Re: How long does everybody practice?


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Posted by JEREMY on March 07, 1999 at 21:33:24:

In Reply to: How long does everybody practice? posted by Jay Boyd on March 06, 1999 at 19:23:25:

If you mean practice alone, it varies greatly. It depends on how mutch talent you were blessed with. for some people it just comes natural, but others like me must work wery hard. I curently play in a military band full time, so depending on the season, how much traveling the band is doing and the amount of playing I do with the band has an effect on how much I can practice. What I have comming up will also play a role in my practice routine; a solo with the band, challanging chamber music, or an audition.

I love to practice. I try to have some alone time with my instrument six days per week, and take one off the horn to recover.

I don't have the six or so hours to put into practicing like I did in college, so I must make my practicing more efficient. Between performances, travel time, having a wife and children, I must make every moment count. Here are some things I try to do to be more efficient.

1. Don't practice where you could be distracted. other musicians love to talk on thier practice breaks and interupt yours.
2. Don't show off. Don't waist valuable time playing a cool lick or hard solo publicly over and over. It waists your chops. chances are your fellow musicians are sick of it and have herd it played beter by someone else anyway.
3. Look for the hard part of the piece. Practice that part slowly, then gradually faster.
4. practice the piece corectly. don't play the easy part any faster than difficult lines. Don't practice slowing down for the hard parts. It will show come concert time.
5. practice with a good quality recording device. Mini disks work well for the price but a good quality tape recorder will do wonders for giving you the real picture in a hurry.
6. Alwayse listen for everything, live, and again on tape. Intonation, phrasing, articuation, tone quality through the registers, tempos, dynamics, intensity, and overall musicality. that's alot to think about. when you go back and listen to the recording with the music you can catch your errors and mark them for next time while your chops are resting. (instead of talking to a friend)

these are a few things that have helped me to maximize my practice time. I hope they can help you too. If you have any other tricks to save time I would love to hear them.

ftuba(AT)sprintmail.com




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