Get More From Your Practicing
Written by Professor Donald Babcock, trombone
Like all low brass players, you've had your music teacher tell you to go home and practice some music. So, once at home, you set the music out, put your instrument together and play through the music a couple of times. Then you put everything away. Ta-da! Practicing done. Right? . . . maybe not.
To make sure I get the most out of a practice session, I always abide by the following four rules: (1) set a reasonable goal; (2) stay focused; (3) take breaks; and, (4) don't practice things that don't need to be practiced.
SET A REASONABLE GOAL. Before even beginning the practice session, look at your music to practice. Tell yourself (perhaps even write it down) what you want to accomplish. Be specific! For example, "I want to be able to play the run of 16th notes between measures 25 and 35 of piece "X" at an allegro speed." Be careful not to set goals like "I want to be able to play all of my band music perfectly." Go into a practice session with a REASONABLE and SPECIFIC goal. Doing this will allow you to be able to accomplish what you set out to do, and upon completing your goal you will feel good about your time spent practicing. AND, when you accomplish one goal and still have time to practice, set another goal!
STAY FOCUSED. Very important. The average length of time for a person able to keep his/her concentration is 20 minutes. After that the mind begins to wander. If you feel yourself not concentrating on the music, stop, take a 2-3 minute break to get a drink of water, and then come back. Which leads me to . . .
TAKE BREAKS. I take a break about once every 20 minutes (because I DO find my mind starting to wander!) I get up, get a drink of water and come back. I try not to spend more than about 2-3 minutes away, though, or I find it difficult to come back.
Another part of taking breaks has to do with playing the music itself. Be careful not to keep repeating the same passage over and over again without a break. First, it could lead to fatigue which would definitely shorten your practice time (or at least make it miserable). Second, if you play something wrong once and then keep repeating the mistake over and over in an attempt to correct it, aren't you in fact practicing the mistake? Give yourself a chance to think (briefly) between runs, evaluating what to change and make better.
DON'T PRACTICE THINGS THAT DON'T NEED TO BE PRACTICED. In a word, "isolate." Find the exact spot(s) that are causing trouble. Circle them. Work on them first. Leave the rest alone for now. Once you get the trouble spots under wraps, then back up and play through them in context. Once all the trouble spots are gone, THEN practice the whole piece for continuity!
If you follow these four rules, I believe you will find (as I have) that you get a lot more done in practice sessions in less time! Good luck!
Return to the Trombone Studio
Return to Wind and Percussion Homepage
