Transcript PowerPoint File, 9.19 MB

Performance and Practice
Techniques and Tips
What is practice?
 Practice
is not mindless repetition, even
though repetition is involved. Practice is
repeating a small portion of a piece (or a
technical exercise) with a specific goal in
mind.

This goal should be small
enough to reach by the end
of the session so that the
student can judge whether
or not s/he met the goal.
Attitude is vital
 Approach
practicing as an
opportunity to play the
instrument that you enjoy,
and gain satisfaction from
improving in your technique
and playing ability.

Do this for yourself and for no
one else. Remember that
you’re playing because you
enjoy playing and not because
someone told you to play
something…
Mistakes happen!
 Remember
that making mistakes is a part
of practicing. No one is perfect.


Don’t dwell on mistakes; fix them.
Everyone makes mistakes and the only way
to fix them is to practice.
Work out the sections that
need to be fixed using
some of the following
techniques…
Mark it up!
 Be
sure to mark your music. Write in the
notes and accidentals that you’ve missed
or the notes that need to be tuned.

Visual reminders allow you to play the music
without constantly thinking about notes.
 Keep
a practice log to keep track of the
time you’ve spent practicing and the goals
that you’ve reached.
Practice techniques

Change the rhythm of the tricky licks

Make the task more difficult than it already is so that
when you simplify it back to the original form, it is a
piece of cake!
• Practice using the short-long, long-short, long-short-shortshort, and even rhythms, respectively.
• Do each rhythm 10 times perfectly before moving on to the
next rhythm.
• Once you’ve practiced each rhythm, play the section evenly
about half as fast as it is supposed to be. Gradually work the
tempo up to performance speed.

Once you’ve practiced this way, put the section back
into context. This practice technique works wonders!
Other practice techniques
consistent fingerings – kinesthetic
memory makes playing almost effortless
 Control vs. Chance – be sure that if you
play a section perfectly, it isn’t
an accident and you can do it
again. Only you know if you
can successfully play a
section of a piece and you
can’t lie to yourself!
 Go for control rather than speed – if you
aim for control, speed will take care of itself
 Use
Here are some performance tips
 Remember

the Audience.
Allow one or two seconds of silence before
you begin your performance.
• This ensures that the audience is ready to listen.
 Relax

and enjoy your performance.
Be careful not to rush and
“rattle off” a piece because
you’re in a hurry to finish.
• This ensures a steady,
performance.
controlled
More performance tips…
 If
you make a mistake, keep going.

Do not get angry, stop and start over.
• It is better to continue and wow the
audience with the rest of your piece than
to start over until you get that one part right.
 Be
sure that you’ve practiced the whole
piece.

If you’ve practiced one section a lot and another
section only a little, it is likely that you will
perform the practiced sections better and the
unpracticed sections worse.
• Work so that the whole piece is played or sung
consistently well.
Final performance tip
 When
you’ve finished a piece, stay still
and let the music ring for a bit.

Don’t look around right away, searching for
applause.
• This allows for the end of the piece to sink in with
the audience and shows professionalism and good
musicianship on your part.
Go get ‘em!