#practice tips

Top 5 Exercises For Intermediate Guitarists That ACTUALLY WORK

I’ve been trying to practice my scales every day this summer, but just playing them over and over again gets really boring so I made a list of different ways to change it up. Pick one from each category, you can randomize as much or as little as you want. This is aimed at woodwinds but probably works for other instruments too (idk how articulations work on strings/brass)

Articulations 1. All slur 2. All tongue 3. Slur two tongue two 4. Tongue two slur two 5. Tongue slur two tongue 6. Four sixteenths on every note 7. Slur up, tongue down 8. Tongue up, slur down

Rhythms (honestly this might make more sense if I just write it out on a staff and take a picture) 1. Sixteenths 2. Triplets 3. Sextuplets 4. Quintuplets (a bit awkward) 5. Quarter eighth eighth (this and the others also work with eighths and sixteenths, or quarters and halves, or whatever else you want) 6. Eighth eighth quarter 7. Eighth quarter eighth 8. Swing 9. Reverse swing 10. One ta li two ta li etc (this rhythm)

At first you need to get comfortable with setting smaller goals: if you've practiced your instrument irregularly (whenever you've "had the energy" to practice) and you'd like to practice one or two hours a day, set the goal to practice only 15 minutes a day (or even just 5 minutes) for a week or a month.

You can start practicing longer when you've built up this new habit. But increase your practice time carefully, only a few minutes at a time. It takes time to get used to a new schedule, but it becomes easier week by week.

You'll not be having a habit that sticks if it's too overwhelming to start doing. Start small. Make it ridiculously easy the first few times, slightly increase the difficulty over time and it will add up in the long term. Imagine playing 10 minutes a day for the first week, 30 minutes next month and an hour a day the third month.

Find new goals! I'm revamping my entire audition package. I also have lessons with a teacher I deeply respect and am a little scared of, which is excellent motivation to not disappoint her.

If you need to, get outside accountability. Start a weekly practice livestream. Find an audition you want to attend. Sign up for a performance opportunity online. Get a friend to nag you. Whatever works for you!

The pandemic won't last forever. We'll be able to get out and perform again soon. The more you work on things now, the better you'll be able to do out in the world.

warm up! always warm up first, and play the scale that’s in the key of the song you’re playing. this gets you in the right mindset for what sharps and flats you’ll have

don’t just run through your piece and think you’re done. you need to break the song down into sections, and work out the things you’re having trouble with. play the sections over and over until you’ve begun to work out what the problem was.

slow and steady. practice slow. practice steady. it’s better to get it right at a slow pace and gradually turn the metronome up than try and get it all right the first try.

take your sections, and place them together- slowly. keep adding more on until you’ve gotten through the whole piece!

don’t try and read every note on the page. if you recognize something as a scale or an arpeggio, then use that to your advantage!

think of the music the same way you would think of a poem or a piece of writing. just like language, music has sentences and phrases as well, and you should consider how they’re structured when you practice.

listen to a recording of the piece, to get an idea of what the final product should be

Suggestion: it doesn’t have to be real. Find as many excuses as you can to practice. You can totally make up a story or imagine some different details for yourself. 

La mia casa ha un giardino. = My house has a garden. Nella mia camera da letto ci sono un tappeto e una scrivania. = In my bedroom there are a carpet and a desktop. In cucina c’è un tavolo con quattro sedie. = In the kitchen there’s a table with four chairs. La finestra della sala (=soggiorno) si affaccia sulla strada. = The living room’s window overlooks the road. In cantina ci sono molte bottiglie di vino = In the basement there are many bottles of wine.

• @justanotherpiccplayer​ is right: imslp & good recording in your headphones are your best friends. Use them wisely.

• It’s a good idea to practice with an audio, but don’t try to sightread your part while playing said audio for the first time

• Even if you know the piece by ear, you probably don’t know your whole piece (unless you’re a violin, sometimes? idk.) Before you start practicing, listen to the piece a couple of times while following your section’s score to acquaintance yourself with it.