1.              Make sure you practice every day! 

                 A wise teacher once said, “Practice only on the days you eat.”  Put in at least 20 minutes

                 of playing.  That doesn’t include setting up, adjusting reeds, oiling valves, or finding the

                 right page.  A little each day is better than trying to overload right before a performance

                 or a playing test.  We don’t starve ourselves all week and try to eat a week’s worth of food

                 on Sunday night, so we shouldn’t practice that way, either!

 

2.              Practice doesn’t make perfect — Perfect practice makes perfect!

                 Practice is how you teach your body what your brain has learned.  If you practice with

                 good habits, your body will learn good habits.  But if you practice with bad habits, you’ll                  learn those, too!  Make sure you’re using good posture, good hand position, correct                              fingerings, and good tone every time you play. 

 

3.              Don’t just practice until you get it right.  Practice it until you just can’t get it wrong.

                 If you get it wrong nine times and right on the tenth, which one is your body going to                  remember better?  Once you’ve “got it,” do it a few more times to make sure it’s the right

                 way that sticks!

 

4.              Have a plan!

                 When you sit down to practice, know what it is you want to fix.  Don’t just play through

                 all of your songs once and put your instrument away.  And don’t just practice the easy stuff,                  either.  Pick a few tricky spots, and just work on those until they shine!  Then finish up by                  playing one of your favorite things to play!

 

 

Practice Tools and Strategies

 

Metronome Online:  A metronome is a tool that plays clicks to keep a steady beat.  This one is online, and uses your computer speakers.  It’s free! 

 

Standard of Excellence Exercise Recordings:  This site has all of the exercises from the red and blue books online so you can hear them and play along!  For most exercises, you’ll hear it twice — the first time, the recording plays the melody with you, and the second time is just the background.  

 

 

 

New or tricky music giving you trouble?  Try one of these strategies!

 

                 Take it Apart (Useful for practicing new and unfamiliar music)

                 Step One:  Leave out the rhythm!  Just play the notes to a steady beat of quarter notes.

                 Step Two: Leave out the notes!  Just play the rhythm on the first note of the line.

                 Step Three:  Put it back together and try playing the line! 

                                  *If any of these steps doesn’t come out right, go back a step and slow down the                                      beat a little.

 

                 Add-a-Note   (Useful for practicing scales or fast runs of notes)

                 ALWAYS use a steady beat!  A metronome helps!

                 - Play the first note. 

                 - Then play the first and second notes.

                 - Then play the first, second, and third notes.

                 - Continue adding notes one-at-a-time until you’ve got them all!

                                  *If you get to a note that’s giving you trouble, just try going back and forth

                                  between that note and the one before it a few times.  Then give it another go!

 

                 Tongue the Ties  (Useful for tricky rhythms with lots of “ties”)

                 - For now, pretend the ties aren’t there (or mark them out lightly with pencil)

                 - Practice the rhythms this way until they’re easy and comfortable.

                 - One at a time, add the ties back in!