Music Practice Tips

During the week, I received an e-mail from Brandon. We had a bit of a chat about practicing and the practicalities of it away from home. Like myself, Brandon is studying at a Music Conservatory and does most of his practice on campus. I have also gotten into this habit of practicing at uni because it removes my main distraction - the computer. Here’s Brandon’s question:

I had a question for you. A lot of times when you mention practicing, it is as though you can practice right in your house or whatever. Of course, being a performance major, such practice is actually in the music school. That doesn’t matter, but I wonder what you tend to do during breaks (I’m talking about when you talked about 45 min practice, 15 min break, for example), especially when you’re sitting in a practice room in the music school and not in the comfort of your own home (or dorm, as it were), where you can do whatever you like.

Well, what do I do, when I’m at uni, and I need to take a break? I’ve got a few things that I’ll do. First thing is that I’ll usually go and grab a drink of water from the water fountain. We need to remember that practice is a physical activity and you need to maintain your hydration levels. Even just putting your instrument down and grabbing a drink from your drink bottle every now and then will help.

I love my coffee in the morning, so that’s another thing I can do, I’ll head over to the coffee shop and get a cappucino. I won’t have it there, I’ll walk back to my practice room so that I don’t lose it or anything like that, but that physical walk helps clear the mind. I guess it also helps that I don’t have to order anymore as the ladies at the cafe have memorised my order.

Related to that is just going for a walk. Where I practice, I can do a short lap that will take me up and down some stairs, and back within 5 minutes… more likely 2 minutes. This gets the blood moving, allows your mind to relax, and gets you out of the practice room.

If you’re at a music uni, more than likely, you’ll know some of the people in the practice rooms around you. When you’re taking a break, why not pop your head in and see what they’re working on. They might also like the break from their instrument, and it gives you a chance to see how other people work. Ask if you can just sit and watch them practice for a bit. Or listen to a piece that they’re playing. You never know what you might pick up from watching others play, and you can often learn things related to your own instrument. I know one of the most productive sessions I’ve had recently on my Mozart Violin Concerto came not from a violinist, but from a flautist.

If you’re not in the situation that you can leave your practice room, find a comfy spot and remember to bring a book or magazine along. 5-10 minutes reading a mag will do wonders for your mind, allowing it to switch off. There’s so many different magazines out there, from the girly gossip rags to the more serious music journals, it’s something different that will give your mind a break.

As for what I do? That’s what I do, I’ll mix them all up. I also have a tiny laptop which I take with me to uni, so sometimes I’ll check my facebook instead of reading a mag, but it’s the same thing. It allows me to switch off so that I can be switched on for my practice.

What do you do for your breaks? And also, if you’ve got any questions that you’d like me to answer, feel free to ask them either in the comments of any of the posts, or email them to ben@musicpracticetips.com