Practice Routine
Basic Practice Routine
Use metronome and tuner in daily practice.
Warmups (10-15 mins): chromatic scales with various articulations; long tones with tuner (add dynamics for advanced practice).
Etude studies (20-30 mins): practice “patchwork style” (small section by section); single out difficult areas and practice with various rhythms and various groupings; start with a slow metronome marking and increase tempo incrementally.
Sonatas/Concertos (20-30 mins): practice with the appropriate style, articulations, character and phrasing for the musical time period in which the piece was written; understand the harmony structures.
Record your playing and listen back right away. Note what went well and what did not.
Voicing the intervals.
Practicing the articulations with your speaking voice.
Keep practice log.
Keep weekly lessons.
Practice tips for tricky passages will be addressed during lessons.
For example: using note groupings, breaking the patterns, altering dotted rhythms, and mental practicing.
Strategy on Practicing
Practicing is different from "playing through."
Notice how your practice at home compares to how you play for your teacher at
lessons. When practicing at home, student musicians are sometimes not as mindful,
attentive and deliberate with their playing.
Please try this in your practice at home:
- take a small section at a time (4 beats, 2 measures or 4 measures)
- repeat them with the correct rhythm, correct notes/fingerings, articulations, tone
and intonation
- play at least 5 times in a row (or 10 or 20 times)
- when you can do this with everything played correctly, continue to the next section
- when you have played the entire piece in sections this way, play through the whole
piece without stopping
- circle the spots where mistakes occur during your run-through
This is a successful and basic way of practicing. When students incorporate this kind of
practicing into their daily routine, it strengthens the fundamentals of their playing.
Musicians don't practice like this their whole lives, but it's necessary for students to be
comfortable with rhythm, correct notes/fingerings, articulations, tone and
intonation. This kind of practice is hard and isn't much fun, but you will have more fun
playing music later if you put in the work now.
Tip for more productive practice:
- Keep a practice log. Include exact time of practice, content of practice, and tempo
markings. Bring the practice log to your lesson each week.
Also, remember that "last minute" practicing doesn't sink into your muscle memory. It
won't produce good performances at lessons or in front of an audience. Therefore,
practicing regularly and consistently are necessary.
Enjoy your practicing!