Extracurricular activities should each get equal attention. Spending all of your free time with your instrument is no way to develop a well-rounded youth and it can easily burn out the most gifted player.
Mindless practice takes place by rote. You mechanically follow the music and repeat it the required number of times, but your mind is distracted about other matters. Practicing in this way will not deliver the results you want and it creates three specific problems:. Deliberate practice, however, is a structured, systematic method that consistently generates positive achievement.
Essentially, you focus all of your mental energy on listening and correcting your performance. Deliberate practice is more difficult that auto-pilot, but it builds your skills in less time. Studies show that practicing more than four hours a day is just way too much. Plus, you can really harm yourself. Students should use effective practice methods and generally keep practice times within one-to-two hours per day, maximum, and no more than six days each week.
I did that, of course, when I was a kid. Now I really enjoy the two hours. Open my heart, open my passion. And also it calms me down. Sometimes you really need to clear your mind in order to play the slow pieces, and to be quiet. American violin virtuoso Sarah Chang told The Strad that while she often practises for a long time, she advocates taking breaks to break it up.
Your comments makes a lot of sense. To add to the conversation I would highly recommend that you take a few shorter breaks during each practice session. Basically because then you get the opportunity to stay sharp for a longer time.
I am a pianist not professionally, but descent. When I was 12, my mother told me to practice 75 minutes every week even on Saturday. I wanted to play piano just for fun. I was more into sports like soccer. My mother use to say no games or soccer until you have practiced. I never wanted to practice all the time. I was thinking maybe 10 minutes on my songs piece by piece alone. Finally , i found the answers that i was looking for. Very very good article , thank you very much! The question of how long to structure practice sessions is a tricky one as it depends on a variety of factors how well-rested you are, the strength of your ability to concentrate in general, time of day, and so on.
Try paying closer attention to when your concentration starts to fade during the course of your practice sessions over the next week. This will probably give you a pretty good baseline average. I am not a musician, but a painter, and as a painter I face many technical challenges such as color mixing, value judgment, drawing accuracy, etc. I can testify from experience that after four hours of painting I have a very difficult time concentrating and I begin to lose my way.
What you have presented in this article I can see being very useful to me. Thank you! Thanks for the comment — very cool to get the perspective of an artist. It is really interesting how generalizable across domains the 4-hour limit on intense concentration such as required for deliberate practice or other such activities seems to be. To be honest, it just depends on the individual.
Personally, I am also a painter and can happily paint a house for 18 hours with only the odd water break. I play both trombone and piano and take them both up seriously, so my practice time is very much divided. So I find it hard to give a good practice on both and stay focused throughout and for as long as i would like.
So my question to you is what is the best thing to be doing in between practice that leaves you most feeling refreshed and ready to practice again? I have found that completely relaxing in between practice, i.
Whereas continuing to do something mentally taxing naturally wont help matters. So what is the best thing to do? Thanks for the comment and the article idea.
You raise a great question — perhaps other readers will chime in with what has worked for them. Like you, I found that watching TV and even playing on the computer tended not to be very conducive to a good day of practice. Have you ever experimented with taking a quick i. In theory, the ideal activity for between practice sessions would be something that allows you to clear your mind a bit and refresh your body or get the blood circulating a bit without being too strenuous.
You could even try an easy run followed by a shower. I play the accordion. This usually takes about an hour for me. After putting my instrument down, I do something that I can just do kind of on auto drive.
Not something like watching TV, but something that still requires some amount of thinking, such as going to talk to a friend, going grocery shopping, reading a book, eating dinner. When I feel more relaxed, I go back to the accordion and repeat the process. Sidenote on meditation. For me, it does help me focus longer. This is just for me, though. Hoped this helps. Good article — thank you! Thanks for the input!
Figuring out what to do between practice sessions is tricky indeed — and I like your list of suggestions TV is definitely a no-no. During exams last semester I snuck a table into my preferred practice room so I could study during my practice breaks.
Worst idea ever… I felt like I was in a concentration camp. Now I keep my study strictly in the library and study areas, and I always a motivational self-help book into the practice room.
Works a charm. I find that meditating for fifteen minutes or so between practice sessions is very effective for me. It not only rests my mind, but slows it down and re-centers it; allowing my 2nd and 3rd practice sessions of the day to be longer and more productive.
While there are many forms of meditation I prefer mindful meditation. Focused, deliberate practice is exhausting.
I love your ideas, they are really amazing. I play the Cello and the writing pad to write down your ideas and your thoughts about what your doing wrong, how to fix that problem, and etc is useful. Consult your teacher if there's an area you're struggling with or if there's something you don't fully comprehend. Your teacher is your ally, she is there to help you.
Be open and don't feel embarrassed to approach your music teacher if you're having difficulty about a certain lesson or music piece. Your musical instrument will serve as your friend and partner as you continue your studies. It isn't enough that you're a good player, you must also have an instrument that is of good quality and in top condition.
Take care of your instrument; if you feel it's starting to have problems, don't wait and have it checked immediately. If you've just learned a piece you've previously had trouble with, by all means, reward yourself. You don't have to splurge, just doing something you particularly enjoy is a reward in itself. Grab a latte at your favorite coffee place, rent a movie, get a pedicure, etc. Rewarding yourself will give you a moral boost and further inspire you to learn.
We all want to be good at something but for me loving what you do is more important. Never forget that despite all the hardwork you will and are facing, playing a musical instrument is enjoyable.
As you improve, your love and enjoyment of music will also grow. You are embarking on a wondrous journey, have fun!
Before each practice session, make sure all the materials you will need are prepared and within easy reach. Aside from your musical instrument of course, here are other things you can use during your practice sessions. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile.
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