Practice Makes Perfect – My Plan for Practicing

by Ron Goldenberg

We all dream about picking up a new instrument and becoming an overnight sensation. Reality bites! It is not going to happen. Some learn faster than others but it takes a lot of practice to master an instrument. Most seasoned players believe that a regular and structured practice is the most effective route to improvement. Regular means that practice is done on a routine basis – usually daily for most – and for a set amount of time. The amount of time is an individual situational decision.

As for structure there are many ideas that seem to work. I will let you know what how I enjoy structuring my practices. There are three main areas to focus on:

Warm up: this part is critical for all levels of musicians. Time can be spent on long tones, on the embouchure and on breathing. Most people warm up playing scales, arpeggios and thirds.
Work on something new: a new skill, a few bars of a new song or a whole new tune. Skills can be something like vibrato, growling, fall offs, tonguing, altissimo, overtones etc.
Play something fun: a tune you already know and perhaps something that you have already mastered to build up your confidence

I try to spend about one third of my practice time on each area. During the rest of the day I try to think of something new or fun that I would like to work on in my next practice session. This helps motivate me for the next day’s session.

Practice, practice and practice some more. You will notice an improvement over time.

The journey is the best part.