Practicing the Bassoon
Written by
Professor David Pierce, Bassoon
Preparation for an important performance requires planning months in advance. There isn't time to throw together a piece a week or two before the performance, especially since so many technical and musical details must be addressed in order to make the performance truly first class.
How much time to practice?
Assuming that you are spending your practice time as efficiently as possible, depending on your level of accomplishment and the degree of difficulty of your music, you may need to schedule more than an hour of practice each day. The amount of time you practice is not only important for preparing your music, but also to help you stay in good mental and physical condition--to be strong enough to perform your piece. As a general rule, in order to make sufficient progress, students playing the Weissenborn Advanced Studies or the Galliard sonatas need one hour of practice each day; students playing Milde Concert Studies, the Hindemith Sonata, or the Mozart Concerto in B-flat need 90 minutes of practice each day; and students playing Jancourt, Gambaro, or Bozza etudes and solo works by Tansman, Vivaldi, von Weber, or Hummel need at least two hours of practice each day.
Plan your routine
Choose a practice time appointment that you can keep every day. Maybe it's just before or just after your evening meal. Maybe it's right after or right before school. The routine of daily practice is very important. You brush your teeth...and you practice.
Map out how you will spend your practice time. Here's a sample schedule that works:
15 minutes of scales and arpeggios (major and melodic minor)
15 minutes of the weekly etude
30 minutes of the solo piece (or pieces)
Until you get used to the routine, watch the clock. Be sure to do scales for the full 15 minutes. As you become more adept and the speed of your major and minor scales and arpeggios increases, add whole tone scales and diminished seventh arpeggios.
Above all, don't miss a day. Each day that you practice you take one step forward. Each day that you miss you take two steps backward. You will never make up for a day of practice missed.
Goals
You'll want to set goals for yourself along the way so that the preparation for the important performance is not too tedious. Work with your bassoon teacher to decide on appropriate goals. Here are some possibilities:
You should be able to play your weekly etude "note perfectly" at your lesson.
You should time yourself on the scales; try to play them faster WITHOUT MISTAKES!
You should decide how much of the solo you must perfect per week in order to be ready for the performance. Tape record yourself each week to document your progress. Listen critically (not during your practice time!) and mark your music to help avoid recurring mistakes.
Try to find places to play for audiences before the big day. Even performing for your friends and family can help you find out how you're doing. Some schools will be able to allow you time to perform for the band, orchestra, choir, or other music class. Each performance will help you learn how to channel your nervous energy toward greater concentration!
Practice makes perfect! Be persistent--in the long run, as you improve you will notice that you enjoy playing that much more and practicing the bassoon will be less a chore!
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