7 Tips for Successful Practicing

Practicing is necessary when it comes to learning an instrument. Here are a few tips to help your practice sessions run smoothly and efficiently.

1. Warmup: Don’t underestimate the power of a good warmup! Whether it’s doing scales, etudes or some fundamental exercises, a warmup prepares your body, instrument and mind for the music you’re about to study.

2. Play through the piece, but not too much!: It’s important to run through a piece of music to gain continuity and to look for mistakes. Many students will stop at this point and conclude their practice session, but this should only be the beginning. After a few run-throughs, locate problem measures.

3. Locate problem measures: Measures that give you significant difficulty should be rehearsed multiple times slowly. After you feel comfortable, try going into the problematic measure from the previous measure. If this is smooth, try practicing into the following measure. Repeat this process until two measures become a line of music, and then a line becomes a page. With careful practice and patience the whole piece will be under your fingertips in no time!

4. The metronome is your friend: Use the metronome to identify tempo or rhythmic issues. At first, working with a metronome can be a daunting task, but the more you regularly play with one, the better your playing will become!

5. Listen/research your piece: After you are acquainted with the music, take a deeper dive into the meaning of the piece. Do you know the composer and the history of the piece? Sometimes even a quick glance at a wikipedia page will influence your playing. Listen to various performances of your piece and notice the particular artist or performer playing. Do you like how some people play your piece better than others?

6. Stay consistent: Practicing for one day is not enough. Practicing three hours for one or two days is not enough. The human brain learns best with consistency; even if it’s just 5-10 minutes a day, everyday, your piece and playing should gradually progress. Stick with it and remember that it’s a marathon and not a sprint!

7. Have fun: Remember why you chose to learn this instrument. While not all aspects of practicing are entertaining, think of the finished product and how much fun it will be to perform! Not everybody gets a chance to make music, so appreciate and enjoy any chance you get!