|
Practice! I never really grasped the importance of it until I was taught how to practice.
When I had music lessons in high school- playing flute and piccolo - my teacher would spend time teaching me new fingerings, new scales, and new pieces. However short that lesson was, she always made sure to end it by giving me a summary of how I should practice each scale, piece, etc. That really made all the difference for me.
A good habit of practice is to start out with some scales. I don't know what level of music playing you are at, but you can start off by playing some major. I usually practice all twelve - starting with the low note, going to the top and coming back down without repeating. You don't need to start out that way! Warm up by playing at least 3 to 5 different scales, perhaps even repeating some of them and keeping them at different note values. For example, you can start of with the C scale at whole notes and when you are finished do the F scale at quarter notes, and if you do the C scale again, in triplets. You get the idea.
You should practice as often and for as long as you can. I know that sounds ridiculous. During a regular week, I would practice with the band for 35 minutes every day, and once a week had a private lesson with my teacher for 30 minutes- roughly 3 to 4 hours during the school week. It isn't difficult to actually get done, so if you can find the time to practice only 30-40 minutes a day (trust me it will go by quickly), then that will also be a good habit.
Nobody ever told me this either and I never really bothered to ask anyone about it, but something I always tried other than practicing was just 'playing around'. Literally. I would just take my instrument and try to play songs I knew, like the Super Mario theme or Tetris. It was a good habit, because I was learning to recognize sounds and fingerings by ear and it was also fun, which made practice less of a drag. It also made my 40 minute practice sessions last almost 2 hours sometimes.
Anyways, sorry for rambling. So to wrap it up, warm up with a few scales prior to practicing your pieces. When you practice a piece, trying taking it line by line, or measure by measure if it is difficult. Always carry a pencil to write in reminders, either to play louder/softer, slow down, etc. Make photocopies of the sheet music you have so that you can write on those a bit more freely in case you have to return the originals (which you most likely will). Hope that helped and good luck. If you have any more music questions just let me know in my inbox.
|
