PRODUCTIVE PRACTICING Suggestions to Help Ensure a Productive Practice Session By Patrick McAvoy
Thanks for requesting my new article Productive Practicing: Suggestions to Help Ensure a Productive Practice Session. Although the article and much of the information is geared to trumpet players, these suggestions present an approach that can guide any musician to practice in a way that will ensure progress and improvement. Through discovering the many weaknesses and strengths that present themselves in each practice session, the player can begin to face the reality of his or her skill level. By honestly and, fortunately, privately documenting those weaknesses and strengths, the player will have a clear and accurate vision of what needs work each day, as well as a history of progress. Not only will the suggestions mentioned throughout this article provide ways to ensure organization in the practice session, they will also provide a way to tackle improving on those weaker areas, and leave the player feeling good about the time spent in practice. Whether the player is a mature advancing student needing some direction, a professional looking to change it up, or just someone who is very serious about improving, the suggestions presented in this article can help. For players struggling with practicing efficiently, searching for a way to be more productive, or just simply needing a plan, the suggestions and approach presented in this article will help. Please be mindful that this article addresses a level of practicing that requires higher level thinking and questioning of one s own ability level, and may be more appropriate for the skilled and advanced performer as well as for some emerging advanced high school/college players who have the motivation and desire to become successful. It is helpful if the performer already has a solid foundation of fundamental skills, and enough experience to determine and understand the challenges and solutions associated with playing an instrument well. However, if the emerging player has those skills, and a good teacher, the teacher may be able to direct the student appropriately, making the advice and suggestions in this article helpful to the advancing student s progress. If the musician is in the beginning year(s) and practices mostly under parental guidance, please request my article, Tips for Parents of Beginning Musicians. Enjoy! Patrick McAvoy
BE ORGANIZED PRACTICE JOURNAL It is helpful to keep a journal of each practice session. If you have a laptop, you can easily maintain regular entries in a Microsoft Word document, but a notebook will work fine as well. Be sure to date each session in order to review progress and habits over time. Also be sure to put a heading for each part of your session. Record anything and everything that you find either wrong or good, record any thoughts, and don t avoid any negative or positive comments. If you feel good about something you just played it could be a measure or two write down what it was. You ll also want to address things that you want to remain or become good habits of playing. I have also included a sample of what my practice journal looks like, and it is an example of one of my own practice sessions (page 8). It represents the materials that I used on July 8, 2011, and acknowledges concerns that became present in my own playing on that particular day. TIMER Use a kitchen timer, your watch, or something you feel comfortable using that can be set to let you know when time is up. This will be a very important tool because it will help you to organize your time. If you have never kept track of time in your practice, you might find yourself writing a comment such as, need to use my time better when practicing focus, don t daydream. On the other hand, if you are using your time well, you ll want to know when to move on to the next thing. TUNER Always use a tuner. I put the tuner on a lot. Spend some time each day making sure that you play in tune from one note to every other. When I record myself with piano accompaniment, intonation is one of the most important things that I listen for, as bad intonation stands out the most. I want my intonation to be better than close enough. It s also helpful to see what happens to intonation over the duration of playing, and to learn what your tendencies are. METRONOME Use a metronome often. Not only will it help you to play in time better, I also believe that it helps maintain organization in your playing and thinking. If you tend to rush or drag the tempo, your alignment of focus goes, too. Again, learn what your tendencies are.
THE RIGHT MATERIALS ETUDES It is helpful if you have a variety of etudes that you can choose to work with. When used together, the etudes should address all the areas of playing you need to cover to keep yourself in great condition to perform well (see the Check Your Playing section below). Here is a brief description of what I believe your collection of etudes should cover, as well as examples of such etudes: Etude I: Focuses on ease of flow from one note to any other could contain all eighths or sixteenths, continuously flowing, mostly stepwise, with occasional leaping intervals (Charlier, 36 Etudes Transcendantes, #14) Etude II: Focuses on ease of flow in a very lyrical and musical setting, using a wide variety of intervals, rhythm, range, and dynamics (Charlier #13) Etude III: Focuses on ease of flow in a more articulated setting requiring a pronounced attack on each note with a very smooth and free-flowing approach from one note to another no tied up, tight, and pecky playing (Charlier #1) Etude IV: Focuses on playing with a very crisp attack while maintaining ease of flow achieving clear pop on each attack without losing a steady air-flow (Charlier #16) EXERCISES/FOCUSED STUDIES/SOLOS/SIGHT READING There are so many method books and studies available to musicians. Books from the trumpet literature, like Arban, Complete Conservatory Method for Trumpet; Schlossberg, Daily Drills and Technical Studies for Trumpet; Vizzutti, Trumpet Method, Book I: Technical Studies, Book II: Harmonic Studies, and Book III: Melodic Studies; Nagel, Speed Studies; Clarke, Technical Studies; Chicowicz, Flow Studies; and Goldman, Practical Studies for the Trumpet, are just a few examples, and all are great for isolating areas of your playing. Arban and Vizzutti cover so much material. They can serve as a one book resource. Organize a list of specific exercises to touch upon. These exercises should cover areas such as lip flexibilities, slurring and tonguing intervals, finger dexterity exercises, single, double, and triple tonguing, and scale patterns, in all ranges of the horn and at all dynamic levels. After a while, make a new list of different exercises, covering the same areas. Also, be sure to have a few solos in your file. Try to pick some that you can also perform outside of your practice sessions. Keep a few challenging books around for sight reading. There are several books that are great for sight reading. For example, Dufresne, Develop Sight Reading, and Marcel Bitsch, Vingt Etudes, are great for sight reading, because of their unpredictable nature. Use material that you only look at for sight reading.
ENSURE A PRODUCTIVE PRACTICE SESSION CHECK YOUR PLAYING DISCOVER WHAT NEEDS YOUR ATTENTION TODAY You re warmed up and ready to begin. Use 15-20 minutes to briefly isolate and touch upon as many different materials and aspects of playing as possible. Sections of the Arban Book, The Vizzutti collection, and countless other books can be used to isolate different areas of your playing. This is where you use your variety of materials mentioned earlier (lip flexibilities, slurring and tonguing intervals, finger dexterity exercises, etc.) Jot down a comment on everything you feel, hear, like, don t like, wish you could do better, wish you could duplicate, etc. This is not your practice session. However, it is the information documented here that will help you to determine exactly how to spend your practice session wisely. STOP PLAYING Stop when time is up. It is possible to get carried away for another 10 minutes, and it will most likely happen. However, if you stop when time is up, you will prevent that sort of thing from happening most of the time. There is much to cover, and going off on tangents doesn t promote focused practice. LISTENING Listen to different music every day. I like to have a recording on while I am warming up and sometimes while I m checking my playing. It s relaxing, and when the horn is off my face and I am at rest or updating my log, I will usually listen to something. I try to listen to great examples of performing not always trumpet or brass, but lots of different music. If I hear something great, that I want to incorporate into my playing, I usually make a note. I ll add that to my list of areas to focus on, and work on it later. WRITING COMMENTS When you are writing a comment, make sure to write one that addresses the problem or even the strong point with a tone of advice to it. This will help you to have a clear explanation of the problem and a way of tackling what you re looking for instead. Keep in mind that you really need to be asking a lot of the right questions about your performance. Your answers will tell you what needs work. Practicing for improvement is a lot about asking questions about what you hear and how you feel. What are others actually hearing? Here are some examples of what I believe are comments written in a helpful context: Work on getting the low range to have a little more bark Spend some time tuning pitches, pay attention to pitch accuracy Work on getting a very clear and consistently clean articulation when single tonguing Keep working on slurring clean through wide leaps nice progress starting to feel a lot better
Work on relaxed breathing, and keep the flow or air vibrant in the upper range avoid any tightness Nice single tongue attacks keep working on playing with more continuity Figure out why there s hesitation on the initial attack use the metronome are you breathing in time? Work on playing every single note full value lots of length (Listening) Try to sound like Tim Morrison (Hollywood Trumpeter) work on playing with a continuous intensity of resonance These comments are detailed, and they address a concern. They are clear, and remind you of what to do with the information. I like to notate them like this because, for example, they are more like what you might actually be thinking about your playing. You might think something like this: My low range is horrible, I want my sound to jump out, like the rest of my range. You know why you think your low range is horrible. Think about why.write down what it is. That s one of the areas you should isolate in practice. As you face these issues, also note the things that you do to help fix the problems, and comment when things are getting better. Below are examples of poorly noted comments. These identify an issue, but they don t tell you anything specific about the problem. Low range Intonation Attacks stink Slurring clean through wide leaps Blow through upper range Playing upper range with/without tight back Continuity with clean attacks Breathing without hesitation before the attack Playing full value (Listening) Try to sound like Tim Morrison PRACTICE Now it s time to practice. Start with Etude I. Using your notes from Check Your Playing, decide what problem or strong point(s) you are going to tackle or reinforce. (You might make a note of those things in your log under Etude I try to choose things that Etude I comes closest to addressing.) Turn your tuner on, use a metronome, set your timer for 5 to 10 minutes, and begin working. Decide on one or two areas of focus, and after choosing the right etude that best addresses that area of focus, work on making improvements. Focus as much as possible for the entire time on improving on those particular areas only. Record your progress both good and bad experiences. Use the right kind of comments to help you keep a clear focus on what needs improvement, as well as how to improve. As I practice, I try to address and fix all of my weaknesses, using 3 to 4 Etudes each day. I notate under each Etude every helpful comment that comes to mind. Sometimes I recognize problems that I had not already noticed, and note them during this session as well. The goal is to spend a few minutes on each Etude correcting specific concerns.
You might feel that some of those weaknesses are not going away. Maybe at the end of the practice session, they are still a problem. Maybe, after a few days, they remain. Fine. Don t get discouraged. Hopefully you can come up with a constructive way to address the root of the problem. The simple fact that you are making yourself aware of your playing, taking notice, addressing weak areas, and maintaining a focused use of your time will ensure progress in your practice session. Remember when time is up, STOP! Now, take a short break. Turn off the metronome; walk away for a moment. Take a brief listen to some good music. Relax. After a few moments, take out the next etude. Label it in the log and repeat the whole process again. After your etudes, you will have finished a very productive practice session. No matter how well you feel you played, you should be able to feel good about how you used your time, because you will have just used an area-specific etude to address weak areas of your playing. SIGHT READING I like to go one step further and add a one-time shot of sight reading. After choosing an appropriate etude for sight reading, play it through one time, and see how well you incorporate earlier practiced concepts to get you through the piece. Jot down comments of your playing here too; however, limit your comments to one or two main suggestions, tops! For example, I need to keep my breathing just as relaxed in the challenging measures and phrases as I do in the easier ones. SOLOS Occasionally, I ll use a solo in place of an etude. If it covers a particular area of focus, I might practice with it for up to 20 minutes, and record myself with my own accompaniment tracks that I make. Most of the time, I set aside an entirely different time to work on those pieces, but I usually like to throw one in at the end of my first session. I ll only play it through one or two times. After practicing for a while, can I play the solo piece great the first time? I ll jot down a comment or two about how I played that particular solo as well. If you are performing often, you probably already have a collection of solos. However, if you are not performing very often, it is still important to include time studying the solo literature. With a little thought, you can create opportunities to perform the trumpet literature.
SAMPLE LOG This practice log is an example of one of my own practice sessions, representing the materials that I used on July 8, 2011, and acknowledges particular areas that I wanted to work on in my own playing on that particular day. July 8, 2011 LISTENING: Emerson String Quartet Bach: The Art of the Fugue I love how they make sure that you hear each moving phrase, so warm and tasteful try to get this level of ensemble when working with the Boehm accompaniment. CHECK YOUR PLAYING The sound isn t jumping out of the horn I want it to Blow through attacks notes are not flowing Work on blowing more comfortably in the upper range Play slow triple tongue and work towards a focused center Work on getting the double tongue to attack freely it s a little too tight CHARLIER #14 (10 min.) *Getting the sound to jump out of the horn Good breathe until you play, Breath in time - subdivided time really helped Remember to breathe in time so the sound clearly jumps out at the right time There is too much delay. It feels odd to place the first and subsequent notes. Check your posture Third finger doing something funny CHARLIER #13 (5 min.) *Blowing more comfortably blow through attacks Better time is helping this too Breathe in time comfortably to get a comfortable exhale at the right time Better keep it up Nothing feels great, but. CHARLIER #1 (5 min.) *Work on blowing through attacks get notes to flow out Pitch is getting better Not sure if you re really aware of the time seems a little frantic Taking the pinky out of the ring better When I really made myself aware of the time, fully immersed, I was playing a lot easier CHARLIER #16 (5 min.) *Work on getting the double tongue to attack freely and not be so tight Remember, timing is everything Single and double are good not feeling very closed off Notes are really starting to pop SIGHT READING FISHER TULL page 10 Good job paying attention to time Attacks were good, time was really good, small reading problem caught and fixed
Patrick J. McAvoy I am a Professional Trumpet Player, Elementary School General Music Teacher, and private instructor to trumpet students in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. As a Professional Trumpet Player, I currently perform with the Johns Creek Symphony, and as a soloist, for wedding ceremonies, churches, corporate functions and for my solo, after school and community program, All My Horns. I have also performed with many regional orchestras and ensembles from the Northeast U.S., Southeast U.S., and Europe, including, the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, LaGrange Symphony, North Georgia Symphony, and the Central Connecticut Opera Orchestra, Springer Opera House Orchestra, Zeiterian Theater Orchestra, Columbus State University Faculty Brass Quintet (GA), and the Chekoslovakian Radio Symphony Orchestra. I have been a private instructor since 1999, and have taught trumpet lessons to students in Massachusetts, and Georgia. From 2004-2010, I was the Adjunct Professor of Applied Trumpet, for North Georgia College and State University. Many of my advanced students have successfully won University Music Scholarships, United States Military Band positions, and performing opportunities to play with regional, professional bands and orchestras. Younger students have won auditions, and earned opportunities to perform with middle and high school All State and Honor Bands. I am a graduate of Boston University, School for the Arts (1999), with a Bachelor s degree in Trumpet Performance. I am also a graduate of Columbus State University, Schwob School of Music (2003), with a Master s degree in Music Education. Thanks for taking the time to read my article on Productive Practicing. I hope that you have found the information useful, or know someone who can use it. I d love to hear from you, and I m happy to answer any questions that you might have. Please send me an e-mail. PatrickMcAvoy@AtlantaTrumpetPlayer.com Other Articles: Tips for Parents of Young Musicians Please visit my website at: WWW.ATLANTATRUMPETPLAYER.COM