 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: vitoclarinet
Date: 2006-02-13 23:15
My teacher tells me that practice is the only way that i'll improve. And of course, i definately agree with her. Everyone knows that without practice, there's no success. The problem is though, i just don't know how to practice effectively! Most of the time i get so frustrated at my bad playing, and/or i end up wasting time sanding my reeds. Please help me get over this maddening frustration! Thank you in advance.
p.s: Valentine's day is tomorrow!
Post Edited (2006-02-13 23:16)
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2006-02-14 00:58
Never play anything faster than you can play perfectly!
Get it right, then accelerate.
Bob Phillips
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Author: dummer musiker
Date: 2006-02-14 01:27
Being a bassoonist, I can offer one piece of advice: separate reed work from your practice sessions. Do not mix them.
Also, form a practice routine. Warm up (long tones, slow scales, whatever you prefer), scales/technique, then etude, solo(s), ensemble music, then a cool down exercise. Plan out about how much time you want to spend on each thing.
I find my practice sessions are much more effective the more organized I am with what I want to do and get accomplished. I keep a practice journal where I plan what I want to do each day. Walking into a practice room with no plan just is not as effective.
Hope this helps!!
>
"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."
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Author: Carol Dutcher
Date: 2006-02-14 01:27
Dear Vito,
I can understand your frustration with practicing. I came back to the clarinet after a hiatus of about 20 years. Trying to play after that long a time was pretty darn difficult. So what I did was give myself an allotted time each day. First it was 15 minutes, then 20 minutes, then 30 minutes and then as far as my lungs would take me. Since scales get pretty boring, I got Jamie Aebersole's books and CDs and played along with them. There is rhythm accompanying your playing. I also sometimes practice my horn just sitting in front of the t.v., playing mindless scales. But you see, you do get better as you keep at it. It doesn't really matter WHAT you practice, as long as you devote some time to it every day. I guess the bottom line is don't give up. It gets easier. You also might invest in a tape recorder, mine is a $25 Sony, and tape yourself. You won't be as bad as you think you might be. And then you can compare what you do from week to week. And nobody hears it but yourself. Good luck! Hang in! A year from now when you get one of those old tapes out, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2006-02-14 01:28
Don't sand your reeds... that's not practicing! Haha.
Practicing can be hard, I find it difficult to advance beyond where I am playing at a lot fo the time as well. But what I've learned is that once the basic techniques improve and become second nature, other aspects of your playing can mature as well. Keep at it... slow and steady wins the race.
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2006-02-14 02:42
>Hang in! A year from now when you get one of those old tapes out, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
That's really good advice. One of our issues, as developing adult musicians, is that we want to improve a whole lot very quickly. But playing an instrument is not something that can always be hurried -- especially if you are also learning musicianship at the same time.
As the fellow on the "Fossil" site said, kids take years to get to a point of competence, but they don't worry about it, because they don't realize they are "bad", in absolute terms.
Someone else (perhaps on this board?) once said that the key to becoming a good player is to be willing to be bad enough, long enough, to actually become good. I like that!
Cut yourself some slack!
Susan
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2006-02-14 02:47
Have you asked your teacher she thinks you should practice?
If I note that a student of mine is not progressing well, yet does still practice, I give them a sample routine. Depending on the level of the student it may be as simple as, "Play your scales/thirds/arpeggios for 10 minutes, then play the 'exercise-y' numbers for 10 minutes, then play the 'songs' for 10 minutes."
A more advanced student would have more specific goals, but an additional feature I usually introduce at about the 6th month of playing is that of practicing small "chunks" of the material. Repeatedly playing just 2 measures, 5 notes, or whatever works in the context of the piece is the key to learning a difficult number. Repeeatedly playing the entire thing usually doesn't work as well...
Katrina
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Author: RodRubber
Date: 2006-02-14 05:43
Vito,
I strongly agree with much of the above, especially about separating reed work from practice. Playing on too many reeds can really fatigue the embouchure and REALLY fatigue the mind, After a while, you don't know what the heck feels good, sounds good etc. I have stupidly begun many an ill fated session by trying all the reeds i have. This is a HORRIBLE idea. It is bad for a) the reeds, b) your mentality, and c) anyone listening.
Start ur practice session with a disciplined warmup, I have been using the Stark Arpeggio Studies now for a few yrs, and they prove to be excellent, especially "triads in wide skips" excersize #3.
Best Regards
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2006-02-14 08:06
You have to play some fun stuff as well as some hard stuff. If you're getting frustrated with a piece, play something else and go back to it. I find some fingerbusters just can't be tackled head-on.
Reed obsession is an occupational hazard. We all get it from time to time.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2006-02-14 15:02
There's great advice from Larry Guy, who learned it from Daniel Bonade, and David Hattner, who learned it from Robert Marcellus, at http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=178641&t=178641.
Slow, perfect practice is the key. You learn by repetition, which engraves the fingering patterns in your muscle memory. Speed is irrelevant. Give it your best time -- the first 10 minutes of every practice session. When your concentration starts to waver, go on to something else.
For working out difficult passages, I use the method described by the great oboist Alan Vogel, who learned it from the even greater oboist Fernand Gillet. See http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=158256&t=158204.
For what to work on, see http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=160752&t=160676.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2006-02-14 19:44
My advice is to read Madeline Bruser's book, "The Art of Practicing." A brief description (with an endorsement from Richard Stoltzman) is here:
http://www.artofpracticing.com/
Less than $12 plus shipping at Amazon.com and worth every penny of it, IMO.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2006-02-15 20:22
I find sometimes just for a challenge during scale practicing it's good to drink one beer every five minutes. This is a great strategy to see how well you really know your scales. Which will stop first... the scale or you!
Just kidding... don't try this at home!
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
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Author: missclarinetist
Date: 2006-02-16 02:27
As a clarinet major in college, my private clarinet professor tells me that it is best to practice a couple hours each day instead of practicing long hours to make up for the practice times per day per week. Of course, as an advance music student, we have the ability to practice longer at school up to 21 hrs per week - that is really my teacher's expectations, although the minimum was seven hours, I find that as I practice more, I now practice about fourteen hrs on an average basis, still wishing that I can meet my teacher's expectations. You will find that you practice longer once you get into the routine of practicing and actually love practicing! This will enable you to improve your playing ability, and sightreading etc. I used to hate to practice minor scales, and will put them off until right before my semester finals. But because this is my platform semester, it is crucial that I practice a few scales each day and to know all seven sharps and flats both in majors and minors for this event. I am happy to know that when it comes to finals, and when being asked to play an A# minor, I will think enharmonically that A# really is Bb! And D# minor is Eb minor! Isn't that awesome to know that some scales sound the same enharmonically but are written differently?
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Author: Richard Salzman
Date: 2006-02-17 04:38
My advice is to focus on what you don't like. As an example,if I play a C major scale, I listen closely for what sticks out and says "work on me".If the notes over the break stand out,or if I do not feel as comfortable with them as with the rest,I go right to that spot and work it,slowly so I can feel the connections that are being made and listen for evenness, tone quality and so forth,and also at speed because velocity gives a new perspective, letting me know where problems exist and in certain cases indicating that an alternate fingering may be more effective.{this may be true even in a C major scale when getting into the altissimo range} Effective practicing means working the hard parts so that they become as "perfect" as the easy parts, and it pays to not overdo it."Practice" the hard parts regularly but with lots of breaks to give yourself a chance to absorb the messages you are working on and then "play" the easy parts because it's fun.
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