Re: What do you play before you get serious" about your prac
Practice, how to, what to, when to....it has always fascinated me, so great article Scott !
As a trombone player I used to get bogged down in 'warm ups', it would be lip flexibilities, slurring exercises, scales, range exercises etc etc and then boom, 2 hours in I would 'start' practicing. Usually 30 minutes after that concentration levels went out the window, stamina too and the concerto I had to practice before my lesson tomorrow wasn't ready, or the orchestral excerpts needed for class that afternoon weren't learnt. I got great at the peripheral stuff but the main focus of practicing ended up on the bench.
When I started Stick I started in the same way..... finger exercises, scales, chord shapes, then an hour in 'proper' practice started on pieces and the things I WANTED to work on. In the end, again, concentration and stamina, out the window.
On reflection I almost felt I had to go through an established warm up routine before I was allowed to practice properly. This is what I have changed. Now I try to make sure EVERYTHING I practice goes towards improvement, not routine to warm up and then work. i say the same to my students too.
A few months ago I discovered Mike Johnston on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5li8JPkQU0.....and his 4 Stage Practice Method, which gives you a disciplined focus on your practice that has helped me no end. The link to Stage 1 is above but to summarize the 4 stages break down into 4x 10/15 minute stages and practice should be for an hour, with ALL 4 stages covered. If you have 2 hours to play with go through the stages twice, don't spend longer on any of them:
Stage 1: Non-Creative - What technical thing can I do already that I want to get better? (this is where the scales, patterns, shapes, independence stuff would come in). 15 mins.
Stage 2: Creative - Using a predetermined set of rules or guidelines that you create for yourself, set up a practice where you are being creative, perhaps in a rhythmical way or improvisational way, or even compositional way. (the video and his example sparked plenty of Stick and Trombone inspirations for what to do, and explains it much better than I do here)
Stage 3: Main Focus - What can I not do yet? A piece? A rudiment, and chord sequence? Do that here.
Stage 4: Musical Application - Something that takes you out of your comfort zone: A play-a-long with a track in a different style of music that you don't usually play, or deliberately apply a new technique to a piece. Again the videos explain and inspire better than I, here.
Of course if you have a major gig with serious repertoire to get into your head then this method probably isn't the best approach to prepare for that but for everyday, standard, trying-to-get-better practice with nothing major on the horizon to prepare for, this is amazing.
This approach has made me more economical with my practice time (good job, considering 2 kids and a teaching gig tend to prevent more than an hour per day practice anyway) and I have improved in less time as I am no longer spending an hour playing scale exercises pointlessly trying to get the bpm to 130 from 118!
As an example (if people haven't already given up reading this mega-post by now), the other day my practice session was:
Stage 1: Non- creative (15 mins): Playing without looking, feeling for the notes: I found a Rudiment pattern between fingers in the two hands and went around the circle of 5ths whilst not looking at the Stick at all.
Stage 2: Creative (15 mins): RH improvisation over a fixed walking bass (minor blues) , playing 2 choruses and moving to next key in the Circle of 5ths
Stage 3: Main Focus (15 mins) Practiced "Watermelon Man"
Stage 4: Musical Application (15 mins) Put on some a random Scottish Folk song (voice and lute) and tried to play along. By the end I had pretty much transcribed it and my 'wee lassie' Scottish wife and I will be giving the tune a go at some point in the near future.
The key is discipline to the stages and not to dwell on one area. It keeps concentration switched on and minds fresh. Also, one thing I have found. If I suck at one area of practice. In 15 mins it's over and I move on to something else, I might not suck at that! Good for a positive approach.
I don't disagree with the approach of play it over and over and over and over and over ....until you can play it, but I don't necessarily agree with repeating it over and over and not moving on until you can do it.
Im done, sorry, for the waffle. Great thread Scott.
P