Making Practice Perfect

Posted bySpencer KatzPosted inUncategorized

We’ve all heard the phrase “practice makes perfect” but this masterclass will look at the planning and preparation that is involved in MAKING practice perfect. Thinking proactively about what will make a practice session “perfect” to find the maximum benefit every time. Presented January 31, 2020 at Florida Southern College.

SETUP FOR SUCCESS

Practice with Earplugs

We all have those days where we know we sound bad or anticipate our tone quality will not be what we desire due to prolonged periods of not practicing. Using earplugs can help avoid the discouragement of sounding bad and still allow you to get work done during your practice session.

Find a NEW space

We often get into a routine with practicing which can sometimes lead to us missing things that will help us progress. Seeing in a new light or hearing in a new space can literally shed light on something you’ve been missing.

Find a space that makes you sound good

While there is benefit in sounding good in a muffled or “dead” room, every once in a while it is nice to walk into a space that just makes you sound incredible and makes you WANT to practice there!

Physically drive somewhere

Staying at home brings with it many, MANY distractions. Sometimes just being in proximity to a bed can make us want to take a nap. Having to stop binge-watching your newest obsession on Netflix can be really hard to do when you are literally in the same room as the temptation while you’re trying to practice. Driving to a church, community center, local college, high school, or auditorium can help break free of those distractions. I find that people LOVE having musicians practice in their space!

Remove distractions

If you are unable to drive somewhere for rehearsal, or even if you are in a new space, try your best to remove all distractions. Turn off your phone, put away your computer, and focus on the task at hand.

Have an accountability partner…or not…

Sometimes it is GREAT to have someone that you know practices at the same time as you. This can help keep you accountable to make sure that you actually practice at the time that you say you are going to. Someone to make you feel like you are letting them down if you don’t make it to practice. But be careful because this is a double-edged sword. The wrong accountability partner can keep you distracted or make you finish your practice session early.

Know yourself

This goes along with all of the points listed above. It is so important to know your personality type when deciding what will work best for you. Gretchen Rubin has a fantastic book titled The Four Tendencies where she talks about how rules and accountability function for different people. You can that the quiz here! Understanding your basic nature can help you make the right decisions for you when planning practice sessions and MORE!

Who is listening?

Knowing who is on the other side of our practice room door (or NOT knowing) can cause us to practice in a different way. I can still remember practicing while living at home with my parents and purposely avoiding the difficult sections that I knew would sound bad because I didn’t want my parents to hear it. This kind of distraction can take away from a truly great practice session.

TOOLS FOR SUCCESS

Metronome and Tuner (not an app)

Once again, this is going to depend on your tendency (see “Know Yourself” above). For some people, just having the temptation of seeing a notification or feeling a vibration can quickly take you off track in your practice session.

Headphones

Listening to music is SO important in your practicing. It can help you develop style, vibrato, intonation, tone, harmonic structure, and accompanying parts. If you have the time and you’ve run out of things to practice, adding in a few minutes of DEDICATED listening time–not time where you are listening and doing something else–can help you take your practice session even further.

Earplugs

I mention these in two different sections as they serve two different functions. In one aspect, they can help you still get things done even when you’re having a “bad sound day.” But earplugs can do so much more than that! The beginning of our practice session is always focused on warming up, and I think this starts with warming up our body BEFORE using our ears! We have spent years developing our ears to identify an issue and immediately react with our body. But why not allow our body to respond based on how we FEEL. Using earplugs can make you so much more aware of your fingers, your tongue, your shoulders, arms…everything!

Water/Snack

When you know you’ll be away from home for a long period of time, bringing a snack can help save you from leaving a practice session early because you’re hungry.

PRACTICE STRATEGIES

  • Movement
  • Singing and Playing
  • Flutter Tonguing
  • Harmonics
  • Wind Over Tone Hole
  • Shhhhhhhh…..
  • Melting Fingers
  • Count the 8th Note (or 16th)
  • R/L Isolation
  • Pencil

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Published by Spencer Katz

Spencer graduated Summa Cum Laude from Florida State University with a Bachelors of Music Education and Bachelors of Music in Flute Performance. He has studied with Eva Amsler and played in masterclasses for Karl-Heinz Schütz, Aldo Baerten, Shalev Ed-Al, Magda Schwerzman, and Linda Mark. He was a finalist in the Florida Flute Convention Young Artist Competition in 2014. Spencer has played with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, University Symphony Orchestra, University Philharmonic Orchestra, and University Wind Ensemble at Florida State University. Spencer participated in a semester long internship with the Avalon Middle School band in Orlando, FL and served as a clinician for many high school summer band camps in the Orlando area. He is currently the Director of Bands at Mulberry Middle School in Polk County.