 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Emms
Date: 2001-11-27 22:57
There have been many comments on the BB about people should spend more time practising, so, come on everyone how much practise do YOU do?
Personally, between piano and clarinet about 2- 3 hours a day.
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Author: Meri
Date: 2001-11-27 23:25
Generally, maximum 90 minutes total on any given day, (with a minimum of 45 minutes), 5 days a week. Depends on how my chops feel, and how long my concentration lasts. But, this is done by limiting the amount of material I work on, prioritizing what I work on, and by using various efficient practicing strategies.
Meri
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Author: William
Date: 2001-11-27 23:54
To really get in top performance shape--tone quality, rythmic accuracy, technical smoothness, etc--I need to play at least four hours a day for two weeks. Two 2 hr practice sessions or one 2 hr with a 2 hr rehearsal or concert is acceptable. It's a great feeling to be in "top shape" and in total control of your instrument and the music you are playing. However, just to "maintain" playing proficiency, 2 hrs a day (even weekends) seem to suffice. Some great player once said, "If I miss a day of practice, I know it. If I miss two days of practice, my fans know it." Also, P.T. Barnum said, "You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." Of course, his statement referred to a different entertainment venue (the Worlds Greatest Circus), but then isn't musical performance a bit of showbiz and our ability to please our audience? Consistant practice is best for improving and maintaining playing ability. Go figure your personal time schedule, stick to it, and Good Clarineting!!!!!!
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Author: Gretchen
Date: 2001-11-28 01:52
I practice for about 2 hrs a day, however i have a 2 hour rehearsal on top of that every day, since i'm in college. My teacher says i should be practicing for 4 hrs a day however...but i think i'd bite my lowerlip off if i did that since i'd be so tired. Two hours of practice seems to get things done. Three would be my ideal however...but 2 will have to do for now.
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2001-11-28 03:47
There was a thread on this question on the Klarinet list quite awhile back. As I recall, the general consensus among the pros was, if you are a professional performer, 2 hours a day is maintenance, to make progress requires a minimum of 5 hours a day.
Gretchen, if you are a performance major, listen to your teacher. (Of course, college students should ALWAYS listen to their teachers. ;^) Guess what I do for a living.) IMHO, 2 hours a day may be adequate for an education major but a performance major who doesn't practice 5 hours a day (on top of rehearsals) will be left behind by the ones who do -- and there are folks out there practicing that much and some of them have at least as much talent as you and you will be competing with them for jobs. The music profession is very competitive. While you are preparing yourself, never be satisfied with "Good enough." If practicing is a struggle for you, try reading "The Art of Practicing" by Madeline Bruser.
Also, if memory serves it was Abe Lincoln who said, "You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time [I may have reversed those two] but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." (Later paraphrased, perhaps by Spanky, into "You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but you can't fool mom.") The other quote is, I think, either Rubenstein or Heifetz and it's close and in the right spirit but not exactly right. I don't have time to try to find the exact words, though. Maybe someone else out there knows.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: K
Date: 2001-11-28 03:49
i'm a music ed major and i still practice 4 hrs a day + rehearsals
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Author: ron b
Date: 2001-11-28 04:03
I'm not consistent at all, Emms :| For me it's as little as zero to half an hour a week or as much as 1 1/2 hrs a day for a few days. I'll toot more (an hour or so) a day for a few days before playing solo, less if playing with an 'ensemble'. Mostly, like Meri and Gretchen, I never push myself beyond what I feel my chops can handle and that varies somewhat.
While I totally agree with William that consistent practice is best, I'm just not that disciplined any more. Sure, music is part skill, part showmanship and when I was much younger I could play and did play hours on end and enjoyed every moment. Then, I took a thirty year 'leave'. During the past few months that I've been playing/practicing I still enjoy every moment.
I have no idea what other people should do or should not do time-wise but, a simple equation is (again, if I may paraphrase William): if you want to be consistently good you need to develop good consistent practice habits for whatever time you decide to devote to it. I'm working on that :]
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-11-28 06:00
My kid gets away with about 4 hours of practice a day at a major conservatory ... but remember, he warms up first and then practices those things that he needs to work on, not those things he can already do pretty well. Too many times I hear people "practicing" the things they're already pretty good at because it sounds nice. I must confess that I do that - but I'm not looking to make a career out of playing the clarinet!
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-11-28 07:13
Only 45 minute available a day. But I now concentrate on trumpet.
Practice for results is my motto. Tone quality development is my first priority.
Without good tones, fluent scales or arrpeggio are literally nothing.
I started flute first. Marcel Moyse's Sonorite was the straight answer to tone development. However, after starting clarinet long years ago, there has been no answer like this in clarient libraries. Trumpet has a similar one like Moyse: James Stamp's method. If there is one for clarinet, I would re-start clarinet again.
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Author: susannah
Date: 2001-11-28 07:47
between 1 1/2 and 3 hours generally. As a side question do you 'taper' before a big performance or do you continue building up?
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Author: William
Date: 2001-11-28 13:47
Jack--Opps, you are correct. Being from near Baraboo, WI. (Circus City USA), we sometimes attribute everything to Ringling Bros. and P. T. Barnum. Good Calleoping (opps--Clarineting)
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Author: C@p
Date: 2001-11-28 20:22
Rehearsal is about an hour and 45 minutes every Tuesday night at the communicty band, including stops and starts. Beyond that, I can usually get in three days of practicing for two hours each day as my real life might allow for practic time.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-11-28 20:39
My professor recommended 4 hours a day. He advised to get up early enough to get that in. I wonder what neighborhood would let a clarinetist get away with that? I think anything around 2 hours a day is sufficient to maintain--but the 4 hour level will set you apart above the crowd.
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Author: FT
Date: 2001-11-28 20:45
I'm in 8th grade and I don't really have too much time to practice, I have to much homework!!!!! But still, i practice for like 3-4 hours, 6 days a week. I don't know if you guys have the same problem, but my left hand( i'm right handed) is very slow, it's the dumb hand. bye!!
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Author: Eb's daughter
Date: 2001-11-28 21:20
Well, I'm in 10th grade, and I don't have time. I have marching bnd, and HOMEWORK. practice from 3:30-6:30, then homework, as well as church. I was first chair in band tho! I barely practice any.
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Author: Danielle
Date: 2001-11-29 02:44
I'm in ninth grade, and i practice (five days a week-saturdays, i have music school all day, and mondays i have jazz band AND orchestra rehearsals, practicing any more would really blow my bari sax chops for jazz band!) about an hour to 45 minutes to 90 minutes a day....depends on how material much i have to practice. i just selected my NYSSMA solo, so I've been practicing that a lot.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-11-29 14:18
As a 40 year veteran of the practice thing--it seems we have a cycle that I've found a bit encouraging. We practice and improve, then practice and stay the same--or maybe even seem to lose ground a bit, then suddenly and surprisingly make giant leaps forward, then plateau again. But, one thing is absolutely certain--practice will make us better players--even when we're 51 (like me).
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Author: Peter
Date: 2001-11-29 16:16
I always heard the four hour bit from all my tutors. I never quite got that far strictly as practice time, but usually did somewhere between two to three hours a day, including regular breaks. Maybe that's why I was never quite symphony material (Big ha, ha!)
Today, I do much as ron b, but probably somewhat more consistently. I usually have some four to seven instruments "stationed" most places I'm usually at, and carry one or two when I travel.
Throughout the day, as stress assails me, I often take a few minutes out to play and I'm renewed to continue onward and forward (not that there are that many.) And while, perhaps, this shouldn't be counted as practice, I often tackle pieces with which I am having difficulties during these mini sessions.
I find that concentrating on pieces I have a difficult time with enhances the effect of taking time out to play as stress relief. It seems to give me even more of a mini-vacation than playing pieces I find are easy to play, or have become so.
Some sessions are ten minutes long, some are fifteen to twenty minutes long... Time allowing. Sometimes, on a slow day, I might get in a few hours without even realizing it!
Aside from that, I still try to get in at least one, or more, hours a day, whenever I can, including weekends.
Professionals I either know, or know about range from a friend sax-flute-clarinet player who does five hours a day, to Christian Lindbergh (fantastic trombone) who, reputedly, does eight hours a day.
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