Technical Clinic

Practicing

How do we get the most out of our practice sessions?

     Most of what your learn about playing the horn will ultimately be learned in the practice room. Teachers can convey information, demonstrate technique, sound, and musicality, but none of it will have any impact on your playing if you do not put in the time practicing correctly. I had a very good band director when I was in high school who constantly reminded us that practice does not necessarily make perfect. Perfect practice may make for perfect performance, but incorrect practice only makes very well learned mistakes, so how we practice is equally important as how much we practice. For most of us, and for all students, that means imposing some structure on the practice session. If your practice sessions consist of playing straight through the music you are trying to learn as many times as possible in the time you have, then you are not using your time very efficiently.

What do I do first?

     Have a regular structure to each session. If you have several practice sessions each day they can sometimes have different structure, but there should be some items that always occur. So the first thing you do is think through what you need to accomplish, and try to devise strategies to achieve your goal. Most of my sessions have a structure something like this.

     1. Warm-up. This is a short physical warm-up. It can be optional if I am coming straight from a rehearsal or performance and I am already physically and mentally prepared to play.
     2. Maintenance Routine. This is what some people refer to as their "extended" warm-up. It covers all the basics of horn playing, including techniques like stopped and muted horn, trills and multi-phonics. I insist on putting this in one session every day, but not every session. This also includes working on etudes and exercises.
     3. Performance Preparation. Remember, anytime anyone else is listening, it's a performance. So even though the band is rehearsing in a room with no audience it is a performance for you because the other members of the band are there with you. This takes up the bulk of the time in most practice sessions, and should focus on the things you do the worst.  The things you do well don't need the time.
     4. Reward. After you've put in an hour or 2 of hard work remind yourself why you play the horn. Play something that you enjoy & play well. This section is obviously optional, but it can be a great motivator. 
     5. Warm-down. Also an optional section, but it's a good idea if you've been doing a lot of really strenuous high & loud playing. Just go back to a few of the exercises you use to start your warm-up, or invent something similar. Let yourself loosen up a bit before putting it away

O.K., I've gotten to the etude and I can't play it. Now what?

     First, stop telling yourself you can't. The truth is you simply haven't applied yourself to solving the problems this piece presents one at a time, in a systematic way. Once you've done that you will be able to play it. So the answer to "now what?" is now analyze specifically what is giving you problems. That might be difficult intervals, or fingerings, or that it just goes too fast. The most obvious solution to these problems is to practice only the specific problem spots, and to do them very slowly. If it is an awkward interval or fingering this 'spot' could be as little as 2 or 3 notes. Slow it down until you can play it perfectly, and gradually increase the speed. A metronome can be very useful for this type of work. Play the spot 3 times perfectly at your slow speed (10 times would be better) then increase the metronome one setting and do your repetitions again until you have worked up to the speed you plan to perform. Do you see now why this kind of practicing takes up such a large part of your practice time? Although this can seem very tedious at first, time can really fly by when you're doing this, so set an alarm if you need to be anywhere.

     A simple way to describe this process is diagnose, simplify, repeat. Diagnose the problem. Determine exactly what spots are difficult for you, and try to figure out why. Is it fingerings that are getting in the way, or the coordination of changing the note and valve at the same time, or that you're just hearing the part wrong (that's a good reason to sing in the practice room). Simplify the passage enough that you can play it perfectly. This usually means slowing it down, but it could also mean leaving out the grace notes, taking it down an octave, or singing along while you play it on the piano. All that's left then is to repeat the perfect version until it feels quite easy, and gradually work your way back up to the original speed, pitch, etc.

A Few Tips.

      Most technical problems on horn relate in some way to ear and air. Practice ear training, and work on your air. Make your first way to solve a problem be making sure you hear it correctly and are using plenty of air.
     If you have a small spot that you've worked out, make sure you integrate it back into the piece. Practice your spot with a few notes before & after the spot so that it feels comfortable in context. Gradually increase how far you start before your spot, and how far you go after it. You don't want the audience to be able to tell what spots you practiced, so make it seamless.
     Occasionally I like to practice extended technical sections backwards. Start at the last note and read the music right to left. I don't know why this works, but it does, so I keep doing it. Technical sections always feel more natural to me when I go back to playing the passage forwards.
     Once you've worked out a technical section, put it away and come back to it tomorrow. Give your brain a little time to process what you've done.
     With all this talk about fast notes don't forget that it is our sound that makes us a valuable asset to an ensemble. Always attend to your tone, & never, for any reason, allow yourself to make anything but your best sound. Long tones are you friend.
     Remember, a scrupulously clean performance is impressive at any speed. A sloppy performance is NOT impressive at any speed. If you are clean and accurate first, last, and always, the speed will come. The opposite is not true. (Another related quote from an old teacher. "I could teach a monkey to play it fast and sloppy. It takes a musician to play cleanly and shape the phrases.")

     The subject of how to practice takes up a lot of the time I spend talking to students. There is clearly more to the topic than I cover on this page, but this will do for a start. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc. please e-mail me. I do like hearing from other horn players, & I have already updated several of these pages in response to your request. 

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