Posted by Rick Denney on June 13, 2000 at 09:06:39:
In Reply to: Your Brief Practice Session posted by Steve Marcus on June 12, 2000 at 19:36:34:
I often can only practice for 20 minutes, even when I should practice for much longer. I don't present this as a prescription, but rather as a description. If someone thinks I can spend my time more usefully, I'm all ears (so to speak).
If I'm working on a specific piece of music, I warm up for five minutes with Remington-style intervals and long tones, working from the 1st partial down as far as I can go (but no further), and then up two octaves. Then, I'll play something I know well that requires good tone and musical expression, but not necessarily technique (like, say, the Air from Air and Bourree). This warmup is always on the big horn. If my work objective is on the small horn, then I'll switch to that and play something musical on the F, like, say, the first movement of the Marcello Sonata in F. By now I've spent no more than ten minutes. Then I'll work on the piece in question. If the objective music is on the big horn, I'll usually just launch right into it after the Bach.
I always have some obective music in mind, though it is often frivolous. For example, after hearing the local amateurs play the Vaughan Williams 2nd Symphony, my next practice session included playing that music as my objective. When my copy of the Gregson arrived, I spent the next dozen or so sessions working on it, even though I will *never* play that piece in public. Maybe I listened to the Canadian Brass that day in the car, and I'll pull out some quintet music and work those parts.
I occasionally will run the scales around the circle of fifths, but only in longer sessions. Usually, though, I do very few technique exercises, which is probably one of the reasons my technique sucks.
Rick "I don't play when I'm not eager to play music" Denney