Practice is always a contentious issue with students and teachers, and I’m sure that most students feel like their teachers are never satisfied with the amount of practice they have done. In fact, you don’t have to do lots of practice if you learn to work efficiently: listen carefully, analyse, and correct mistakes as soon as they are noted.
The question is: How do we know if we are practising efficiently?
Endless mindless repetition is not the key! Each time we approach practice we should reflect on the last time we looked at this piece. If it’s new, one might need to consider the basic nuts and bolts of the music – the notes and rhythm. Going through both carefully and slowly until we are certain they are accurate gives a solid foundation to build upon. Learning a thing correctly the first time saves a lot of difficulty. It is far harder to ‘unlearn’ a thing and then relearn it, than to learn it correctly the first time!
If the piece is a song (as the case with my own students) I expect them to look at the words, read the poem, think about the phrasing, and the meaning. If it’s in a foreign language they should find a translation immediately – one should never sing a piece if you don’t know what it means!
Once the piece is more familiar there will doubtless be areas of weakness which have been worked upon in a lesson. Think about any markings which were made in the score, and make sure any small inaccuracies in notes and rhythm are correct EVERY time you sing that passage. If one small passage is repeatedly wrong, take it slowly and stop as soon as you make a mistake. Work on the two or three notes surrounding the difficult bit. Sing it through SEVERAL times in succession. If it’s still wrong, go back and do it again. Until it is right. Several times in succession. Then put the phrase in context with the bit directly before and after it. If it’s still not right, go back again!
You should also consider the technique ideas which were mentioned or worked on in the lesson. Why were you doing those exercises, and how did they help? Try doing them again, and applying them to the piece you are working on. If you don’t understand why you’re doing a particular exercise in a lesson, then ask your teacher so that they can clarify!
If one thing isn’t going well today, leave it and choose something else to work on. This doesn’t mean you should give up immediately, but if you’re becoming demoralised and stressed then you will not be in the best mental place to work effectively. If necessary, go away and do something completely different for a while, and come back to the music later. It’s much better to do this than build up frustration and negativity.
If you don’t have much time to practice in one go, that’s fine. Break it up into smaller amounts of time, but use each session to focus on one particular technique idea, or one section of the piece. That way you will be more focused on something specific, will feel more motivated, and get more done. In fact, I really advocate practising for no longer than 20 minutes at a time. Short bursts of practice makes it much easier to concentrate as you know that you won’t be there for hours ‘until you get it right’.
Finally, finish your practice session by playing or singing the piece all the way through. Listen to your performance and assess what has improved, and what still needs work. Make a note on your music or in a notepad, so that you can get straight back to it when you next have time to work on the music. If you do this, you will know if you are practising efficiently. You will be able to recognise what you have achieved, as well as areas which still need work. You will also be able to start your next lesson well, as you will be in a position to discuss concerns or areas of difficulty with your teacher clearly and accurately, so that they can help you.
Most people practice until they get something right. The best type of practice is to work at something until it never goes wrong. It is only this second method of practice which will guarantee the secure technical grounding necessary to really let go in performance and produce the very best levels of musicianship.