Practice, Practice, Practice!

Practicing is the key to success on any instrument. But practicing effectively is paramount. If one does not use effective practice strategies and techniques, one will not progress the way one wants to. Here I have outlined some basic ideas to help you practice as effectively and fruitfully as possible.

1. Set aside time when you know you will be as alert and energetic as possible.

We all have energy cycles. As you develop your routine, observe how energized you are throughout your day. Keep a journal of low energy periods, and make a note of any patterns that emerge over time. Avoid practicing during times that you know are consistently low energy for you. Or if you have to practice during these times and have no other choice, eat or drink something that will give you a quick boost of energy. Have a cup of coffee, tea or juice. Eat a healthy snack like fruit, nuts, or granola. Practice for short periods, like 15-20 minutes and take short, strategic breaks for water, juice, or a light snack.

2. Be consistent in your practice routine.

I get it. We are all busy. You have soccer, piano, tae kwan do, homework for honors classes, and clubs after school. And your siblings have even more. But you are also taking Viola (or Violin) lessons. You are in orchestra at school. If you want to play well, you will need to be consistent in your practice routine. Try to find a consistent time at least 5 days a week to practice between 30 to 120 minutes. If you can't find that kind of time, even 10 to 15 minutes a day can make a difference when done consistently. 

3. Practice smart, not hard.

Using your time wisely is vital for success. Especially if your practice time is limited. While doing "run-throughs" of just the piece of music you are working on is fun, is not nearly as productive as disciplined, focused practice. Practicing your instrument is about practicing concentration. A run through to find "problem spots" can be productive, and should be done once in a while. But if it is the only dish on your plate, it is the nutritional equivalent of eating only desserts. We have to have protein, starches, fruits and veggies as well. Something to keep in mind: the french word for "practice" or "to rehearse" is "répéter" or literally "to repeat." And repetition, particularly of the following, is the theme of this post.

Focus your practice in three broader categories: scales, technique, and repertoire (suzuki songs and other pieces of music) Ideally you will set aside a minimum of 15 minutes each (30 min total) for scales and technique, and 30 minutes for repertoire. But as little as 5 minutes each daily will be somewhat beneficial. For more advanced students, practicing 2 hours a day is not uncommon. Many teachers require this much time. And even with a busy schedule it is possible to break this up into smaller pieces to achieve it every day. This will be especially important for those who are very serious about their pursuit of excellence on the Viola or Violin.

Scales

for those in the earlier books, practicing even a simple 1 octave scale (open D up to 3rd finger on A) is not only a great warm up, but helps you to focus your attention on fine tuning details like tone, intonation, and posture. All of which are vital to playing well. Use a metronome! And a tuner if specified by your teacher. Any technique that you are working on can, and should, be practiced in a scale. Arpeggios for more advanced students are also important. Together with scales these are the building blocks of all music.

Technique

If you don't have a technique book that I have assigned to you, I will have given you "exercises" that accompany the piece that you are working on. These should be practiced in this section, and always with a metronome, and possibly a tuner if required. Focus on the quality of the exercise, not the quantity of times played or even the musicianship. While these are nice, they don't necessarily contribute to achieving the goal of the exercise. The goal is to master the technique that the exercise focuses on, and to strengthen you as a player both mentally and physically. So if you make a mistake, STOP. Mark it. Study it. Fix it. Repeat it. Again. And again. And again. Using this practice method you can easily learn an exercise in 15 minutes. And master it in five 15 minute sessions. 

Repertoire

Finally we get to the fun stuff! Well, yes and no. Remember that we are going for quality practice, not quantity. If time is short, and you know what you need to work on, start there. Don't start at the beginning and work up to it. That wastes time. Use practice boxes to your advantage. And mark up your part! the more marks on a piece of music there are, the better studied it shows you to be. The above mantra for Technique applies here also. 

Mistake? STOP. Mark it. Study it. Fix it. Repeat it. Again. And again. And again. 

Some tips for the "Study it. Fix it" portion. 

• Go slow! Take the problem section well under tempo, even one note at a time, with a tuner if necessary. This will give you the ability to identify what you are doing incorrectly and analyze how you can address it. 
• Use alternating fast-slow, slow-fast rhythms. This is especially productive for long runs of a single rhythmic value like eight notes or 16th notes or triplets. These runs can be the bane of our existence as players, until we master them. And then we get to show off! Using patterns like the ones shown, we can vastly increase the tempo at which we can play the passage very quickly. Each of the following groupings connected by the horizontal bar (flag) is how the passage should be played as a whole and correctly before moving on to the next grouping of two, three or four.
  
  
   Two notes: Long-Short (throughout) THEN Short-Long(throughout) etc...
  
  

When these are complete, then play the passage with the printed rhythms up to tempo.

• Gradually increase the metronome to performance tempo. This is especially effective where using rhythms is either not feasible or impractical. Start at a tempo at which you can play the passage perfectly. Even if it is at the bottom of your metronome. Play it perfectly 3 times, then increase the tempo by 4 to 6 BPM and no more! Then play it until you play it perfectly 3 times. If you make a mistake, stop and start over. If you are still making mistakes, slow the tempo back down and do it again. Like boiling a cold blooded animal alive, the gradual increase in tempo becomes unnoticeable and you find that in 5 minutes you have mastered the passage.
• Isolate troublemakers. Things like shifts, string crossings, fingerings, and bowings can cause problems in a single beat or measure that derail the whole train to catastrophic ends! So compartmentalize! Take just that shift, or just that fingering, or just that bowing, and repeat it slowly until it is perfect. Up the tempo and repeat. And repeat until it is up to tempo. If necessary, put down distractions like your bow, or your viola, and only work with its counterpart. Isolating the offending appendage is just as effective as isolating the passage itself. Work it until you are comfortable, then add the counterpart and play it. Again! And again!
• Reintegrate back into the whole. When working on a passage, add a bar in front and a bar behind and play it again until it is perfect. Or even just adding a not in front and a note behind will also be effective. Repeat until the passage is reintegrated to the whole section.
• Work backwards! This is especially effective for reintegration. Start with the last measure and play it forwards. Then add the previous measure and repeat. Then add another and repeat, and repeat and repeat, again and again until the whole piece is played as a whole. This is a great way to work out the ending of a piece in perticular. 

These tips needn't ALL be done ALL the time, but are rather useful methods for working out troublesome passages when necessary. Alternate which ones you use on which days! Pick and choose at your leisure. But use them all in the course of a week and you will be playing like a pro in no time!

Happy practicing!