— A Guide to Getting the Most from Your Practice Sessions —
"I mean, I play at home, but I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere."
It seems that every time I take on a new student, they say something to this effect. Far too often, practice is ignored by teachers. Teachers assume that students know how to practice -- that they can transfer the skills learned in school, and use those same skills in learning & rehearsing music.
However, most students don't understand what practice should look and sound like. They may understand the need for repetition -- but not that the repetition should be centered around finding & addressing problem spots. Or, they may understand how to find problem spots, but don't understand how to fix them.
In my experience, effective practice should look something like this:
Find a Problem Spot: Play until you make a mistake. Stop immediately & circle the place in your sheet music where you made a mistake.
Breathe: Take a second to remind yourself that mistakes are a central part of learning. Mistakes offer us room for growth.
Zoom In: Play the problem spot a few times, paying attention to what specific SKILL you’re struggling with.
Intonation: Is there an accidental you routinely miss?
Position: Is there a shift that you struggle with?
Fingering: Is there a finger pattern that’s tripping you up?
Bow Direction: Is there a bowing that’s difficult?
Style: Is there a specific bow technique involved that you just can’t seem to get?
Rhythm: Is there a tricky rhythm tripping you up?
Observe: Use a mirror to watch yourself play & figure out what you’re doing that works FOR or AGAINST you.
Are you doing any unnecessary movements? Are you moving too much? Are you moving too little?
Experiment: Use open string warmups, scales, arpeggios, games, exercises, and études to work on the specific skill you’re struggling with.
This is my favorite part of practice – gamification & experimentation are the best ways to get creative about skill development, and help to stave off the boredom that comes from simply drilling a problem spot to exhaustion.
Integrate: Once you feel like you’re comfortable with the skill you’ve worked on, return to the problem spot & play it again. Play it on repeat until you can reliably play it correctly!
Following a specific set of steps such as this helps students to structure their practice & find success in small, measurable ways. Further, gamification of practice is a great way to engage students who are uninterested in practice; each game can target the development of a specific skill, while making that skill development fun! I talked about some practice games in my previous post; if you're looking for a little more variety, check out these other games below:
REVERSE | ESREVER
This game is a fun reading challenge. Your goal? To read your music in reverse, from finish to start, right to left, note by note. The resulting music will sound nothing like the intended melody -- but that's on purpose! This game recontextualizes rhythms & intervals, and challenges you to think outside the box.
Rewind
This game, like Reverse Reverse, involves reading your music from start to finish – however, it’s not quite the same. For Rewind, read the last measure of your music first – then build by playing the last two measures, then the last three. For each measure you add, play from the start of that measure until you reach the end of the piece. Even if the song is too long to feasibly play it in its entirety using the Rewind game, it's still useful in that it addresses the end of the work, which often is neglected by accident.
Bell Choir
If you've never seen a bell choir perform, check out this video: Amazing Grace
Bell choirs traditionally have all musicians play between 1-4 bells -- meaning each person can only play a handful of notes! The performers collaborate to perform a song together, with each person playing their bell(s) at just the right moment.
For the Bell Choir game, pick ONE pitch, and read your music along with a recording or a partner. Your job is to play ONLY that ONE pitch -- whenever you see it – but nothing else. Also try the game with TWO pitches (akin to having two bells in a bell choir). If you can play the game with a recording, try doing it with nothing but a metronome! Although it might sound easy, this game is actually incredibly challenging. Especially when playing with nothing but a metronome, this game helps you focus on timing, keeping a steady tempo, counting rhythms, and “hearing” a melody in your head.
On the Clock
On the Clock is a time-sensitive game that works perfectly when you don’t have much time to practice! Set a SMALL, SPECIFIC goal for yourself, and assign yourself a set number of minutes to achieve that goal. This game helps you fast-track your learning to maximize your time.
For example: Learn measures 1-8 in 5 minutes. For example: Increase the tempo from 80bpm to 100bpm in 10 mins.
For example: Play a passage 8 times with correct bowings in 4 mins.
Teeter-Totter
This game is string-specific, and helps you build strength & consistency in your bow hand. It's so fun that I use it with students of all ages! To play the Teeter-Totter game, flip the bow around so you’re holding the wrong end, and try to play a short passage in your music. See what you can do to achieve the best sound you can, despite the bow weight being out of whack.
Play-Say
Play the first measure of your music – then stop, and verbally say the rhythms in the next measure! Continue working through your music, playing the odd measures & saying the even ones. You can also flip-flop the Play-Say game, so that you say the odd measures & play the even ones.
This game helps you get better at counting rhythms, and also gives you the chance to catch any rhythm mistakes you might be making!
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