Tips on Successful Practice Techniques
Believe it or not, the biggest reason why some students make such slow progress on their instrument is not that they aren't practicing enough; it's that they aren't practicing correctly. Many students waste valuable time trying to get their music to sound right, but often feel that their progress doesn't reflect the time they've put into it.
Bad practicing doesn't just mean that you are not solving your problems, it often means that you are reinforcing errors, and actually making it more likely that you'll make those error again. In that regard, you might actually be worse off after a bad "practicing session" than if you were to keep the instrument closed and in its case. The main culprit with bad practicing is the reinforcing of errors. It happens this way: the student plays through the music until a mistake is made. He stops because he hears something wrong. He then fixes that note, and continues on from that spot. And that is the error!
This is what's really happening: when a mistake is made, the error really happened on the note or two before the mistake. Our brains are always thinking ahead, usually by three or four notes. So if you make a mistake, whatever your brain told you regarding getting to that note was the actual error. When you make a mistake, you need to go back several notes, slow things way down, and program into your fingers how to get to the next note.
When you fix error in this way, it will sometimes surprise you how far back you need to go to solve it. But if all you do is fix the note that you heard being played incorrectly and then move on, you are only reinforcing the error, and actually making things worse. Students with bad practicing technique actually spend more time trying to undo mistakes caused by bad practicing technique than they do any other kind of mistake.
So here's a summing-up of what you should be doing, as well as some other hints that will allow you to use your time more efficiently:
1 - Don't just "play through" your music. When you make a mistake, go back a few notes, and play through the trouble-spot at half the tempo. Do this several times, deliberately and slowly placing the fingers until the trouble is worked out. The slowly increase tempo.
2 - Do some silent practice. Do the fingerings while singing through the music, especially if you play a brass instrument, where constant playing can be tiring.
3 - Use a metronome. a metronome will not result in an unmusical performance. The metronome will keep your tempo steady, and will greatly discipline your use of practice time.
4 - Play your instrument every day. You will begin to lose the fine muscle-control you've been developing by skipping days. Once in a while, you need a break, but try to practice six out of every seven days.
There is another aspect of music performance that holds musicians back, and that is the inability to hear oneself objectively. If your practicing technique seems fine, but you just don't seem to be improving, it's usually because you are not really aware of how you really sound. The best wat to hear yourself the way you truly sound is to record yourself. get a digital or tape recorder, set up a good mictrophone, and play. The first time you hear yourself playing on tape is usually a negative experience, but don't let it discourage you! Try to listen critically but constructively. Instead of getting down on yourself, think of the ways you want to improve, and then go back to practicing. Diligence is the key. Practice every day, and record and listen to yourself at least once a week. You'll reap the benefits almost right away.
Gary Ewer is a veteran music teacher, clinician, composer and arranger. He is most well known as the author of The Essential Secrets of Songwriting and Gary Ewer's Easy Music Theory. Gary has taught music to students of every age group, from five-year-olds in elementary school, through to university-level musicians. This enormously wide-ranging scope has given him a unique perspective on how people learn. Teaching is his passion. He is in demand as an adjudicator, clinician, conductor and composer. He currently teaches orchestration, theory, ear training and choral conducting at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. (Article from KJSO NOTES, p. 3).
