As we get into the full swing of a new school year, I always find myself thinking about how to make this year even better than last. For me, the number one thing that would improve almost everything in my life is having more time. Short of adding more hours to the day, or turning myself into a sleep-deprived crazy person, I think the best thing to do is to approach everything with an eye towards efficiency. How many times do we waste time procrastinating learning a difficult passage, only to discover that it would have been better to tackle it at the beginning of the week? How often do we sit down to practice, and allow ourselves to get distracted by our phones? Or worse, we carve out that practice time and just don't end up accomplishing very much? This year, let's make it a goal to incorporate deliberate, efficient practicing into our every day relationship with the violin.
Here are my top 10 tips for efficient practicing!
1. Set a specific goal to accomplish during each practice session.
2. Limit distractions as much as possible. This includes your phone, Facebook, Netflix, etc.
3. Warm up. Always. Even when you're busy, and only have a short time to practice, warming up is crucial. It gets your muscles and blood moving right, and eases your mind into the practice session. Experiment with different warm-up routines to find one that makes you feel your best by the time you're done.
4. Don't plan on running through all of your music every day, instead, focus perfecting the parts that give you the most trouble.
5. Always be clear with yourself about what you are accomplishing during each part of your practice.
6. Don't be afraid to write things down! Keep a list on your music stand of things you want to accomplish during the next practice session, so you won't have to play through all of your music the next time in order to figure out what to work on. Once you find a solution to a problem, or the perfect bowing or fingering, write it in your music, so you won't have to rethink that process next time.
7. Practice slowly. This can feel counterintuitive when we're trying to get so much done, but you'll end up learning faster and better the first time around. Plus you won't waste time later having to go back and correct mistakes you've learned improperly.
8. Use your creativity! There are lots of solutions to a problem, and there's very rarely just one right answer.
9. Isolate your work into the smallest area of work possible. For example, if you're struggling with a difficult passage, try fixing just the hardest shifts first, then add onto either end gradually.
10. Make it fun! Plan a reward for yourself at the end of your practice, or try to turn your practicing into a game.
Finally, I'll suggest for you to visit www.bulletproofmusician.com. Dr. Noa Kageyama is a musician and psychologist and he's combined these two fields to help the rest of us learn how to practice more efficiently and perform to the best of our abilities every time. I'm not usually a fan of signing up for weekly emails, but I highly recommend doing this. I don't think I've ever read something from him and regretted it. You'll also get a pretty sweet list of practice tips when you sign up.
Good luck with your practicing!