 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: shmeon
Date: 2007-08-17 22:25
I've been practicing a lot lately and I've begun to pay more attention to the natural ups and downs of my productivity. Some days I'll enter the practice room fresh, full of energy, patient, creative, and happy. Then some days I'll get in the practice room and within an hour I'm burnt out, frustrated, unfocused, and generally fed up with practicing. I've adopted an approach to deal with these common practice room woes and I wanted to get everyone's opinion on how it compares to their ideas.
I recently finished reading a book called "ChiRunning" by Danny and Katherine Dreyer. The book is about how to adopt a more effortless running form using the principles of Tai-Chi and the laws of nature. In the book there is an excellent quote by the famous film director Cecil B. DeMille, he states: "It is impossible for us to break the law ourselves. We can only break ourselves against the law." This brought to mind a phrase one of my early teachers would always say to me when I complained about practicing, "Practicing is often 3 steps forward and 2 steps back." On a recent run I began to feel tight and sore after only a mile or so and I remembered DeMille's wisdom. I could either break the law (of nature) by ignoring my body and complete my 5 mile loop, or I could turn back while I was still healthy and injury free (effectivly stopping 3 steps ahead before taking 2 steps back!). I soon adpated this attitude for the practice room.
When I am in the practice room and I start to feel frustrated, stressed, or angry I simply take note of these feelings and stop practicing. My approach is simple: the law of nature is telling me, "Do not practice now," and for me to attempt to practice anyway will break me. If I follow the law and stop when I begin to feel poorly I will also be stopping 3 steps ahead before moving backwards. Even on a good day I strive to find that point where I have taken those 3 steps forward and I stop there. I stop before fatigue sets in, before I begin to make mistakes, and most importantly, before I start learning mistakes.
What are all your opinions on this approach? Some of you might use the "No Pain, No Gain" argument, but counter with this: If we perform how we practice, who wants to be performing in pain? To summarize: I believe one should follow the law of nature in the practice room and listen to their bodies. If your body says, "Stop practicing, I'm sore," or your mind says, "Let's call it a day. I can't focus any more," then stop. To continue would only be breaking yourself against the law and taking steps backward after so much progress has been made.
-Shmeon
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: butterflymusic
Date: 2007-08-17 22:54
I practice not only to learn new stuff, but to build and maintain stamina. If I find I'm feeling frustrated but "know" I still need to play some more, I'll switch gears and pull out something like the last movement of the Poulenc Sonata -- something I can play fast and agressive, to work out the frustration in a constructive way. It helps to clear my head, and it sure beats throwing the horn against the wall, at any rate. 
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Clariphant in Bb
Date: 2007-08-17 23:15
I rarely simply stop practicing if there's stuff I still need to play, but I often will take 20-30 minute breaks to clear my head. I find that just a short break will often result in a new approach to what I was playing. If I find myself consistently making a mistake in something I know I can play, leaving the practice room for a bit helps a lot.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2007-08-18 00:21
I too tend to shift gears when frustrated by what I'm doing. Maybe I'll pick one detail and just work on it. Maybe I'll switch to tonguing, or double tonguing, or silent scales, or quarter tones. Some days I just throw the whole curriculum out and play something fun, like opera excerpts. Somtimes I'll use reverse psychology and tackle something impossible.
Actually, I seem to do a lot of those things when I'm not frustrated too, so maybe my advice is highly suspect.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: woodwind650
Date: 2007-08-18 06:39
great post!
i've found that there is a breaking point where one needs to pay attention to the mind and body......if the lip is just getting way to sore/tender from fatigue [or biting!!!], then you definately need to take a break.
i've also found that if my mind is wandering to the point where i'm just "noodling", then i know w/in 5 minutes or less that it's time to stop for the night, if late at night, or take a breather and come back in an hour.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: BobD
Date: 2007-08-18 10:33
"No pain, no gain" doesn't say how much pain one must endure in order to progress. Pulling a tendon or causing a lip to bleed isn't progress IMO.
Bob Draznik
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tobin
Date: 2007-08-18 14:49
Hello Shmeon,
I am more on the side with David Blumberg. Taking short breaks when you are frustrated as suggested above is also good idea. There is a way to accommodate both your law and the fact that the practice needs to happen.
The first thing to realize is that you may have misinterpreted your law. To complete your analogy with running, you should stop practicing when you are causing yourself (or about to cause yourself) physical harm.
Frustration is (generally) mental. It is important to recognize that when you are frustrated your options are always limited. Before you can again make real forward progress you have to choose to release the frustration. Often a break can do this.
However, another way is to practice perfection. You may be already doing this on a regular basis, but please indulge me.
Practicing perfectly seems to be paradoxical: if you can play it perfectly, then why does it need practice? Or how do I start something perfectly if I've never played it before?
It is the method by which you tackle your problems by slowing them to a speed that can be played perfectly. By applying learning devices that you've taken from others or created yourself and repeating something at least five times perfectly before speeding it up a little to repeat the process again...until it is perfect every time you play it at performance speed.
(I've believe that Marcellus used to say nine times slow, tenth time fast?)
I have found that by using this process, by always practicing perfectly, you will find that you are most often happy with the progress you make every time you practice! It becomes subsequently easier to practice more and more frequently.
When putting this method to practice I've found that my student's frustration increases only when they get impatient at how slow (initially) they have to practice! That there working perfection tempi are much slower than where they want to be.
The path (for them) to perfection will be much shorter if they allow themselves to defuse their frustration, practice perfectly, and feel good about what their doing.
So instead, you might alter your law to say that "when my frustration is mounting it is a sure sign that I could be practicing more effectively." But you must choose to let go of frustration every time it rears its' head.
Liberally adding short breaks, and changes of what you're practicing can help as well.
Good luck!
James
PS...if you choose to adopt perfect practice, please realize that for the first couple of weeks in the method you will be practicing the method as much as any scale, passage, technique, etc!
Gnothi Seauton
Post Edited (2007-08-18 14:52)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2007-08-18 15:02
Also, in general, you need to be able to play well whenever you're required to. Whether you're feeling it, or not quite in the zone. When it's time to play your part, you have to do it, and be able to do it well.
Not judging in any way, shape or form, but simply stating that, yes, you may not feel great playing when you're frustrated and yes maybe it might hamper you a bit, but in life (and not just clarinet playing), there are times you're going to have to perform well whether you're in top shape or not. So it might be beneficial to just bear through it every now and then and challenge yourself to sound good regardless of the stress or frustration.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2007-08-18 16:29
My memory may be imagining this, but I recall reading that pianist Sviatoslav Richter would always practice at the tempo indicated in the score, continuing until he got it right. He was, of course, exceptional.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: skygardener
Date: 2007-08-18 17:02
I practice the things that I can't do. I go for the most difficult way to practice I can think of, so at the performance it seems easy. If I get frustrated doing something then THAT is what I should practice, not the stuff I can already do.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2007-08-18 17:20
skygardener wrote:
> I practice the things that I can't do. I go for the most
> difficult way to practice I can think of, so at the performance
> it seems easy. If I get frustrated doing something then THAT
> is what I should practice, not the stuff I can already do.
That reminds me of something else that I read. Something like (paraphrasing), 'If you sound perfect while practicing, you're practicing the wrong stuff.' Lucky for me, nothing I do sounds perfect for practicing. So I have LOTS of stuff to choose from come practice time!!!
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2007-08-18 17:37
A Philadelphia Orchestra Flutist that I took Chamber Music Coaching was quoted as saying "if you can't get it in an hour, you must be an idiot" in regards to practicing something.
That's not a standard way of thinking.
We practice to improve and solidify our playing. Practice makes the task consistant - under pressure. That's why we do it. Sure something can work easily in the comfort of our practice room, but when it's performed in public and the pressure is on is when the hours and days of the repetition make all the difference in the world.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: shmeon
Date: 2007-08-18 18:21
I'm happy to see my post has sparked some discussion about practicing. I've enjoyed reading everyone's responses. Let me clarify a few things about my previous post.
I wrote:
"When I am in the practice room and I start to feel frustrated, stressed, or angry I simply take note of these feelings and stop practicing."
-What I meant by this was not to stop for the entire day. I completely agree with everyone that argued that when one is feeling stressed, frustrated, or they find themselves 'noodling', a break is in order. I'm a big fan of breaks, or 'breathers' as I call them.
sfalexi writes:
"Also, in general, you need to be able to play well whenever you're required to. Whether you're feeling it, or not quite in the zone. When it's time to play your part, you have to do it, and be able to do it well."
-I completely agree with this. Sometimes on stage the part has to be there no matter what (Ricardo Morales isn't going to say, "Oh sorry Mr. Eschenbach. I didn't feel like practicing this morning.") And in the practice room sometimes the work just has to be done. But what I'm trying to emphasize is an approach to practicing that will gradually eliminate those crappy feelings. By listening to one's mind and body and always finding that calm center before and during practicing one is nuturing a healthy approach. In the practice room I always say to myself, "Let's not build bad habits here. Don't set any bad precedents." It goes right along with the idea of stopping 3 steps ahead before taking steps backwards. I believe that by nuturing and growing this attitude towards practicing and performing, one can find a more natural, effortless, enjoyable, and rewarding experience in music. Take His Holiness the Dali Lama for example. Despite the turmoil in Tibet, despite the poverty and famine among his people, despite his own exhausting schedule, he always has a smile on his face, and warmth and compassion for others around him. I'm not trying to say all musicians should become practicing Buddhist monks, but can you imagine a philosophy towards practicing that always makes you happy, centered, calm, productive, and creative? That's what I try to grow in my musical life.
-shmeon
p.s. The amazing jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman told my brother in a masterclass (I'm paraphrasing), "Only practice when you feel like practicing. I went for 3 years without feeling like practicing. But now I always feel like practicing because I've taught myself to love it."
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2007-08-18 18:37
While it hasn't come up on this board in awhile, a number of folks, me included, have posted here and on the Klarinet list that, for us, improvement is not a steady upward slope. Rather, it seems to occur in leaps from one plateau to the next after time -- sometimes considerable time -- spent on the previous plateau. I have learned to welcome those periods (which I find are becoming increasingly rare as time goes by) where I feel frustrated with everything about my playing -- tone, intonation, articulation, rhythm, technique, you name it -- because I have come to recognize that these periods signal that a leap is about to occur. To stop practicing when the doldrums hit, however frustrating they may be, would, I think, delay or possibly block the leap. YMMV.
Several months ago, I ran into three pages of exercises in Eb in the oboe book I've been working through. After 20 minutes of mounting frustration over the unfamiliar placement of the pinky keys (even at verrrrry slow tempos), I put the oboe away. Next day, I started up again. After 20 minutes of mounting frustration over the unfamiliar placement of the pinky keys, I put the oboe away. After about a week of this, I began putting the oboe away a little sooner or jumping ahead in the book. End result? I still can't play worth squat in Eb on the oboe and, when I look back, I find that I haven't taken it out of its case nearly so often in the last few months as I used to. I've avoided frustration but I think the net result has been two steps forward -- major slide back. Again, YMMV.
Best regards,
jnk
Who has been made an idiot by too many composers!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tobin
Date: 2007-08-18 20:27
Hello Shmeon,
Everyone must find a practice philosophy that works for them. Hopefully yours will work for you and allow you to move forward at the pace you would like.
The method that I described allows me to take three steps forward. The times in my life when I felt the forward motion followed by a backslide were the times when my practicing was not methodical, and I wasted much of my time in inefficient ways.
Jack: I can agree with you on the idea that we go through leaps of progress and ability. I think that through my experience there are two categories of problems and how they are solved.
The first kind is time over task, the problem improves day by day with the same increment of improvement.
The second is as you describe...you work on the problem with seemingly little or no improvement for X number of days, and on day X+1 BAM! It all comes together.
James
Gnothi Seauton
Post Edited (2007-08-18 20:27)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: tetiana
Date: 2007-08-20 23:29
To Philip Caron:
As far as I have heard and read, Richter was a proponent of extremely slow practising. I heard a story about someone coming to his house, and hearing through the door, the playing of isolated notes with long intervals in between, wondering whether a child was playing, or if he had come upon the end of a lesson, perhaps with a beginner. He was surprised when Richter opened the door and in answer to his question responded that it was him playing, practising.
Edward Gates wrote an interesting article about piano practising techniques (much of which can apply to the clarinet) with a personal account of hearing Richter practising very slowly:
http://www.music.sc.edu/ea/keyboard/PPF/1.2/1.2.PPFp.html
tetiana
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2007-08-21 01:22
To tetiana - thank you for the Richter post. I wish Gates had been a bit more detailed about when & where. I went back to Monsaingeon's book on Richter, "Notebooks and Conversations" (2001, Princeton University Press.) Chapter 9, p. 139, cites Richter:
"I adopt a purely repetitive method whenever I've got to learn a new piece; I identify all the really fiddly bits and study them first, practising them mechanically. I take a page at a time, go over it as often as I need to and don't move on to the next until the first one is under my belt. And only when I've finished the second one do I move on to the third. However difficult it may be, there isn't a passage that doesn't become easy if practised a hundred times. Sometimes I play the passage slowly, but I do this very rarely, as I prefer to work at the actual speed from the outset."
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: OmarHo
Date: 2007-08-21 01:56
Thank you for raising this topic Shmeon, I've ALWAYS wondered how I can consistently feel good about practicing. At least each month or every few weeks I get this one real bad practice session where I feel so frustrated I don't even want to try anymore. However, practicing can get extremely frustrating with me because I'm a perfectionist and I'll get upset after the tiniest things, and I'll keep drilling in a hard passage into my fingers until they ache. So I have to constantly remind myself to take breaks, even to the point where I've put a book beside myself so I can read a few pages of a book to help myself take a break.
Thank you Tetiana for the link to the article.
I've heard that psychologists say that someone can only concentrate on something for 20 minutes. So whether or not you're feeling up or down, it may be a good idea to take a break anyway every 20 minutes.
I like the idea of practicing extremely slow, because it allows you to think about what you're doing. It's also good for perfectionists like myself, because it makes it a bit easier to take ourselves lighter. Sometimes I wish I weren't one, because then I wouldn't have to worry to so much about things, maybe I was meant to be an oboist all along :P.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
