The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2010-06-23 16:17
I always have a poll on my website and this month it is "How much per WEEK do you practice a musical instrument by yourself? (We are not taking names, so go ahead)" If you would like to participate, go to http://www.music4woodwinds.com , or just make a comment here and I will put your response in the results.
So far the results are:
less than 1 hour per week............0%
1-5..................59%
6-9..................18%
10-15...............18%
16-21.................6%
22-26................ 0%
27+....................0% 17 responses
The last poll was "how many instruments do you own?"
just 1 20%
2-3 33%
4-5 17%
6-7 8%
8-9 5%
10-11 3%
12+ 14% total responses 215
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: Franklin Liao
Date: 2010-06-23 17:43
I would think that an average of 14-21 hours per week is the absolute minimum for the people visiting this board. Without at least this much time invested, your embouchure will not be kept, let along keeping up with the technical demands exacted on the professionals and the conservatory students on a daily basis.
(Speaking of hours, have I even done 1000 hours of clarinet related things? If so, 9000 hours remain before I can catch up to conservatory prospects)
Post Edited (2010-06-23 17:46)
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2010-06-23 20:01
Franklin, I find your post very amusing.
I must be a complete novice with a Jello-like embouchure, as I'm lucky to get in a solid hour per week of practice. Yet I somehow manage to play (haplessly?) a reasonably regular series of classical and jazz/rock gigs and rehearsals. But then again I'm about two hundred years old and my embouchure, along with every other moving part of my body, has long ago calcified......
Maybe you're spot-on for young people trying to make a living as (or studying to be) full-time performers. But for many of us who have non-musical day jobs, especially those of us with non-adult children, forget it! Any practice time at all is a major luxury.
As a tangential remark (related to another post about the supposed dangers of doubling) --- an advantage of doubling on as many instruments as possible is that it tends to strengthen a wider variety of embouchure muscles, allowing (I submit) less embouchure deterioration when practice time is limited.
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2010-06-23 20:12
Yes, David, as the holder of a day-job I'm happy if I can get 2 hours a week. I tend to find more (somehow!) if there's a big gig in the pipeline. As for embouchure, I have found that over the years it has become like riding a bike: it comes back very quickly. I assume this is a learned skill.
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Author: Franklin Liao
Date: 2010-06-23 20:16
O, the fallacy of false assumption. I typed too soon. I know not what might constitute as sufficient to upkeep one's own embouchure duration wise. I also didn't account for the fact that a great part of one's own studies does not involve blowing the horn.
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Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2010-06-23 20:18
Length of practice, by itself, has little bearing on proficiency if one doesn't practice efficiently and "correctly."
I rarely ask my students HOW MUCH they practice, but I constantly ask them HOW they practice.
B
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-06-23 20:34
> I would think that an average of 14-21 hours per week is the absolute
> minimum for the people visiting this board.
I'm a hopeless case with my 45..60 minutes per day.
Bloody daytime job!
--
Ben
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Author: jnswickard
Date: 2010-06-23 21:13
Are you supposed to practice??? Could this account for my meager abilities? Hmmmm
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2010-06-23 21:34
Not nearly enough for my personal desire. Time is too short this summer. I won't even mention how little time I get nowadays to practice, but I suppose if I moved my posterior away from in front of the computer a little more....
Jeff
“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010
"A drummer is a musician's best friend."
Post Edited (2010-06-23 21:34)
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Author: SantiandCo
Date: 2010-06-23 21:51
i practice between 7-14 hours every week
practicing more than one hour without taking a break never helps your embouchure, technique, or tone. I might practice 2 hours daily, but I might break that up in to half an hour practices or hour long practices. It all depends on the person and how much practice YOU really need.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2010-06-23 22:12
I'm around 28 for practice plus the concerts, often daily.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: ww.player
Date: 2010-06-23 23:26
When I was in college, I practiced 30 to 50 hours a week (and up to 70 during the summers). When I was making my living playing, I averaged about 2 hours a day, though I would sometimes put in as much as 10 hours in a day to get a really sticky passage down. When I made my living from private teaching, I would also get in about 2 hours a day.
Now that I mostly make my living as a band director, I'm fortunate to get in 2 hours a week during the school year. Now that I have taken over our oldest daughter's bedroom as a studio, I'm hoping to practice a lot more.
BTW, I kept making progress even at 2 hours a day. At 2 hours a week, though, there is a definite erosion of ability going on. It's funny, because there are some things I can do just as well as ever. However, other things just aren't there any more and I'm not sure I could ever get them back.
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2010-06-24 13:05
Thanks for the responses. Here are the updated results:
less than 1 hour per week............7%
1-5..................33%
6-9..................24%
10-15...............24%
16-21.................9%
22-26................ 0%
27+....................9% 45 responses
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: William
Date: 2010-06-24 15:32
As long as it takes to be able to play what I want to--or *have* to.......
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