How To Practice -

You will become what you practice

Mike Saville — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:55:41 +0100

. . .you will become what you practice Read More . . .

El Sistema film release

Mike Saville — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:59:38 +0100

There are few musicians or educators that can fail to have noticed or been touched by the musical project in Venezuela known as 'El Sistema', a project which takes children from the streets of some of the most deprived cities in the world and gives them music and more importantly hope.

This friday a new film is released on DVD and Blu-Ray which documents this project. I will be bringing you a review as soon as I can. In the meantime here is a glimpse of what this system has produced:

I first became aware of this project back in 2007 when the Simon Bolivar orchestra gave the above performance at the BBC Proms. From that time I became intrigued by how musical excellence could come from such humble beginnings. Read More . . .

Practicing for Young Musicians by Harvey Snitkin

Mike Saville — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:16:22 +0200

'Real progress happens when you take your weekly lesson. Right? Wrong! Success depends on what you do between lessons, when you practice.' And so begins this excellent book on practice by Snitkin.

The book opens with some general thoughts on practice, problems with traditional approaches to lessons and practice and an explanation that the same generic practice principles apply to all instruments. He also introduces four characters, Backwards Bob, Perfect Patricia, Worrisome Walt and Happy Harry who lead us through different perspectives on practice. Read More . . .

Mixing up your lessons

Mike Saville — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:53:17 +0200

I came across an interesting post today by Jason over at the Piano Pedagogy Page.. He is running a series of posts on how to improve your teaching or 'In service DIY' as he calls it.

This post has a couple of interesting concepts I like. Firstly the idea that both teacher and student do not speak in the lesson but instead find other ways to communicate ideas.

Secondly he suggests not using standard italian terms to describe things but to instead use a greater variety of adjectives. There's even a downloadable list of suggested words you can use.

The reason I think tips like these work is that it keeps lessons fresh and students on their toes. If you are not sure what your teacher is going to ask at the next lesson chances are that you will practice to cover all the bases.

50 Quick music practice tips

Mike Saville — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:13:09 +0200

Wow! When I started the Quick Tips section of the site I thought I might have 10 or maybe 20 quick and useful tips to help you all with your music practice. A few months later and we're at 50 already!!

That's basically enough for a new practice tip every week of the year!

These tips are meant for you to dip in and out of as a way of inspiring your practice or getting a new perspective on things. They apply equally to piano, guitar, violin, flute and horn. Whatever instrument you play you will find a useful tip here.

Do you have any quick music practice tips not in our list? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Read More . . .

End on a high note

Mike Saville — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:37:42 +0200

50Let's be realistic for a moment. Practice can sometimes be hard work. A long hard session can leave you mentally tired and maybe a little deflated if you didn't achieve all that you wanted.

You can combat this by playing by playing something you know really well at the end of your practice session. Choose a piece that you enjoy and that makes you feel really good about your playing.

Goals without deadlines are not really goals, but daydreams

Mike Saville — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:10:43 +0200

Goals without deadlines are not really goals, but daydreams Read More . . .

What? Where? Why? How?

Mike Saville — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:37:31 +0200

Photo courtesy of Marco Bellucci

Each time you spot a mistake ask yourself a few simple questions to put it right quickly.

The following questions are very easy to remember and will help bring focus to specific practice problems.

What?

What exactly was the issue? Was it a wrong note? Fingering? Or perhaps a dynamic. Be very specific. The more accurately you can diagnose the problem the closer you are to fixing it. Maybe there is an underlying issue in your technique that caused the problem - you should identify that too.

Where?

Where was the problem? Read More . . .

Little to be said for learning a piece note by note.

Mike Saville — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:08:30 +0200

There's very little to be said for learning a piece note by note, reading the rhythmic markings, practising the fingerings and following your instructor's suggestions, if you haven't any idea how the music will eventually sound and feel. If you learn a piece mechanically, you may have to 'unlearn' it before you can play it with expression and feeling. Read More . . .

5 misconceptions about music practice

Mike Saville — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:42:02 +0200

We want to help you practice better. Click here to receive regular advice or here for help on your current problems.

There are many, many miconceptions around practice. These arise because pupils are not taught how to do it. These pupils listen to their peers, heresay and internet discussion forums (we all know how reliable they are!). The ideas they hear are taken on board and spread further and eventually develop into accepted 'truths'.

30 minutes per day

If you eavesdrop on a conversation most people have around practice it will usually involve disccussion about how much practice they have done, how long they spent on a certain exercise, how much their teacher has said they should do and one-upmanship about how much they managed in a single day. Read More . . .