THE ART OF PRACTICING

Practice v. 1) to do or perform customarily or habitually. 2) To perform or exercise repeatedly in order to acquire or perfect a skill.

Practicing adj. 1) Actively engaged in a particular occupation or way of life.

It is wisdom, which is seeking for wisdom -Shunryu Suzuki

It is a word we think we know something about - after all, as musicians, we have been "practicing" for years, right? After many years of practicing and trying out many ideas, here are some of my reflections on the topic of what it means to practice.

TIME:
Your time is limited. As you get older, more and more responsibilities crowd in to take up available time. You owe it to yourself to use the available time as effectively as possible.

It is the readiness of the mind that is wisdom -Shunryu Suzuki

CONCENTRATION:

A. You have to be focused on playing the instrument - this is the time for music. All internal and external distractions have to be blocked out. This means that when you're practicing you need to have your equipment (your instrument, music, sticks, mallets, etc.) and your tape recorder. Period. No magazines, no books, no TV, no radio, nothing.

B. Use your time away from your instrument to practice:

1. Practice sticking, positioning scales, etudes, etc. while you're waiting in traffic.
2. Plan your practice session while you're involved in dead time (walking to class, etc.)
3. Work on your sound concept - how do you want to sound?
4. We all know what it feels like to play well; focus on that feeling away from your instrument.
5. Listen, Listen, Listen to the great players for your "instrument."

It is when your practice is rather greedy that you become discouraged with it. So you should be grateful that you have a sign or warning signal to show you the weak point in your practice. -Shunryu Suzuki

ESTABLISHING GOALS:

A. Long term goals (achievable in ten years or longer) - THINK BIG! This is not the place to cramp yourself. If you don't establish the goal, it probably won't get done.

B. Intermediate goals (achievable in the next two or three years) These should be ambitious, but do-able. The goal will be attained by setting and accomplishing smaller short term goals.

C. Short term goals. These are immediately attainable and must be do-able. If you're having trouble with etude #7, saying you want to do #91 in recital next week is only setting yourself up for failure. Be very realistic, because your reward is attaining the goal.

If you lose the spirit of repetition, your practice will become quite difficult.
-Shunryu Suzuki

WHEN AND HOW LONG SHOULD I PRACTICE?

A. Make practicing a routine part of your day, but never allow it to become a rut.

B. Spread it out in 30 - 45 minute intervals throughout the day. It's hard to maintain the intensity for more than about 60 minutes. Anybody who claims to have been practicing for four or five hours straight is pulling your leg or doesn't practice efficiently.

C. Create variety by practicing in a variety of places; at home, in a class room (preferably vacant), in a recital hall, outdoors, etc. as well as in the practice rooms.

D. Develop an effective warm-up routine. The first session of the day should be the warm-up. To do the whole warm-up here will take the better part of 45 minutes.

E. Wind players do breathing exercises -- calisthenics for the respiratory system. Percussionists should do sticking exercises--calisthenics for the muscles.

F. Percussionists should practice their rolls on keyboards, drums, and timpani. Work with roll speeds (for intensity) on scales, etc.
G. Percussionists can work on slurs as well on mallet instruments and on the timpani.

H. Scales. Everything is built from scales, we have to know them all. Once we know them, we can concentrate on accuracy and getting absolutely clean attacks. Practice styles such as legato, staccato, and marcato.

For the Zen student a weed is a treasure. -Shunryu Suzuki

WHAT SHOULD I PRACTICE, ANYWAY?

A. The obvious answer is to practice whatever you need to in order to make progress toward your goals. But whatever your goal, determine what you're going to practice ahead of time. Don't let the whim of the moment determine what you're going to practice. Most of us, left to our own devices practice the things we do well. Practice your weaknesses and make them strengths.

B. Strive for balance in your practice sessions. Don't just do technical etudes. Do clef/transposition studies, play Bach chorales, collect and play orchestral and wind band excerpts and solo literature.

C. If you do jazz, be sure you memorize the heads (melodies) and changes (chord progressions). If you're primarily a legit player, memorize your solo literature AND the accompaniment. You have to know how things fit in order to put them together.

D. Record yourself. Listen to it as you rest. Archive and save some tapes for later listening and criticism. You've probably never played as badly as you've thought you have, and you've never played as well as you thought you did. The tape recorder is an impartial listener -- your brain isn't, especially while you're playing!

E. Play along with the greats on CDs, or the "old" Music Minus One©LPs, or Vivace©. Imitate their styles while you're playing along. You'll develop your own style over time.

F. Visualization and role playing. It may not seem like it, but sometimes reading is practicing, too. Here are some recommended books on music and the mind:

1. The Inner Game of Music - Timothy Galway & Barry Green
2. The Inner Game of Tennis - Timoth Galway
4. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind - Shunryu Suzuki
5. Art & Fear - David Bayles & Ted Orland

G. Keep on keeping on.

1. Observe your progress.
2. Take satisfaction from your development.
3. It's extremely important to gain inner strength: you must value yourself and your music, and not rely on the praise of others.
4. Keep your ultimate goals in mind.
5. Above all, enjoy yourself. It's not called playing music for nothing!

You should rather be grateful for the weeds you have in your mind, because eventually they will enrich your practice. -Shunryu Suzuki

© COPYRIGHT 2001 STEPHEN CRAWFORD