Practice Time

[pierso20]

The key is to practice smart. You can practice for 2 hours a day or 4 hours a day and receive equal results. But if you practiced as efficient as the 2 hours = 4 hours, then a 4 hour practice day would be even more beneficial.

So.....I would say that practicing the MOST you can without injuring yourself, and practicing the most efficiently will help you progress the fastest....

of course, this is all ideally said....the "real" world doesn't always allow for this.

[MaryAnn]

There was some interesting scientific research done on getting what has been studied into long term memory. One of the surprising results was that if you spend time learning something, it takes five or six hours of "not studying anything else" to get what you studied into long term memory, and if you study something else within that five-to-six hour time frame, you actually "cover over" the first thing you studied and it doesn't make it into long term memory nearly as well.

I think people who can put in the hours upon hours required to reach an extremely high level, are able, in the physical sense, to retain what they have learned better than those who put in equal time but don't get as far.

It would be interesting to set up a self-research project, practicing with the five-to-six-hour "rest time" in between learning episodes, contrasted with just going full-bore all day. Personally....I find I learn better with shorter, condensed practice sessions (read "intense" for "condensed") as opposed to just flailing away at it for hours upon hours.

I also think one should have some "fun play time" within the practice session, because as they say, "all work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy."

MA

[Rick Denney]

...I asked the question because it only recently occurred to me that most advanced high school players probably put in several hours a day, and I wondered if I should be stepping it up.

It depends on your objectives. What do you hope to accomplish with your tuba playing?

When I was in high school, I practiced probably an hour a day on average, plus rehearsal at school. And I fit it into a busy life, the other aspects of which were just as important to me as playing the tuba. Those other aspects are still just as important, and I still fit tuba playing into a busy schedule. But here's the point: I never expected or intended to make the tuba my life's work. For me, it was a way to express one side of myself different from other expressions that were just as or more important to me. I went to a college that doesn't even have a music department, and that was the college I intended to go to all along, because of those things that were more important.

Had music been my primary focus, I would have needed to shed those other activities. But if I was the kind of musician with that sort of talent and drive, I probably would not have gotten involved in those other activities in the first place, because they would have kept me away from music.

(All that said, the thing I probably regret the most about my tuba playing in school was that I never had the opportunity to study privately with a good teacher. We just didn't think in those terms in those days.)

If shedding your other interests is what you are contemplating, you can only make that decision in terms of what you hope to achieve. Don't just heap more demands on yourself--that path leads to destruction. Make choices concerning those activities over which you have control. Tuba instead of homework is not an option. Tuba instead of going out with your friends, or instead of tinkering with cars, or whatever, might be.

Rick "thinking motivation usually follows desire" Denney

[pierso20]

This reminded me of something in addition. You should NOT practice straight. You need short breaks OFTEN because otherwise your ability to retain becomes significantly less throughtout your learning.

This is most often quoted in terms of studying. I was once told that you should not study more than a half hour without taking a 5 minute break or so. I think this can be applied to practicing as well. I find that my most producting practices are when I practice for 3 or 4 hours, but about ever 25-35 minutes I take a 5 or 6 minute break. It gives your face and mind rest before cramming more information in. I think this definetely helps in the realm of efficient practice.

I also think one should have some "fun play time" within the practice session, because as they say, "all work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy."

MA

EXACTLY!!! What's the point of playing if you hate every minute of it. Sometimes you gotta eat spinach to get to the desert. (Unless your like me and are usually too full from the dinner to eat the desert ).

So you have to play some things you do well and enjoy so that it's not always work work work. (However, make sure your "goofing" is still applying all the good things you work on. Otherwise you may undo what you were just practicing).

Cheers!

[jbaylies]

I'm ok, missed Massachusetts All-State by 2 points...

I practice around 1 hr - 2 hr weekdays and 2 hr - 4 hr weekends, and agree with everything written above.

[PWtuba]

It depends on your objectives. What do you hope to accomplish with your tuba playing?
...

Had music been my primary focus, I would have needed to shed those other activities. But if I was the kind of musician with that sort of talent and drive, I probably would not have gotten involved in those other activities in the first place, because they would have kept me away from music.

Well, at this point I can imagine doing nothing else besides music. In fact, all of these other activities you are talking about... for me, they all have to do with music! Marching band, basketball pep band, local youth orchestra, weekly tuba lesson, weekly piano lesson, etc... There have been a few non-music activities that I have had to "shed."

This only is a concern during the school year... I have lots of time to practice in the summer (before marching band starts, anyway). And my summer is even more loaded with musical stuff.

[Rick Denney]

Well, at this point I can imagine doing nothing else besides music. In fact, all of these other activities you are talking about... for me, they all have to do with music! Marching band, basketball pep band, local youth orchestra, weekly tuba lesson, weekly piano lesson, etc... There have been a few non-music activities that I have had to "shed."

This only is a concern during the school year... I have lots of time to practice in the summer (before marching band starts, anyway). And my summer is even more loaded with musical stuff.

Look, you can only do what you can do. I would say that now is not the time to adopt a professional attitude about practice. Now is the time to be a high-school kid, and make sure you stay involved in the important activities associated with that (including your other classes). If you apply pressure to yourself in ways you can't accommodate without losing sleep, then all you're doing is making it harder on yourself.

When you get to college, you'll realize that what you thought you wanted to do as an adult may well change. There's time enough to let that play out.

All the really good musicians I know had a period of time in their lives when they were performing, rehearsing, or practicing for something like eight hours a day. You cover a lot of ground in a hurry when you can do that. But all of them did it either in college or after college, not during high school.

There are probably guys in high school who do nothing else but play tuba who might gain a temporary technical advantage on you. But it sounds to me as though you are enjoying broad musical experiences, and in the long run, those are going to help you a lot. You may have to play catchup with some of those guys in terms of technical skills, but you'll be ahead of them in appreciation for and understanding of musical expression. Ultimately, you'll have to have both if you want to make it your life's work, but the musical part is the more rare quality, by my observation.

But I'm just guessing based on what little you've said. What does your teacher think? Is he suggesting that you step up the pace? Have you talked it over with him? He's heard you play; we haven't.

Rick "noting that adding technical skills to good musicianship is a lot easier than adding good musicianship to ingrained technical competitiveness" Denney

[Davy]

I try to get at least an Hour a day, but it is less sometimes if I have a different band practice, or If I have a performance coming up, like an audition.

[PWtuba]

(A lot of stuff)

'K.

[Glaucon]

Rick Denney, you might have just become one of my personal heros. ROCK SOLID advice. Some of the best I've ever seen on here...thank you for putting that in writing.