How to practice

The key to a good performance is good practice, after all, practice does make perfect. But how exactly does one practice? Believe it or not, but there are actually right and wrong ways to practice. So, going off of the SMART lunch advertisements, I will be listing the do's and don't's of good practice.

DO practice your scales
You may be surprised at how much music is composed of scales, and how useful scales are after you've mastered them. Almost every high-level audition requires scales of some kind, and they help you in your playing tremendously. Therefore, practice your scales.

DON'T practice at light speed
Practicing quickly or at performance tempo is never a good way to go, especially when you are first learning the piece. Instead, slow and steady wins the race. Practice each piece by section, so you are focusing on one thing at a time. Slow practice helps you get all of the elements in at once- rhythm, articulation, notes, style, etc.- so it will be easier on you down the road.

DO start easy
Starting each practice will a warm-up is a good thing: it will get your mind and instrument functioning and ready to play. Just jumping in and going is not a good way to practice- you are mentally and physically not ready yet to play your actual pieces.

DON'T call it good after a single time
Just running a piece top to bottom is good for later on, but just running through a piece like that once is a bad way to practice. It is very hard to fix mistakes practicing like this, and some mistakes you may learn and have to unlearn later on. Trust me, that is a pain in the butt. Instead, practice in sections, focusing on just one thing, and play each section multiple times.

DO practice like you would perform
Practicing with poor posture is a great way to ruin your future posture and learn something that you don't want to. Also, especially for wind instruments, practicing with bad posture doesn't alot for the same amount of air that you would get normally, thus, throwing off your breathing.


I hope next time you practice you take these simple things into consideration. Practicing correctly can make the difference between an OK and amazing performance.