The Practice Plan
Dr. Joseph Montelione Florida Tech University
montemusic@gmail.com
The final stage of effective, efficient practicing is to
work with the student to develop a practice plan. The plan should consist of setting goals, scheduling daily time for practice, listening to music, developing questions to ask the instructor, working out fundamentals and play- ing through repertoire.
1. You’ll Have the Time To Practice When You
Make The Time To Practice: It is important that edu- cators encourage students to schedule a regular time to practice. It doesn’t have to be for a long period of time. I tell my students to strive for shorter more frequent daily practice every day. Practicing 20 minutes every day is so much more efficient and effective than practicing an hour a day every couple of days. Practicing 20 minutes every day as opposed to an hour every couple of days is more efficient and effective because 1.) our mind and atten- tion span can only last a certain amount of time before it starts to wander—better focus will yield better results and it’s a lot easier focusing for 20 minutes than it is for 60 minutes. 2.) doing it daily helps develop the muscle memory needed to more easily execute musical ideas.
2. Categorize Practicing: The four main stages of
practicing are Discovery, Conditioning, Reinforcement and Repertoire. I encourage my students not to move to the next stage without properly mastering the previous stage. Some bad examples are practicing repertoire that is beyond a student’s technique, reinforcing concepts not yet mastered, being able to play a new concept once and thinking you have it without conditioning your body and mind to create a new habit. I tell my students to place aspects of their technique into each stage so their mind can be better focused. For example:
Discovery (examples of areas that could still need to be figured out) Range Endurance Triple Tonguing Multiphonics
Conditioning (examples of areas from discovery but still need to develop new habits) Double Tonguing Articulating Soft Short Low Notes Single Tonguing Major Scales
Reinforcement (examples of areas that are conditioned but still need to be reinforced) Single Tonguing Major Scales
3. Make It Easy: Remember that the conscious mind can only focus on one thing at a time. For each one of the areas that need to improve, I encourage my stu- dents to set small attainable goals. Setting small attain- able goals yields faster results. Concentrate on that goal and do not allow any sort distraction to turn into frus- tration. If students find themselves becoming distracted, I encourage them to take a break and come back to it later. Taking a five-minute break and coming back to it is much more effect than putting the instrument back in the case.
4. Listen and Question: One of the most important if not the most important aspect of practicing, and most often overlooked aspect, is to listen to music. Listening to music does not mean, playing music while doing home- work, or in the car or while engaging in any other activ-
TEMPO 44 MAY 2021
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