 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ashley91489
Date: 2008-06-21 02:25
Do you have a specific practice routine?
Any tips for practicing? Advice for learning/memorizing all scales effectively? (I'm in the process of learning all my minor scales)
Also, I know I should be using a metronome constantly but I sometimes find it difficult to listen to it and concentrate on playing at the same time.
Advice in general?
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Author: NorbertTheParrot
Date: 2008-06-21 07:27
"I know I should be using a metronome constantly"
No you shouldn't. You should be using it some of the time. If you use it constantly, you won't be able to play without it.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2008-06-21 07:52
A metronome can be very distracting, I find someone clapping along much less obtrusive. I rarely use the metronome these days, or just to "count in" at the correct tempo.
--
Ben
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Author: William
Date: 2008-06-21 14:43
"(I'm in the process of learning all my minor scales)"
Minor scales should be "learned" along with their relative major scales. That is to say, A min with C maj, D min with F maj, G# min with B maj, etc. Start with the natural form of the relative minor, then the harmonic form followed by the melodic form. My first clarinet teacher had me write one scale set--major & all three minors for at least two octaves--for each weeks lesson until the entire circle of fifths was completed. Lots of manuscript paper but a great way to learn EVERY note and develop a little musical penmanship. Bottom line advice--practice the major scale, then practice its relative minor which on its sixth note. First, do its "natural" form (same notes as the major up & down). Then practice its relative "harmonic" form (raised seventh note, up & down) and then practice its relative "melodic" form (raised 6th & 7th notes up but naturalized going down). Major scale--relative natural minor--relative harmonic minor--relative melodic minor (all same key signiture). Once you get used to the routine, it becomes easy and it makes learning all of the minor scales a lot simpler because of their "relativionships" to their majors.
And how "long" do I practice?? In high school & college, about three hours per day. After college, at least an hour every day after work. Now as a retired person, I practice as long as I want or until I have learned the music for the next rehearsal or concert. My goal was--and still is--to practice until I could "do it"--simple as that.
Post Edited (2008-06-21 15:13)
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-06-21 14:52
Hi Ashley, I’m a conservatory teacher so I’m going to give you the same advise I give my students. First the metronome question. Use it as a guide but don’t get to use it as a crutch. First learn the passages so you have a reasonable amount of control then begin playing it with a metronome to help you play it even. Once you get it clean and even at a tempo you can play it then begin to move the met up gradually until you eventually reach the desired tempo. I always suggest playing something four times a day. After the second or third day begin using the met and start the next day at the tempo you ended up being able to play it the day before, then notch it up and play it 3-4 times at the new tempo. Do this every day until you reach your goal. You should do it once a day without the met too. Of course you should always go over the difficult spots, measures or small passages, separately. Example, run the etude, “woodshed” the difficult parts, run the etude, “woodshed” the difficult parts again, etc.
As far as learning your scales, say the notes to yourself, see the key signature in you mind, play the scale slowly. Once you can play the scale slowly keep doing it until it becomes automatic, then begin playing it faster. Always know what you’re playing.
As far as how much time to practice. That depends on your ambitions. If you’re in high school, two hours a day would be great, no less then one. In conservatory, two hours a day minimum, going to three as many days as possible moving up to four when ever you can. If you can’t do that every day do it when you can like on weekends. Always break up you practice time and schedule it in. Two-hour sessions with a small break. Three one-hour sessions, two and two, etc. Use your time wisely. Do scales, finger studies, tone studies etc. one hour. Do etudes another, solo piece another, excerpts another, etc. Set time limits depending on how much you have to prepare. Obviously the more you practice, but quality practice, and the more you prepare the more you will improve. My last three years in college I aimed for 28 hours a week. I broke it down something like this. Three hours a day on clarinet, one hour a day on bass or Eb clarinet. Many days I could not get in three hours so I made up for it by practicing five to six hours on the weekend days. I had to travel over an hour a day each way to get to my school so I got up early and went to sleep late. (I slept late on weekends). I hope this helps. ESP www.peabody.jhu.edu/457 (Listen to a litlle Mozart)
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Author: Ryder
Date: 2008-06-21 16:33
I try to practice at last two hours a day. When I have the time I practice three or four hours a day (usually on weekends). I think Ed P. broke it down great for you.
David,
I learned quick that the excuse that "I got it at home" doesn't work. My teacher didn't accept that excuse. So I addopted the belief that...
amatuers pratice until they can get it right, professionals practice until they can't get it wrong
It works for me.
____________________
Ryder Naymik
San Antonio, Texas
"We pracice the way we want to perform, that way when we perform it's just like we practiced"
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Author: William
Date: 2008-06-22 15:46
"professionals practice until they can't get it wrong"
LOL--I heard a highly respected member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra sqweek three times during the last movt of Stravisnki's Three Piecies for Clarinet during a clinic presentation at the Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic (sponsered by Rico reeds). 8am with no warm-up. I also heard another member of the same clarinet section make numerous errors while performing a clarinet concerto written by a local UW-Madison composer. UW Symphony Orchestra, composer conducting. And also a noted trombonist form the famed CSO brass section making numerous "cracks" during a guest soloist spot with the orchestra I play with. Guess they all must need to keep up their personal practice routines a bit longer............................
[all names withheld due to my utmost repect for their (usually superb) musicianship]
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Author: KristinVanHorn
Date: 2008-06-22 17:12
I practice the clarinet about 1 hour a day but I practice the flute about 2 hours a day. My goal is just to be able to play in an ameteur concert band.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-06-22 17:38
“Amateurs practice until they can get it right, professionals practice until they can't get it wrong”. That is a quote made by a TV football annalist on the a national TV program, I heard him say it. Yes, I’m a football fan, go Ravens!
William, you have to remember that we are all humans, not robots. No one can really say that they never, meaning really never, get it wrong. Squeaks or cracks are not really a mistake; they are caused by other influences other than being totally prepared. There are many reasons that happen to the very best players on occasion. It just doesn’t happen very often. As far as missing a note once in a while, well if you want to hear it perfect every single time listen to a recording because the player had to opportunity to play it over a thousand times in necessary in order to don’t get it wrong, or rather till they get it perfect. Splicing is a wonderful thing. ESP
www.peabody.jhu.edu/457 (Listen to a little Mozart- a live performance, almost perfect, pretty damn close anyway)
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Author: Ryder
Date: 2008-06-22 17:48
“Amateurs practice until they can get it right, professionals practice until they can't get it wrong”
I said this as sort of a goal to work towards. No one can be perfect and you'll never (or usually at least) play something totally prfect, but if you keep working towards being "perfect" you'll keep improving. Like Ed P said, we are all human.
____________________
Ryder Naymik
San Antonio, Texas
"We pracice the way we want to perform, that way when we perform it's just like we practiced"
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Author: William
Date: 2008-06-22 20:05
Ryder & Ed--the late, great Vince Lombardi probably said it best regarding the practice schedule of his Green Bay Packers team, "We strive for perfection, knowing while attaining it is not possible, in it's pursuit, we acheive excellance".
As we all know, practice does not make perfect, but it makes imperfect less likely.......[back to the woodshed and my pile of grenadila sticks]
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2008-06-22 20:40
In the summer I would say that I practice an average of zero minutes per day.
(Think about it... if you can convince others to practice less, you'll have to practice much less yourself! Haha.)
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
Post Edited (2008-06-22 20:43)
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Author: Emily's Dad
Date: 2008-06-22 21:18
The late David Hite posted a piece on his website entitled "THE WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE & WHY OF PRACTICING". The URL has moved a couple of times in the last year, so I recently printed it off (along with his study guides.) Don't know how long it will remain on the web, so I recommend you go through the site and print off the things you find helpful! The url for practice tips is: http://urd.cyberstreet.com/jdhite/hitebytes/ppt1.htm
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Author: Ryder
Date: 2008-06-22 22:46
Emily's Dad,
Thanks for the link. That should give us all a little more encouragement to practice.
____________________
Ryder Naymik
San Antonio, Texas
"We pracice the way we want to perform, that way when we perform it's just like we practiced"
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-06-23 01:04
When I taught Ricardo Morales he practiced constantly, all the time. I don’t know how many hours a day but I always saw him with a clarinet in his hands, and mouth. How much should you practice, that depends on your goal in life. If you want to be a professional you practice as much as possible, period. If you’re just playing for fun and simply want to be pretty good, put in an hour or two a day. I often think how good I would be if I practiced as much as I could when I was 14 instead of waiting until I was 20, maybe I’d be as good as some of my students. Nah, some of them are too good. But I didn’t want to be a professional when I was 14. I just wanted to play like Benny Goodman. Little did I know that he practiced a lot too. ESP www.peabody.jhu.edu/457
(You could still listen to a little Mozart, live)
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2008-06-23 04:58
Judging from recordings, all great instrumental virtuosos made errors, sometimes in familiar, even simple, music. Some, like Heifetz and Michelangeli made relatively few. Others, like Horowitz and Richter, made relatively frequent errors, such as obvious wrong notes.
These people all practiced relentlessly for many years. The errors often came when they were projecting some particularly intense musical expressions, usually in live (as opposed to studio) performance.
Technical perfection is a goal, but it is not the only one, certainly not the final one. I like to think of robotic perfection as a middle stage - reaching it only means one has assembled the tools to build something better.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2008-06-23 08:29
Depends what is practice....
Actually playing clarinet, and considering rehearsals and even concerts as practice time (I consider them practice) I'd say average of between zero to four hours a day, without much consistency of the exact amount 
But there is another type of practice. It is really done in every type of playing to a certain degree, but it is done more in music that I play (and everyone else who is playing the same type of music). It is improvised music and you have to constantly think about everything you are doing, come up with ideas in a fraction of a second, etc. The more a player is also a composer/improviser, and the more part of the music they are playing is improvised, this needs more practice. I practice this while I play but also possible while not playing. It may sound strange, but a lot of ways that I practice this without the instrument aren't even music, but things that have more basic ideas that apply to music too. So including this, I practice 24 hours a day, because I'd like to think I do this in my sleep too
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-06-23 10:02
For me, 1-4 hours on weekdays and at least 7 hours on weekends.
I usually just have time to work on what I plan to perform next.
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Author: Ryder
Date: 2008-06-23 16:18
My teacher gave me this one too...
"We practice the way we want to perform, that way when we perform it's just like we practiced"
It makes sense knowing that we can rarely perform better than we practiced due to nerves or stuff like that.
Another example of continuously striving to reach an almost unatainable goal, but in the process we get better.
____________________
Ryder Naymik
San Antonio, Texas
"We pracice the way we want to perform, that way when we perform it's just like we practiced"
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Author: Jameslyons
Date: 2008-06-23 22:47
I practice between two and three hours a day.
First I practice long tones and articulation.
Then I practice scales
Then I practice finger exercises
I break for a little bit.
Then I practice scales with different tonguing exercises
break.
Then I play and play and play for the rest of the session.
Sometimes I grab all my music sheets and play through to the best of my ability. Or I practice one song until I feel like throwing my head through a window, or I turn on the classical radio station, and play along with it- just doodling along.
That's the funnest, and I'm sure the least effective.
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Author: Brenda ★2017
Date: 2008-06-24 02:22
Another form of 'practicing' is vital for conserving precious practice time, that of rehearsing in your head.
One train trip was especially useful since I took out my music while on the train and played it in my head. I pencilled in the areas where one phrase was an exact copy of an earlier phrase, and drew a line at the spot where the later one started to differ from the first. This reduced the amount of practicing I had to do. Once I knew the phrase, I didn't have to re-learn the second occurrance of the same phrase, only learn the new entrances and exits from that same note sequence. What we'd learned in music theory about the structure of composition was clear.
Also this technique gave me the luxury of slowing down or speeding up sections in my mind, adjusting dynamics, and so forth, and trying them out to see which I liked better. Without the distraction of fingering the keys and breath control I could concentrate on the music itself.
That train trip ended with many pencilled-in (and erased) marks and notations on my music but also with much more confidence. When I eventually played the piece in concert it had become a piece of cake for me.
Now the question is, How much do we practice at home? That depends on our obligations with family and work. At one time I practiced a minimum of two hours a day, from 9-11 p.m. after work and family, but that was for lessons and exams. If this was my paying job I'd surely be practicing more, but that does little to help me pay the bills. So my priority must be placed elsewhere for the present.
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