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Ten Practice Tips for Students

Todd Kelly | January 2011


    Thoughtful teachers want the best for their students and put a great deal of effort into planning, organizing, and executing rehearsals and lessons. However, with limited time to see students, it is critical to invest a portion of that time teaching students how to practice effectively. Instructors who do usually find that their students progress quickly and develop a great love of making music.

1. A great sound is the best asset. A beautiful, lyrical sound is the basis for all technique on any instrument and the secret to commanding the attention of an audience. The driving force behind a good sound is the imagination, which can be developed by listening to great players and imitating their style. As master trumpet tea­cher Bill Adam once told me, “When you are playing, the perfect sound in your mind should be louder than your own sound.”

2. Listen to music during practice. It has never been easier to access great music than it is today. The best way to develop a great sound is simply by listening to the sounds of great artists. Teachers should have a list of artists for every instrument and find CDs or download their solo and ensemble works from the internet to hear. Students should spend the first minutes of a practice session listening to the sound of master musicians and then immediately try to imitate them.
    I tell students that playing an instrument without a con­cept of good sound is akin to throwing darts without a dartboard. In darts, the goal is to hit the bullseye. In music, the goal is always a beautiful sound. Beginning practice by listening is what puts the dartboard on the wall.

3. Devise a practice schedule. The best way to organize practice time is to make a schedule. This should include both practice time and location. Instill in students that scheduled practice time should be treated the same as any other appointment or class. Encourage students to find a place that is quiet and free of distractions. Most school practice rooms are usually quietest in the early mornings. 

4. Practice in slow motion. Students often sit down to practice with an anxious state of mind, determined to immediately reach a goal. In the end this accomplishes little, if anything. Practicing in slow motion means playing slowly enough to concentrate on making beautiful music without the distraction of mistakes. This approach creates a relaxed state of mind that is conducive to musical development. When beginning a new piece of music, encourage students to play slowly and even out of tempo. Although some of the benefits of slow practice, such as the decreased likelihood of mistakes, are obvious, on often-overlooked benefit is that students will develop a good attitude toward the music as they play it well slowly.

5. Successful repetition leads to suc­c­essful performances. An important aspect of practice is training psychomotor skills, such as breathing, fingering, and tonguing. Mastering a passage means the body is trained to play it automatically, without conscious thought. Correctly playing passages multiple times in a row increases self-confidence, which will lead to more musical performances.
    In the beginning stages of practicing new music, students should avoid the temptation to tackle the entire piece in one sitting and instead work slowly on a measure or two with the goal of playing it correctly many times before moving to the next phrase. Remind students not to be in a hurry to reach the next phrase, because each correct repetition leads to more dependable results.

6. Keep a practice journal. During practice sessions, students should write down what they practiced, the amount of time spent on each piece, and the tempo at which each was played. Student journals permit both students and teacher to track progress. If students have questions during practice sessions, this journal is a good place to write them, so they are not forgotten before the next lesson.

7. Set long- and short-term goals. Each semester teachers and students should come up with a list of realistic and attainable goals. There is nothing as frustrating as setting goals that are impossible to reach and then coming up short. Each practice session should be a step toward reaching these goals, and teachers should regularly assess students’ pro­gress toward them. If a student is not progressing, work with him to discover the reasons, whether it is a lack of practice time, poorly organized practice sessions, or growing tension.
 
8. Record practice sessions. By recording practice sessions students can listen to themselves objectively. Some aspects of their playing will be a pleasant surprise, and some of them will be a disappointment; students should record both in their journals. Band and orchestra students who don’t already have a digital recording device should get one as soon as possible.
   
9. Practice for the right reasons. Encourage students to practice for the simple love of making music. Kenny Werner’s incredible book, Effortless Mastery (Jamey Aebersold), provides excellent insights into why musicians should practice and perform in a happy state of mind. For students (and many professionals), the motivation to practice tends to be preparation for the next lesson, rehearsal, or performance. While there is nothing inherently wrong with those reasons, the love of music sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.

10. Practice in a good frame of mind. Musicians don’t work on music, they play music. However, the pressures of preparing for lessons, recitals, and keeping up with music for several ensembles can cause any musician to lose sight of the goal, which is to express oneself through music. Think of the practice room as a sanctuary from the stress of daily life, a place of quiet and calmness where it is easy to relax and be musical. In college I sometimes practiced while sitting on a bridge overlooking the Clark Fork River in Montana, and the beautiful setting made for some re­warding, productive practice sessions. Remind students that we are fortunate to be musicians, and they should always approach playing from this standpoint.