Category: Practicing

Practicing

Expert Advice from Itzhak Perlman

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Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world who respond not only to his remarkable artistry, but also to the irrepressible joy of making music, which he communicates. (Taken from his biography from https://itzhakperlman.com/)

He said in an Instagram post:

“When you practice it has to be slow. You cannot practice impatiently. You know, putting in the time of practicing is not enough. I would rather you practice with your head for two hours and somebody else just mindlessly for eight because that doesn’t work. So I can tell you if you want to practice really correctly, Number 1: SLOWLY.

Number 2: HAVE AN AGENDA. Why do you want to practice? You know, make sure that you practice in small sections. You want to make sure that you don’t repeat anything without actually hearing what you’re doing because when you repeat certain things and for example let’s say that you practice something for the bow and you keep repeating it and you’re playing it slightly out of tune then you are actually practicing to play out or tune. That’s why you have to listen really carefully to what you’re doing and so on so I know that this is very, very general but at least the important thing is to do it very slowly and to do it in small sections and to have patience. If something sounds great on Monday and it does not sound so good on Tuesday don’t give up. It means that it’s not yet there. Keep practicing slowly again and again and by Wednesday it will be slightly better and by Thursday it will be even more better but patience is very, very important.”

Flute, Practicing, Thoughts

A New Year – A New Day

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We are eleven days into the new year. What have you done differently these past eleven days? Have you made a long list of goals or does that just discourage you? Resolutions are great but also hard to keep, especially if you are over zealous with your goals. I hear that January is the busiest time at the gym with everyone and their new goals, but then gradually attendance tapers off as people give up on their goals.

A new year seems to be more of a fresh start for many people. Although, in reality, each day should be a fresh start for all of us. A new day is a new opportunity to accept who we are yet view the fresh possibilities that lie before us for the next 24 hours.

How will YOU use this new day? How will YOU use this new year?

My advice is to start small. Goals don’t have to be monumental. Perhaps your goal today is simply to smile just a little more than you did yesterday. Maybe your goal is to be a little kinder or more forgiving. Or maybe your goal really is to exercise more. Whatever it is, start small.

Now in terms of flute practicing, again, my advice is to start small. Perhaps your goal is to practice for 5 more minutes. Maybe your goal is to listen to your tone instead of going through the motions. Or your goal could be to memorize one more measure of your song. Whatever you choose, make some kind of goal when you get your flute out and don’t just go through the motions.

And, also as with life, don’t just go through the motions. Live each day. Try a little harder and if you don’t achieve your goal, remember that tomorrow will be a new day.

Flute, Practicing

Summer Rewards

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Summer is known for extra activities like fun trips, vacations, camps, family reunions, carnivals and more. Sometimes it can be hard to practice your flute when your time is competing with so many events on your calendar.

That’s why an extra CONGRATULATIONS goes out to my flute and piano students who earned a summer practice treat. Way to go! Enjoy the end of summer and we’ll have some more fun and get back to work after school starts.

Flute, Practicing

Practice Makes Progess

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Perfectionism vs. Progress

Perfectionism is a terrible disease. I suffer from it as I know many others do. Especially as a flute player or musician or artist, perfectionism can be helpful or it can be detrimental. Yes, we should always strive to have all the correct notes, correct rhythms, correct dynamics, breaths, style, interpretation, vibrato, tone colors, phrasing, etc.

Can you see why perfectionism is an ongoing struggle?

In music and in sports, you often hear the phrase Practice makes Perfect. I prefer to use the phrase Practice makes Progress. Here I thought I was so brilliant in coming up with this, but when searching for a photo to use, I found that I wasn’t as brilliant as I thought I was – haha.

The picture above says it all. If you don’t practice, you can’t expect progress.

Practicing is a developmental process to learn what methods are helpful to you. As a teacher I can attest that every student is different. What works for some doesn’t always work for others. That’s one of the things that makes teaching so fun. Finding and creating new ways to affectively teach each music student.

If you want to become a better flute player – or better at anything for that matter – you have to spend time working on that skill.

The more you practice, the better your flute playing habits will be whether those are good habits or bad habits. Hence the need for a private flute teacher to ensure you are practicing good habits.

The more you practice, the more confidence you can achieve with your tone, scales, songs and flute playing. It’s fun to really know a piece well and be confident with it, especially when preparing for a performance. That is impossible to achieve unless you are practicing smart. (That will be another post for another day.)

The main point is this: If you expect to improve as a flute player or anything else in life, you should practice consistently and regularly. That’s all there is to it.

“Practice makes Perfect Progress”.

Practicing

Summer Flute Fun

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Photo by Raphaël Biscaldi on Unsplash

Doesn’t this photo feel so carefree and fun? Summer is my favorite time of year, no matter how hot it gets. To me, summer is associated with less stress, vacations and fun times.

After all their hard work with festivals recently, I wanted to provide something fun for my flute students to practice over the summer. I compiled some summer fun flute songs including simple tunes such as Hot Cross Buns and Old MacDonald to My Country ‘Tis of Thee and a bunch in between.

I’m challenging my beginning to intermediate students to learn, transpose, and memorize as many as they can during the summer semester. Learning to transpose is a good ear training exercise. It helps you learn what intervals sound like and after hearing them in your head, learning what you need to do on the flute to make those intervals work. For example, are the notes stepping up or down a scale or are they skipping like an arpeggio? This skill can improve your memorization skills.

I had a student who was working on memorizing a song last year. After I pointed out to her that one section was just an arpeggio, she was able to play it from memory much easier.

Memorizing short little tunes can also help your brain understand the process which you can later apply to harder songs. Like many things in life, the more you do something, the easier it becomes. Print off the music and challenge yourself to have some flute fun by learning, transposing, and memorizing as many as you can.

Sending happy summertime wishes to you and have some fun!