How to Practice
All music students are admonished to practice. Practice daily. Practice for twenty minutes each day. But, how exactly should a student go about the work of practicing?
There is an excellent, simple answer to this question. Follow this link to Ruairi Glasheen’s fourteen-minute video on how to practice.
There is an excellent, simple answer to this question. Follow this link to Ruairi Glasheen’s fourteen-minute video on how to practice.
Ruairi Glasheen is a professional musician, composer, teacher and filmmaker. His videos about traditional music are high quality and simply marvelous. Visit his YouTube Channel at this link:
Ruairi suggests dividing a twenty-minute practice session into four, five-minute parts.
1. Tune into the music
Warm up by tuning the insturment. Playing scales and rhythms. Doing stretching excercises.
2. Re-vision
Go back to what you worked on during the last practice. Something you already know. MINDFUL repetition. Not ROBOTIC repetition!
3. Learning
Work on new music or new concepts or new techniques. Always incorporate new music into practice sessions
4. Free Play
Improv time!. Just play. Explore. Mess around. Do what ever comes to mind. Cross over the lines into experimental playing. Remember we do business. But we PLAY music. Focus on play during these five minutes.
1. Tune into the music
Warm up by tuning the insturment. Playing scales and rhythms. Doing stretching excercises.
2. Re-vision
Go back to what you worked on during the last practice. Something you already know. MINDFUL repetition. Not ROBOTIC repetition!
3. Learning
Work on new music or new concepts or new techniques. Always incorporate new music into practice sessions
4. Free Play
Improv time!. Just play. Explore. Mess around. Do what ever comes to mind. Cross over the lines into experimental playing. Remember we do business. But we PLAY music. Focus on play during these five minutes.
Make practice a daily habit
Obvious - Attractive - Easy - Satisfying
Obvious - Attractive - Easy - Satisfying
The two essential keys to developing musical skills are: repetition and focus. Practice daily. Practice with your entire focus on your music. Ditch your smart phone and family while you practice. Give yourself over to the music and the work required to build skills.
Set out specific goals to accomplish during each practice session. Make those goals Reasonable, Understandable, Measurable, Behavioral, and Attainable. RUMBA!
Don’t set the bar so high that you cannot succeed. Don't aim for perfection - that's an impossible goal Always aim for progress. Keeping a log of daily progress can be a great motivational tool.
Set out specific goals to accomplish during each practice session. Make those goals Reasonable, Understandable, Measurable, Behavioral, and Attainable. RUMBA!
Don’t set the bar so high that you cannot succeed. Don't aim for perfection - that's an impossible goal Always aim for progress. Keeping a log of daily progress can be a great motivational tool.
The keys are Repetition and Focus.