 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ashley91489
Date: 2008-07-15 14:28
I'm sure it varies by person and instructor but in general, what would be the average amount of required practice each day outside of lessons/rehearsals?
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2008-07-15 14:41
...as much as you need to learn your music and continue to improve....
(ba DUM tssshht!).
At least an hour and a half(?) And then 30 minutes on your applied instrument (whichever one you're learning that semester) and 30 min on piano (for your degree).
My first answer is by far the better one.
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-07-15 15:54
How good a player do you want to be by the time you graduate? That will determine how much you should practice. ESP www.peabody.jhu.edu/457
(Listen to a little Mozart, live performance)
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Author: ww.player
Date: 2008-07-15 16:34
To complete Ed's thoughts, what are your musical goals? In other words, how good do you want or need to be?
Many music ed majors only put in an hour a day. Most performance majors practice at least 2 hours a day. So, if you want to play like a clarinet player and not a band director, I would recommend at least 2 hours a day.
If you want a shot at playing for a living, you have to be at least as good as the competition. This means 4 to 6 hours a day (not to mention constantly listening to recordings when not practicing).
To be a world class performer, you either need incredible talent and lots of work or lots of talent with an incredible amount of work. Any way you slice it, it pretty much takes a fanatical commitment over a long period of time to reach that level.
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Author: MartyMagnini
Date: 2008-07-15 18:10
You need to practice as much as humanly possible and become the finest clarinet player you are capable of becoming. Period. No one should be able to tell without asking if you are a performance major or an ed major.
One of my pet peeves is the old "oh, you're good enough for an ed major" comment. That's complete b.s. In all of my networking over many years, there is one truth in dealing with colleagues: Any music program I have ever seen or read about that is a substantial program, with a great band or orchestra, has an absolute monster player as the teacher. I literally know of zero exceptions to that rule. It's just not possible to be a "decent" musician and run an extraordinary music program.
So, if you want to be an average schmuck band director (and there are many, many of those), that it's perfectly OK to be an average player. If you want to be an amazing director, then become amazing on your instrument. The better you get on clarinet, the more you'll understand MUSIC. The better you'll be at teaching brass players, oboists, you name it - because you're a great musician. How can you teach students the finer points of music if you haven't mastered them yourself?
Sorry if I'm coming off as too harsh, but I've lived with the "you're good enough to be a performance major" comment all my life. My response "yes, I know". I sat first chair in the top ensemble at every college/university I ever attended (3 well known and established music schools), ahead of all the performance majors. I use all of that experience in my teaching - I can't imagine teaching if I hadn't achieved that level of competence in my own playing. Find a way to get in at least 2 hours (3-4 would be better) of practice every day - it can be done. You will reap the rewards, and so will your future students.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-07-15 19:43
At Peabody we don’t make a difference between music ed and performance majors as far as studio, ensembles, or juries are concerned. Every instrumental major is judged the same because we assume all want to be the best musician they can be, period. ESP www.peabody.jhu.edu/457
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2008-07-15 19:47
Keep in mind quality vs. quantity. Two hours of mindful practice can be far more productive than 6 of mindless.
Also, I highly recommend spreading the time out over the day. My rule of thumb is to take a 5-10 minute break every hour, and to do no more than two hours consecutively. Otherwise, the rule of diminishing returns begins to kick in, not to mention the possibility of significant physical stress.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Neal Raskin
Date: 2008-07-15 21:07
in addition to alex's post, a nap in between practice sessions would increase retention of what you practiced... yay for sleep!
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-07-16 02:56
You sound more interested in how your clarinet looks then how you make it sound. Re think you're priorities. Look good, sound great! ESP
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
Post Edited (2008-07-17 02:36)
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Author: Nessie1
Date: 2008-07-16 13:03
I'm from the UK so I may not be familiar with all the differences in curriculum, assessments and so on between the different types of course but Alex (EEBaum) has said exactly what was going through my mind as I started reading this thread, although I also agree with a lot of the other comments (it all depending on your goals etc).
I remember the best teacher I ever had (learned with her for many years) and she would expect the same from, say, mid teenage players who might be planning to study non-music subjects at university or even adult players with established careers in other fields and no intention of playing professionally as she would from a potential conservatoire student (relative to their current level of attainment).
To go back to Alex's post, you do not say what kind of practice you are doing - you may well be doing great things but just in case noone has said this to you I hope that you are spending a good proportion of the time on basic technique and scales to build up tone, intonation, finger agility etc. and that when you practise pieces you are working intensively on the passages and phrases that really need work rather than just playing through.
If you work in these kinds of ways, you will accomplish so much more in a shorter time than in more time and less effective practice.
In any case, whether you intend to teach or perform, I'm sure that you want to enjoy performing and being able to convey the joy of music to others and all of this will be easier if you work in the most effective way.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2008-07-16 19:02
Marty, thats not too harsh at all, its right on the money.
If you're counting the minutes you spend practicing each day, you're not serious. Stop watching the *!@#*!@# clock.
Get a notebook. Write down weekly, monthly, and annual music goals. Then write down (with your teachers guidance) what you need to work on to meet those goals. Keep a log of what you're working on in the notebook - list tasks and accomplishments, not minutes.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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