How To Practice

By Ernie Mansfield

People often criticize themselves (or their children, or their spouses, etc.) for not practicing on their chosen musical instrument, even if they are paying good money for music lessons! Most people in this situation assume that they are not disciplined, or lack the will, or the talent, or perhaps assume they have some other deficiency. However, the truth is more likely that they simply lack a routine. By establishing a routine that can fit into one's daily life, practice simply becomes a good habit.

Here is how to do it: pick a time during the day when you are relatively free of other obligations. Perhaps this could be a time early in the morning, or after dinner, or some other time. Now, set aside a small amount of time - perhaps 20 to 30 minutes - and mark this on your daily diary or planner. Mark it for every single day - this way, if you miss a few days (it happens!), you will still be making progress. This is much better than planning to practice every other day. In that scenario, if you miss 2 practices you have effectively lost an entire week!

Now that you have set aside time, and marked it in your calendar - what do you actually DO at your practice session? Here are some suggestions:

 (1) Divide your time up into 3 sections. In your first section, practice warm-up exercises. These should be simple exercises that you can play every day without too much effort. In other words, exercises that are easy for you, that you already know, and that you can play without thinking too much. Perhaps these might be very slow scales, or long tone exercises. Play these in a relaxed style, and listen to see that you are playing smoothly and evenly.

 (2) The second section of your practice routine should be newer, more challenging exercises. For some students, these might be technical exercises; for some others, these might be learning a new piece of music in your study book. The purpose of the second section of practice is to go beyond your comfort zone, and to learn more technique and theory. It is always necessary to go a little beyond your comfort zone in order to make improvement on your instrument.

 (3) The third phase of your practice routine should be working on pieces that you like to play - pieces that you already know, that can use some improvement. These may be pieces that you have learned, but you need to perfect them a bit more in order to perform them in public. Or, these could be pieces that you would like to commit to memory.

This suggested practice routine is very general. I have tried to use simple technical terms designed for a general audience to understand. In reality, every student should have a more specific, custom-designed practice plan that is effective for them. This is where a private teacher is most helpful. A private teacher can better understand the needs of the student, based on the strengths and weaknesses of the students' performance at their lessons.

Although it is common to hear students complain about practicing, it is a simple fact that more knowledge and discipline of an instrument serves to create a deeper understanding of music - which in turn creates more freedom of expression. As coach Steven Chandler says, "Only the disciplined are free."

© Ernie Mansfield 2007