How long and often should students practice?
Routine, consistency, and efficiency far out way sheer quantity when it comes to practicing.
When students first start learning a musical instrument, they will only have enough endurance and material to practice for about ten minutes a day. This time will gradually increase as consistent endurance is developed and more material is learned in class and in private lessons.
It would be much better for a student to practice ten minutes a day, six days a week, than it would be for them to practice one day for 60 minutes. Playing an instrument is a physical exercise that needs consistent muscle maintenance. Learning music and an instrument cannot be crammed and is a wonderful long term project.
Students should wrap up their practice session when their goals have been met, or when they become either mentally or physically fatigued. Once they are mentally tired, they are no longer retaining any improvements that they might be making, and once they are physically sore they will start distorting their posture in a way to compensate for the soreness, which may end up creating bad habits that could lead to injury in the future.
It is acceptable for students to take a day off if they need a mental or physical break.
When students first start learning a musical instrument, they will only have enough endurance and material to practice for about ten minutes a day. This time will gradually increase as consistent endurance is developed and more material is learned in class and in private lessons.
It would be much better for a student to practice ten minutes a day, six days a week, than it would be for them to practice one day for 60 minutes. Playing an instrument is a physical exercise that needs consistent muscle maintenance. Learning music and an instrument cannot be crammed and is a wonderful long term project.
Students should wrap up their practice session when their goals have been met, or when they become either mentally or physically fatigued. Once they are mentally tired, they are no longer retaining any improvements that they might be making, and once they are physically sore they will start distorting their posture in a way to compensate for the soreness, which may end up creating bad habits that could lead to injury in the future.
It is acceptable for students to take a day off if they need a mental or physical break.
Question: Is there a better way to get familiar with etudes when limited on time?
Answer: Slow practice rules for learning quickly. 10 minutes of slow practice equals an hour at a tempo faster than you can process; that's my experience. Slow your tempo and your brain down and you'll learn it right the very first time you read it.
-Christopher Martin, Principal Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Answer: Slow practice rules for learning quickly. 10 minutes of slow practice equals an hour at a tempo faster than you can process; that's my experience. Slow your tempo and your brain down and you'll learn it right the very first time you read it.
-Christopher Martin, Principal Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
