Thoughts I Have

Music and Practicing

I love listening to music. I love playing pieces I've learned. Practicing? Well, sometimes I enjoy it a lot. Often, though, practicing isn't something I do for the fun of it. I do it for the joy of learning new music, for the joy of knowing the music more deeply than I could by simply listening to it. I do it for the joy of constantly appreciating music more and more, for the joy of living in the music more and more. 

Here are some of the practice strategies I've developed over my career as a piano student to reach those goals:

1. Listen to music all the time. It doesn't always have to be classical. Throughout the week, I'll likely spend some time listening to Christian praise and worship music, alternative rock, pop, hiphop, classical, Orthodox hymns, more traditional Protestant hymns, nursery rhymes, kid's music, and some guitar music. My family has a diverse taste in music. I think listening to a variety of genres can help you, because different genres can emphasize different aspects of music (like learning to be aware of rhythm by listening to hip hop, or how to harmonize when you sing hymns at church). 

2. Never skip scales. No matter what instrument you play, technique exercises, scales, and arpeggios are key to your development. Seriously. If your teacher assigns them to you, practice them faithfully every day. I spend around 10-12 minutes on technique exercises every day- five or less is probably sufficient if you're practicing less than an hour a day. For pianists, here's the model my teacher follows:

-Following the circle of fifths, first in major keys, then in minor keys, working on one key at a time until mastery is developed; play scales with the metronome (1 octave at one note per beat, up and down, then two octaves of eighth notes, up and down, then three octaves of triplets, up and down, then four octaves of sixteenth notes, up and down three times, first legato, then staccato, then legato again; do not pause in between groupings/octaves). I generally spend a week or two on each key. I follow the same model for the related arpeggios. Once I've gone through all the keys, I start back at C Major with a harder variation: in thirds, in sixths, one hand in thirds and the other in sixths, etc for scales, and mixing inversions for the arpeggios. When I'm practicing the scales, I play through the model in similar motion, contrary motion, sixths apart (ie in C Major RH begins on C and LH on E), and tenths apart (LH on C and RH on E). For arpeggios, I just play through the inversions and then mix them (ie root in LH and 2nd inversion in RH). Honestly, it looks way more complicated and time consuming than it really is. 

3. Practice every day. Skip a day of practice, and you'll notice; skip two, and the audience notices (that's a famous quote from some famous pianist). Skip five minutes, and your teacher notices. Set aside more time than you need, because you'll probably spend too much time taking breaks.

4. Use the metronome. Many people don't know how to properly use the metronome, however. Playing haphazardly at some random speed will more likely hurt you than help you. I'd suggest always having your teacher set your speeds. Whatever speed you're metronoming should be the fastest you can go comfortably without making any mistakes in notes, rhythms, or fingerings. This means you should have notes, rhythms, and fingerings down before you metronome. If there's a rhythm you're having trouble with when you are first learning a piece, break it down and play it very slowly without the metronome, emphasizing the smallest subdivision (32nd notes? 8th notes? 64th notes??). Don't use the metronome to build your tempo: your piece will begin to sound too metronomical and driven. Your tempo should increase over time through practice naturally, without any extra effort. At some point, the metronome should serve as a break so you don't exceed performance tempo (ie, don't play Moonlight Sonata at a whole note =100 because you're capable of it!!). When I struggle to get a piece to performance tempo, my teacher gives me a test: am I capable of playing the piece faster without mistakes, or is my technique struggling? For the former, he increases my tempos slightly, and for the latter he decreases them or has me metronome more tempos every day. Here's the model he's given me:

Write down your tempo (using the guidelines above; ie 84): 

Now one speed slower (ie 80):

Now two speeds slower (ie 72):

Now two speeds slower (ie 66):

For extra practice, three speeds slower (x2, ie 58 and 52):

Now start at the slowest speed, and break your piece into short phrases of 4-8 measures. Play the first phrase at the slowest speed until perfect, then go on to the next speed. Once you reach your goal, proceed to the next phrase. This takes FOREVER the first two or three days you try it. Like, two hours for a 5-6 page piece at least. But you'll get more accustomed to practicing in this way and soon it'll only take 45-60 min for a piece that long. Less time if you practice in bigger chunks (not as effective, though) or you're playing a shorter piece. I do this every other day at least, though occasionally less. I also never metronome things like Nocturnes or slow movements, which tend to have significantly more rubato.

Of course, that's not the only 'right' way to use a metronome. That's just the only way I usually use it. 

5. How long do I practice? Practice time depends on a variety of things, like how many pieces you are working on, whether you're preparing for competitions or auditions, what your teacher tells you to do, and how dedicated you are. When I'm preparing for big recitals and camps, I should be spending 45-90 minutes practicing each piece I'm working on. I should also spend time each day practicing performance, ie, playing the piece all the way through and focusing specifically on continuing if I make mistakes and musicality.

6. Consistency is important. Practicing every single day is very necessary. If I have no access to my instruments, I should be listening to recordings of my pieces, or using mental practice. Mental practice can look like a lot of different things- I usually sit down at a table or just rest my hands on a hard surface (or my legs) and focus on what fingerings I'm using, while trying to hear the piece in my head. Ironically, I hardly ever use mental practice, despite the fact that every other weekend I have no access to a piano.

7. Stretching. If I practice for more than an hour, I need to stretch. Ask your teacher for good stretches, or make some up yourself. Just never stretch your lower arms if you're a pianist. You could really hurt yourself!

8. You need a teacher. Practice is not something you apply to every musician and every piece in exactly the same way, or even to the same piece at different stages of its development. You don't have the insight a teacher will be able to give you on how to properly apply different practice techniques so you can grow as a musician. Without a teacher, you risk hurting both your development as a musician and your physical body. Go find a teacher!!

Happy practicing!

How do you guys practice? What do you think of my practice strategies?