| Efficient Practicing |
| Establish a practicing routine. Set aside the same time every day - just as you would for school, work, or sports practice. Keeping a structured practice routine helps to make practicing a habit. This helps to reduce the "rollercoaster" of starting and stopping practice sessions. Map out your practicing goals beforehand. This helps to keep you organized and focused. Write out a list, reference it as needed, and check off the items when they've been accomplished. Break up difficult tasks into small, easily digestable pieces. Figure out where the most challenging parts are, and prioritize your time so that you're spending the most amount of time on the most difficult sections. Restrict yourself to no more than three tasks per practice session. It's better to take on fewer tasks, and really dig into each of them, than to gloss over a dozen items. Experiment then consolidate. Experimentation is where you figure out the best fingerings, learn how to piece together the passages, and other mechanical things. Consolidation is where you consciously drill the piece to the point to where execution becomes a subconscious effort - and the conscious mind is only there to supervise. Play in time. Practice with a metronome and/or drum machine [as often as possible]. Stay focused. If your mind is preoccupied with other things, stop playing and walk away from the instrument. When you are practicing, your entire world is just you and the music. Nothing else exists. Nothing else matters. You need to be 100% locked into the practice session for maximum results. Record yourself. It is the most objective and fair way to evaluate your progress. |