How To Practice
Practice is an important part of achieving success on an instrument. Yet, if it is not focused it can be a source of frustration and anxiety. The following suggestions might help to make the most of your practice sessions.
1) Organize your practice session. Know what you want to work on and create reasonable goals to achieve by the end of your session. It's not how long you practice, but what you get done in the time you have.
2) Don't practice too many things in one session. Limit your session to two or three different concepts or tasks. If there are more areas you'd like to work on, schedule them for a separate session later in the day. "Cramming" for a lesson might get you through the lesson, but does nothing in the long run.
3) Divide the material you have into smaller groups. For example if you need to learn 30 exercises in one week, focus on five of them the first day. The second day can begin by reviewing the five from the first day, then adding five more. The third day begins by reviewing the first ten, then adding five more and so on. The seventh day can be used to review all of the exercises.
4) Repetition. The key to learning something well is to play it correctly again and again.
5) Go slowly. Your mind digests materials and sends the correct signals if the information is presented at a comfortable tempo. If you are making mistakes, this is a sign that you are going too fast.
6) Go as slowly as is necessary to play it correctly the first time. Playing something correctly again and again at a slow speed is far more beneficial then playing it again and again with mistakes, ultimately getting it right only a few times and then moving on.
7) Your muscles memorize and repeat motions that are done consistently, again and again. As you become more comfortable with a pattern gradually increase the tempo. If you start making mistakes slow down to a comfortable tempo. By going slowly and gradually increasing the tempo you will actually learn and master patterns more quickly than if you practice too fast.
8) Take it easy on yourself. Don't let yourself become frustrated or angry if you are not able to master something as quickly as you think you should. Look at everything you do as part of a gradual process. Babies are not born that can immediately run across the floor. They must first crawl, then pull themselves up, then little by little walk across the room, all the while regularly falling on their butts! Let your playing evolve naturally. If you put in the time, it will happen!
9) Don't avoid practicing the basic rudiments of your instrument. Although these may seem boring, they are the basis of everything you do. A strong foundation equals a strong house. A weak foundation will limit what is to be built upon it.
10) Spend time improvising or creatively goofing around on your instrument after you have practiced your assignment. This gives you an opportunity to utilize and incorporate the fresh new ideas into your playing and lets your creative mind exercise itself. If exercises are never creatively integrated, they won't become part of your playing.
11) Realize that the rewards are in the journey, not at the destination. Why else do we master one thing only to immediately immerse ourselves in another? Because growth is in the process of learning. Playing only the things you know, that provide no new challenge, becomes very boring and provides no sense of development and progress. As people we are always changing and developing, as is our playing.
Practice is an important part of achieving success on an instrument. Yet, if it is not focused it can be a source of frustration and anxiety. The following suggestions might help to make the most of your practice sessions.
1) Organize your practice session. Know what you want to work on and create reasonable goals to achieve by the end of your session. It's not how long you practice, but what you get done in the time you have.
2) Don't practice too many things in one session. Limit your session to two or three different concepts or tasks. If there are more areas you'd like to work on, schedule them for a separate session later in the day. "Cramming" for a lesson might get you through the lesson, but does nothing in the long run.
3) Divide the material you have into smaller groups. For example if you need to learn 30 exercises in one week, focus on five of them the first day. The second day can begin by reviewing the five from the first day, then adding five more. The third day begins by reviewing the first ten, then adding five more and so on. The seventh day can be used to review all of the exercises.
4) Repetition. The key to learning something well is to play it correctly again and again.
5) Go slowly. Your mind digests materials and sends the correct signals if the information is presented at a comfortable tempo. If you are making mistakes, this is a sign that you are going too fast.
6) Go as slowly as is necessary to play it correctly the first time. Playing something correctly again and again at a slow speed is far more beneficial then playing it again and again with mistakes, ultimately getting it right only a few times and then moving on.
7) Your muscles memorize and repeat motions that are done consistently, again and again. As you become more comfortable with a pattern gradually increase the tempo. If you start making mistakes slow down to a comfortable tempo. By going slowly and gradually increasing the tempo you will actually learn and master patterns more quickly than if you practice too fast.
8) Take it easy on yourself. Don't let yourself become frustrated or angry if you are not able to master something as quickly as you think you should. Look at everything you do as part of a gradual process. Babies are not born that can immediately run across the floor. They must first crawl, then pull themselves up, then little by little walk across the room, all the while regularly falling on their butts! Let your playing evolve naturally. If you put in the time, it will happen!
9) Don't avoid practicing the basic rudiments of your instrument. Although these may seem boring, they are the basis of everything you do. A strong foundation equals a strong house. A weak foundation will limit what is to be built upon it.
10) Spend time improvising or creatively goofing around on your instrument after you have practiced your assignment. This gives you an opportunity to utilize and incorporate the fresh new ideas into your playing and lets your creative mind exercise itself. If exercises are never creatively integrated, they won't become part of your playing.
11) Realize that the rewards are in the journey, not at the destination. Why else do we master one thing only to immediately immerse ourselves in another? Because growth is in the process of learning. Playing only the things you know, that provide no new challenge, becomes very boring and provides no sense of development and progress. As people we are always changing and developing, as is our playing.