 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: HANGARDUDE
Date: 2013-04-15 05:02
Recently the workload at my school is increasing more and more to a point that it's eating up my time for clairinet practicing. In the most frank words it is actually because of the new overproportioned educational system in Hong Kong. I fear it will ultimately force me to give up on music.
No, I will not let music go. I have been loving the clarinet and will love it throughout my life. Those Mahler and Eastern European melodies have danced with me for a few years and helped morose feelings to go away. And I really want to be a musical talent. No, I'm not giving in.
By the way, how hard and how long do you guys practice a day when you were still young? I wish to get the minimum time needed out to practice. And if you are kind enough, please give me a little advice and encouragement. I want to more reasons to go on.
THANK YOU.
Josh
Post Edited (2013-04-15 13:28)
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Author: curlyev
Date: 2013-04-15 05:30
Any practice time is better than none. Even if you have just 15 minutes a day, you can practice and still improve. When I was your age I practiced probably 30 min. every other day, sometimes more and sometimes less. I didn't practice as much as I do now (2 hrs per day usually), but I am also finished with school and do not have all the homework responsibilities you do. When I was in grad. school, I barely had time to play at all and almost gave up. I'm so happy you are SO determined! Perseverance is key, and I believe you have that!
Don't give up! Music has helped me through some pretty tough times too!
Clarinet: Wooden Bundy 1950s
Mthpc: WW Co. B6 refaced by Kurtzweil
Lig: Various Rovners
Barrel/Bell: Backun
Reeds: Legere 3.75
OKC Symphonic Band (just started this summer)
*playing 22 years (with a 5 year hiatus) and counting*
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2013-04-15 13:34
Joshua - welcome to the real world of practicing. There is rarely enough time, so an enthusiastic player such as yourself must make the best use of the time they have. Set a definite goal for each part of your practice time. What do you want to get done today, next week, next month? Practicing scales is the most efficient use of practice time if you play scales carefully, looking for perfection. When playing your ensemble or solo music, practice what you cannot play the most, leaving the easy parts to your good musicianship. When practicing hard parts, do not just play through it, but isolate the difficult places...play at different speeds, and then at full speed, but pausing just before the hardest place to allow your mind to think about what to do next. There are lots of good practicing techniques, but the main thing is to be goal oriented and efficient with the time you have.
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: ruben
Date: 2013-04-15 13:58
Dear young friend,
When I was at school, time spent practising music was considered basically futile, especially if you didn't want to become a professional musician, and was thought to take time away from more "serious" subjects. Although I am not a full-time professional musician now, I still play constantly, whereas I don't do much geometry, biology, etc. any more! Futility won out over seriousness!
If your time is limited, focus on quality. Quantity is necessary too, but only if it is coupled with quality. I spent too much of my time "doodling" when practising as a youngster, and this was because I was never actually taught how to practise: how to program a practise session.
If its encouragement that you want, you'll get plenty from a lot of us who love and believe in what we're doing! All the best.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Taras12
Date: 2013-04-15 16:52
John Gibson wrote:
"Joshua - welcome to the real world of practicing. There is rarely enough time, so an enthusiastic player such as yourself must make the best use of the time they have. Set a definite goal for each part of your practice time."
Your "struggle" is not so different than for adults, who love to play (I don't think of practicing as 'practicing,' but actually 'playing'). It's a matter of priorities. John is right...set goals. I have found that I can easily waste time "tootling" rather than practicing.
ArtistWorks' Classical Clarinet School w/Ricardo Morales has a great video in the Fundamentals section. Ricardo speaks about how to practice, setting up and recording goals, etc. If you can watch it, here's the lesson
http://artistworks.com/lesson/10631
Tristan
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Author: mrn
Date: 2013-04-15 23:49
While it goes without saying that it takes practice time to perfect your performance skills (and there never seems to be enough), one thing that you can (and should) do is to find some good recordings of orchestral and solo repertoire to listen to during those times where you can't practice with the instrument (like when you're doing homework or waiting for the bus, etc.).
One learns scales and arpeggios because they are the building blocks (or one might say the vocabulary) of musical technique. But music and musicianship is more than technique, and much of one's musical vocabulary and understanding can really only be acquired through listening. (Especially for us wind players, since what we play is almost always just a part of a larger musical whole.)
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