Klarinet Archive - Posting 000031.txt from 1999/10

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: [kl] Practising
Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 18:12:05 -0400

On Fri, 1 Oct 1999 14:01:00 -0400, klahall@-----.com said:

> Quality is important. Quality and quantity together are outstanding.
>
> The overall best thing about learning to practice accurately mentally
> is that is: FASTER and more RELIABLE.
>
> More reliable means that I am more likely to get a passage the first
> time. Which is kind of handy at performance time.

Good. Thank you. I was waiting for somebody to say something like
that.

Actually, what Klara says is useful even if you're practising physically
rather than mentally.

The 'accurate practising' metaphor is that you want to throw away what
isn't working, rather than progressively add stuff, amassing it over all
these hours that everyone has been talking about. It's the opposite of
the 'supermarket trolley' theory of learning. You want to be aware of
the mistakes, even to *make them*, and find out how they occur, so that
you can jettison them. Try thinking of throwing the useless stuff away
until you end up with what feels like 'nothing' (an empty trolley:-)

And above all, don't be intimidated by the BS of the 'hours' that
someone puts in. Rather, think of practising efficiently yourself.
That someone may not be using his or her time effectively. Indeed, a
large proportion of their practising effort may actually be
counterproductive.

Practising is *thinking*. You're solving a problem. (You may solve it
right off, if you're lucky.) And even if it takes some time to solve
the problem, and have the solution become a natural part of your
playing -- celebrate the achievement rather than the number of hours
you've put in.

By the way, even the person who wanted to learn a piece in a month isn't
necessarily stupid. It all depends on her level of ability, as well as
on how intelligent she is.

Sometimes we may have to give a performance, from scratch, in a day.
And the outcome may not be so terrible.

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE GMN family artist: www.gmn.com
tel/fax 01865 553339

..... Taglines that make you go "Hmmm..."

.

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