Want to get the most out of your practice routine and achieve concrete results? Look no further.
This tutorial is all about providing you with a framework and strategy for developing great practice habits so you can learn your pieces faster and more reliably, avoid the common issues of stress and frustration, and foster a real sense of accomplishment and progress at the end of every practice session.
“Practice Tips that Work!” is part of a series of tutorials I’ve produced on ‘Practising’. These tutorials are designed to help you practise more efficiently and effectively, with a positive frame of mind.
Check out “Practising Like This?” where I talk about the importance of fostering a positive and forgiving attitude towards practice.
And, if you’d like to gain further insight and develop strategies for how to improve the way you learn and practise your pieces, take a look at ‘Practise Right – Learn Faster!’ Watch me introduce a new piece to a student and observe the systematic, practical, step-by-step methods we use to work through the piece.
0:20 Introduction and Outline of Discussion
1:30 Practise Slowly
3:21 Separate Hands Practice
4:26 The value of Repetition and building Muscular Memory
5:06 Benefits of Recording Yourself
6:24 Pre ‘Hands-On’ Planning and Preparation
8:03 Warming Up
9:49 Working with the ‘Raw Materials’ Introduction
10:34 Focus on One Thing at a Time
10:49 Note Accuracy and Fingering
11:56 Rhythm and Counting
13:48 Performance Directions
14:18 How to Combine Different Components
16:01 Refined Elements of Technique and Interpretation
17:50 Practise in Small Sections
20:37 Practise the Hard Bits First!
22:52 Importance of Regular Practice
24:21 Goal Setting and Motivation
26:41 Your Environment
27:48 Concluding Summary