news about practicing starts. In order to practice well, you get to play things well lots! And let’s face it… playing things well is why we all wanted to play instruments in the first place. It’s fun to play things well. So when you finally figure out that tricky passage… go to town! Play it a million times! Show your cat, your dog, your imaginary mirror-friend. Dance around the room, and then play it again. Your best practicing is done when you are doing practically everything right.
Now about practicing creatively: in your practicing, you never want to get stuck in a rut. Having a practice routine is good, but make sure you keep including variety in your practice. Do you always practice a piece up to the original tempo? Try practicing slower for a change. Do you resist playing the piece up to tempo because you’re afraid of mistakes? Try it today, and see how fast you can go, ignoring all the finger-fumbles in the way. Do you always practice with a metronome? Try leaving it off for a day or so. Do you never practice with a metronome? (Never mind. We’ll pretend I didn’t ask that question.) Do you always play one type of music or one composer? Try a piece outside your comfort zone… maybe a modern piece with lots of dissonance, or possibly some folk music or rock. Has your warm-up routine been the same for years? Go to the music store, or online, and find a new routine to play around with. Do you ever play around with changing the dynamics and musical expression in your piece? Try playing through it five times, doing five different kinds of musical expression. Make a long list of different adverbs, and try playing your scales angrily, haughtily, jauntily, sweetly, mockingly. Play around! Music is supposed to be fun and creative. (There is a lot more that can be said about creativity and practicing, but this will do for now. Hopefully I will be able to write a post only about musical creativity another time.)
Here are a few last tips about practicing:
Warm up. Before you start to play (or sing), do some simple stretches for your arms, shoulders, and back. (Leg stretches wouldn’t hurt, either, especially if you practice standing up. Which is very good for most instruments. I’ll excuse you if you play piano or cello.) Warm your hands under warm running water if your fingers are cold. Then start your practice session slow and easy, using the most fabulous technique you can manage. Let the start of your practice session be a time to let go of whatever else is going on in your life, and focus in on your instrument, your body, and the sound you are creating. Use the first few minutes as a time to check and make sure everything is working: your breathing, your fingering, your bow arm, your embouchere, whatever. These minutes of putting everything in working order will make the entire rest of your practice session work better. (And if it doesn’t, that probably means your warm-up routine has some technical holes you need to fill. For instance, I often forget to warm up my bouncing bow strokes, and end up fighting my bow for the rest of the practice session.)
Do something technically challenging every day. You don’t have to do a lot of it. Five minutes will be fine. You know all those crazy little practice things your teacher gave you? The ones that are so good for you, but are mind-numbingly boring to do? You can do one of them for three to five minutes every day. You’ll get lots of benefit from them, and you won’t be too bored. (Come on, you’re an adult. You can handle five minutes.) You can feel virtuous and accomplished. And then you can go play something really fun.
Use the three-mistake guideline while practicing. The first mistake you make when you’re playing a passage for the first time is a freebie… no harm, no foul. Don’t chastise yourself. Don’t sigh and complain that you’re a bad player. Smile, and keep going. The second mistake you make in the same place is the helpful mistake. That’s the mistake that is telling you that you need to adjust something. Is there a rhythm or a melodic movement that you weren’t expecting? Is there a fingering pattern that you’re not quite used to? Is there a large leap that you need to prepare your body for? Don’t chastise yourself for the second mistake. Learn from it. It can tell you very helpful things about the music and about your technique. The third mistake in the same place? Well, that’s the serious mistake. That’s the mistake that should send off alarm bells and flashing red lights in your brain. It’s the mistake that tells you you are about to practice that mistake into the passage so well that you’ll have a horrid time ever getting it back out. Third mistakes are serious business. If left untreated, they spiral into 20th and 21st mistakes, and then into 102nd and 103rd mistakes. Third mistakes are what send music teachers over the edge, and make us spend entire evenings dreaming up fantastic tortures for our incorrigible students.
Use YouTube for free lessons. There are hundreds of videos of excellent musicians, with excellent technique, playing your music. Take advantage of this! Watch, and see how they move around the instrument. (This might not be useful for wind players, but for strings and keyboard players it can be very helpful.) Listen to their musical phrasing. Where do they crescendo or decrescendo? Do they use techniques or phrasing that isn’t readily apparent in your sheet music? How do they respond to the orchestral or piano accompaniment? You can learn so much from observing famous musicians in their YouTube videos.
Happy practicing!
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