Posted by Hiram Diaz on August 20, 2003 at 17:09:40:
In Reply to: Focused practice (longish) posted by MP on August 20, 2003 at 12:40:10:
I sat through a masterclass with Mr. Timothy Adams, principal timpanist of the Pittsburg Symphony and teacher at Carnegie Mellon University. Though this masterclass was focused on preparing for a major orchestral audition, it was all about what kinds of practice, how much practice, and what to do while practicing. If I can remember correctly, he said that his focused practice time was about 11-13 minutes, and thats it. Now, he practices for 4-5 hours at a time. He takes breaks, which is the real key here to being focused. This is the way I like to practice. I take 5-15 minute breaks during my practice time, allowing me to absorb the music I just worked on, and improve upon it during my next 15-25 minute session. I rarely ever practice for an hour straight, thats just ridiculous, or its just not practice. So I guess this post is backing yours up.
My two cents