Practice, Practice, Practice.
This is what we say in the music ed biz. It pains me to see that some people still don't understand the importance of practice. I have developed this saying "Practice is the single most important element in how well you play your instrument." It's not as good as "practice, practice, practice," but it leaves no room for imagination.
I tend to classify practice into two categories:
General practice: anytime you are playing your instrument.
Specific Practice: practice towards a specific goal.
Both types are important.
General practice
General practice will probably be the majority of most music practice. This is getting out music and playing just to play. Playing duets, playing whatever is in your folder, playing just because it's fun. This has a valid place in learning to play an instrument.
There is a trend in education that, when teaching children to read in elementary, we try to let them read books with subjects that interest them. We are understanding that children need to learn to read for fun, before they learn to read for education sake.
People learning to play an instrument should take this same step. Find some music that interest you! If buying a "Taylor Swift" clarinet book means that you will spend three more hours a week practicing, buy that book! Anytime spent playing an instrument is time spent well.
Specific Practice
While general practice keeps us going, specific practice is when we get the most musical growth for our time.
Specific practice involves focusing on a problem and working to fix it. This includes working slowly through difficult passages, playing etudes to clean your articulation, labeling rhythms to help improve your counting ability, and playing scales etc.
It is easy for specific practice to feel like work after a while. This is why it is only through the marriage of specific and general practice that we can maintain the momentum to achieve musical excellence.
Good luck, and practice, practice practice.
This is what we say in the music ed biz. It pains me to see that some people still don't understand the importance of practice. I have developed this saying "Practice is the single most important element in how well you play your instrument." It's not as good as "practice, practice, practice," but it leaves no room for imagination.
I tend to classify practice into two categories:
General practice: anytime you are playing your instrument.
Specific Practice: practice towards a specific goal.
Both types are important.
General practice
General practice will probably be the majority of most music practice. This is getting out music and playing just to play. Playing duets, playing whatever is in your folder, playing just because it's fun. This has a valid place in learning to play an instrument.
There is a trend in education that, when teaching children to read in elementary, we try to let them read books with subjects that interest them. We are understanding that children need to learn to read for fun, before they learn to read for education sake.
People learning to play an instrument should take this same step. Find some music that interest you! If buying a "Taylor Swift" clarinet book means that you will spend three more hours a week practicing, buy that book! Anytime spent playing an instrument is time spent well.
Specific Practice
While general practice keeps us going, specific practice is when we get the most musical growth for our time.
Specific practice involves focusing on a problem and working to fix it. This includes working slowly through difficult passages, playing etudes to clean your articulation, labeling rhythms to help improve your counting ability, and playing scales etc.
It is easy for specific practice to feel like work after a while. This is why it is only through the marriage of specific and general practice that we can maintain the momentum to achieve musical excellence.
Good luck, and practice, practice practice.
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