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| Guide to Practicing |
Overcoming
Technical Problems
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HERE'S a basic guideline to follow while you're practicing. It's sort of like a check list.
1. While you're practicing slowly, you should always be careful to play the right notes and make sure that it's in tune. Also, you should also be careful not to make mistakes in rhythms or change your tempo. I recommend using a metronome. (My friend calls it the most demonic device, I know.) Although many students, including myself, hate the stupid thing, it will do you good. It's really hard to keep the same tempo sometimes, because you don't realize when you play at different speeds. The metronome will work as an "external discipline," as my teacher once called it. You can do things without realizing it, but the metronome will keep you in check. Also, play as SLOWLY as you have to in order to play the song correctly.
2. As I said before, practicing means tearing the piece to little bits and pieces. Whenever you're practicing, you should ALWAYS divide up the piece into little sections of 2-4 measures and practice those spots. DO NOT GO ON!!!! Just keep playing those spots over and over. Also, you should always start off the practicing of your piece by practicing the hard parts first. It's not going to do you any good practicing the opening over and over again. After a while, when you perform the song, it'll sound great in the beginning and then slowly get worse and worse towards the end. Don't make the same mistake I did 4 years ago! You may also want to start at the last two measures and then "work backwards" by starting at the last four measures, then last six measures, etc.
3. As I said before, when you play the little sections that you've broken up over and over about 4-5 times (or 30 times if it's hard) and get it perfectly, you may add the next two measures to that section and play that section as a whole and play it 8 times or twice the amount of times you did before. WARNING: DO Not Keep Going On Until it's Perfect! You'll only screw up the whole process!.Keep repeating this process. Pretty soon, you'll have the whole piece done. It may seem to take a long time at first, but it takes four times as long to do it by trial and error or playing through the whole song numerous times.
4. Practice in a quiet place. It won't do you any good if you start practicing where you can't concentrate. Just imagine trying to practice in a room where your little brother keeps on running around you in circles and keeps on shouting "Don't mess Up!" sarcastically. (I used to do that to my brother)
5. This one is sort of a stretch, even for me. But.. Here's how it goes. The best time to practice is in the morning. Now, normally we got to set up our alarm clock for 5:30 in the morning and go to school, so it's sort of impossible during the school year. However, it's possible to do it in the summer. It doesn't have to be early in the morning, it just has to be shortly after you wake up (which is normally 9-10 in the morning for me during the summer). Believe it or not, it works. I've tried it and I did a lot better than I normally do.
6. Double-check yourself to make sure that all the parts of the song sounds interesting and has a "personality." It's easy to play the song with your fingers and "wander off into your own world" while you play it. Once, again concentration is the key.
7. Everyday, play a little just maybe a page or two from the piece and ONLY practice those pages. Playing little, but often is another way to success. (I must sound like one of those guys on TV doing an infomercial)
8. Don't practice if you feel crappy. Being frustrated while your practicing, will only lead to more frustration and anguish. It's not worth it, so just call it a day off.
9. Don't plan ahead of yourself. You're only human! Don't make absurd goals like I'm going to finish this song in one day or I'm going to practice 10 hours a day, you'll only think about how you didn't complete these goals and feel like an idiot.
10. Think ten times play once. Playing music is more about concentration than anything else. You've got to "look before you leap." So, before a concert or something, always test out the piano or whatever instrument you play and think the song over in your head. If you can sing the song in your head perfectly, you'll be able to play it perfectly because you know how to play it correctly if you can sing it in your head.
11. Subdivide the rhythm before you start playing. Subdividing means to split the beat into little parts like eighth notes, triplets, or whatever. So take the smallest (fastest notes in your piece) and sing them in your head so that it fits correctly into one beat. This ensures you that you won't slow down on hard spots.
12. Whenever you have forte written, always let the sound resonate instead of making loud noises. Let the sound "ring" instead of "choking" it.
13. Every song's problems (hard spots) can be solved "within the song." This one's hard to explain. Every song has a hard spot. All you have to do is tear it apart and practice it in whatever way you want and then you'll be able to get it. (See overcoming technical problems)
