Making practicing more efficient

[ArnoldGottlieb]

I go in with a plan. Like, I'm going to spend ___ minutes working on ____. I use a kitchen timer, and I set goals that I have written on a piece of paper taped on the wall. The timer doesn't lie and 15 uninterupted intense minutes working on a tune can feel like hours when one begins. Also, I put the timer where I can't easily see it, so I really play til time is up.
Good Luck.
Peace.
ASG

[pierso20]

I agree with these posts.

I would also say that warming up can be done with two different frames of mind.

Some days, I spend 3/4 of my time warming up fully. Doing all sorts of excercises to keep my skills in check. This allows for optimal run-through's of your etudes and studies and etc. Also, it allows you to fully capably attack maybe a small portion of one piece that is particularily difficult.

Other days, as mentioned before, short 10 minutes at the most. Breathing, long tones, slurs.

Then, also dig right into your piece. Work from the Middle out.

Middle-beginning Middle-End

Don't just play sections. If you keep missing 2 notes in succession, play those notes, then expand the phrase to 4 notes, then 8...until you can play those notes.

keep the good adivce coming.

[tubatom91]

I do long tones, scales (in different octaves), etudes, long tones.

[LoyalTubist]

If you don't have anything coming up, like a gig, record yourself and try to be your own teacher. Let others listen to your recording. Even nonmusicians can be quite helpful sometimes.

[iiipopes]

By the same token, taking everything posted heretofore as the way to do it, don't get reactionary the other way become a masochist, either, ruining your enjoyment. Last season in community band we played the Camphouse fantasy on the Northwestern Alma Mater, you know, the hymn, "We Thy People Praise Thee." Well, it's written for a tuba section of at least a half dozen young college sprouts all trying to outblow each other, and we had three, well, typical community band tubists, and yes, I resemble that remark. I would take bits as small as two measures at a time from the inside out trying to make it flow, and sometimes, with the wide interval jumps, even two beats at a time, much less a full measure. I got so frustrated I almost quit. As much as I respect the director, this one instance was just really out there. I finally had to give up after months of nightly practice, and even before work practice and accept my limitations as a come-backer who gets to practice only a few hours per week, if lucky, and not per day. I could have worked on that thing for another couple of months and it would not have gotten any better, because we just didn't have the critical section mass. But somehow, it sounded alright in concert anyway.

[MartyNeilan]

Make EVERY note sound good. Warmups, scales, slurs, Aaaarban, etc. Every single note should be performance worthy. Practicing for technique should never be separate from practicing for tone.

[Tubaguyjoe]

I have a "warm-up" that takes about an hour or so when I do it right. But really the first 10 minutes are the actual "warming-up" part to it. The rest is my practice of scales, slurs, and articulations. I don't really call it warming up as much as practicing basics...because you know what happened to the man that built his house upon a bed of sand....

[djwesp]

I have a "warm-up" that takes about an hour or so when I do it right. But really the first 10 minutes are the actual "warming-up" part to it. The rest is my practice of scales, slurs, and articulations. I don't really call it warming up as much as practicing basics...because you know what happened to the man that built his house upon a bed of sand....

Exactly. My "warm up" is actually quite a long "workout" It addresses almost all of my weak areas.

The more I address these by themselves, the better prepared I am when I face them in MY repetoire!

[Uncle Buck]

3/ If you are making errors, you are playing a passage TOO D@MN FAST. If you cannot play a passage correctly at ANY speed, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PLAY IT until you completely understand it in your head... (You might need a piano or electronic keyboard to assist your "head".) Thrashing through a passage incorrectly over-and-over simply teaches you how to play it wrong.

).

All of bloke's suggestions are very good, but IMHO his #3 is exceptionally valuable.

[TubaRay]

Make EVERY note sound good. Warmups, scales, slurs, Aaaarban, etc. Every single note should be performance worthy. Practicing for technique should never be separate from practicing for tone.

This statement is certainly at the foundation of my playing philosophy.

[Slamson]

One thing that I'd prefer to point out is the necessity of DAILY practice. I was off the horn for a week and after another week of practice I'm still not back in shape.

I tell all of my students when they start that they MUST practice a minimum of 15 minutes a day. I figure that if they go to the trouble to pick up the horn, oil the valves, warm up, etc. That most of the time they'll practice more than that rather than waste the effort.