HOW MUCH SHOULD I BE PRACTICING?

The goal of practice is to get better at our instruments and to build muscle memory by practicing small amounts every day.  If our aim is to practice 120 minutes over the course of the week, then we should be practice 15-25 minutes every day.  If you can’t fit 15-25 minutes into one practice session, it is okay to practice 5-15 minutes at a time, several times a day (maybe once before school and once after school).

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO PRACTICE?

You should be practicing things coming up in our Essential Elements book, exercises and sheet music we already know how to play, things you have struggled with in the past, and music that you enjoy.  You should warm up when you start your practice session with long tones and exercises that are labeled Daily Warm-Ups in the Essential Elements book, as well as scales once we start to learn them.  

A normal practice session would include:

Warm up

Something you already know how to play and enjoy

Something new or something you struggled with in class

Something you enjoy, something just for fun

Warm down (not always necessary)

HOW WILL I KNOW THAT I’M GETTING BETTER?

Just because you put in the 15-25 minutes a day does not mean you will be getting better at your instrument if you are not practicing correctly.  Playing straight through an exercise will not make it better if you are practicing mistakes.  Practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes it permanent!  You will know you are getting better and improving when: your parents can recognize what you are playing, you are able to stay up with the class during rehearsal, and your scores improve on your in-class playing tests.   You can also record your practice and listen to yourself to see if what you are playing matches what you think it should sound like.

WHAT STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO IMPROVE MY PRACTICE?

Look at the music you have chosen to work on before you start to play.  Do you know the time signature, key signature, the fingerings to all of the notes in the music, how to count the rhythms, and what any extra symbols mean?  If not, take the time to figure them out.  Your book has a fingering chart in the back, and your Alfred’s book contains the definitions to many of the symbols and terms in your music.

To improve rhythm: write in the counts; clap & count; sizzle and finger; play the written rhythm on one pitch/note; practice it slowly then speed up.

To improve note accuracy: look up fingerings; write in note names; check key signature;  finger through the music saying the note names; “air” play; practice slowly then speed up.

To improve articulations: look up the symbols’ names and definitions in your book; practice just playing the articulation on one note; listen to yourself play to see if the note stands out as different from the rest; practice slowly and then speed up.

To improve dynamics: look up the dynamics (terms and symbols) to make sure you are playing it correctly; listen to yourself play to make sure you can tell the difference between the various dynamics; play the whole exercise at one dynamic then add in the marked dynamics; over exaggerate dynamics so that is is obvious to anyone listening; play a simple exercise using different dynamics and ask a family member to tell you what dynamics you are using-see if they’re correct!

To improve breathing/phrasing: use the Breathing Gym exercises we have practiced in class; hold a piece of paper on the wall with your air; practice “deep breathing” from your diaphragm (sometimes need to lie down to really feel the diaphragm moving); decide how long the phrase should be-2, 4, 8 measures?; add in breath marks or circle the existing ones; practice playing the phrases in one breath

WHAT ARE SOME WAYS TO MAKE PRACTICING MORE FUN AND INTERESTING?

Use www.essentialelementsinteractive.com to play along with the computer screen or download the play along files to your mp3 player to practice with your headphones in.

Invite friends from class over to practice together, or Facetime/Skype a practice session.

Play for your family!  You can even design a program for your mini-recital, have them sign it and turn it in for extra credit!

Imagine a movie in your head that your music is the soundtrack to.

Penny Game: Have 7 pennies on  your stand (or any other kind of small token).  The goal is to move the pennies from one side of your stand to the other.  Pennies can only move sides if you do not make a mistake!  If you make a mistake, you move your pennies back to the starting side and start over.  Continue until all of your pennies have moved to the opposite side of your stand (if this is too frustrating, don’t start over at your first mistake, but only move pennies over when you have played it correctly).

Tic-Tac-Toe: mark a box when you play the section correctly.  If you make a mistake, your partner (sibling, parent) gets to mark a box instead.  Then refocus and try the section again.  If you play it correctly, you get to go again!

Dice game: Choose a section to work on in your music.  Roll the dice.  Whatever the dice says is the number of points you are playing for.  If you play through with no mistakes, your earn the points.  If you make any mistakes, your partner (sibling, parent) gets the points.

Towers of Mozart: Take a deck of cards and deal four face cards face up onto a pile.  Cards count as face value, Jack/Queen/King count as 10 points, Ace counts as 20 points.  From the dealing pile, turn up one card from the deck.  This is the card you want to add to the second pile.  To determine whether or not you get to add the card, play your chosen music once through.  If there are no mistakes, add the card to the second pile.  If there are mistakes, it goes into the first pile.  Once the second pile adds up to more than the first or you run out of cards, the game is over.

Dice game 2.0: Roll the dice.  Whatever number is shows is how many times you have to play that exercise/passage correctly before moving on.  Once you have practiced it that number, do the same for the next thing you’re going to practice by rolling the dice again.

Backwards music: play from the last measure.  Add one measure before it until you have worked your way back to the beginning to play the entire piece of music.

Opposites: Play the opposite of every written dynamic or articulation.  Then play it as written.

Play standing up (make sure to adjust your music stand).

Music video: Record yourself playing using a camcorder, your computer camera or the camera on your phone.  Listen & critique yourself.