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From Chris Lin, Freshman BME Major at UCF:

As a freshman music major, I was wondering if you had any tips on helping me practice better (really to be more productive). When I was in high school, my practice time seemed more limited because of access to the instruments, but now I have more access and could use some guidance on making the most of my practice time. Chris Lin, Freshman BME Major

From Jeff Moore, Professor of Percussion, UCF:

The first thing that I would recommend is that you buy a journal or notebook. Use this book to record short term and long term goals, along with notes and observations from each practice session. You can record your teacher’s and your own ideas for incremental sequential learning strategies. For example, consider how you propose to break down the large goal (i.e. learning a piece of music or groove) into smaller goals that correspond with the time scheduled for each practice session.

Here are 10 suggestions that I have developed based on some ideas that Dr.
Stephen Hemphill (Percussion Professor-Northern Arizona University) shared with me to help students improve their practice sessions.

1. Begin with a good relaxed warm-up. Stretch the muscles that will be used slowly and methodically. Focus your attention frequently on the arms, wrists, and fingers. Do not neglect the legs, feet, back, and neck as tension can inhibit a smooth flowing performance and contribute to a feeling of exhaustion.

2. Immediately following the warm-up, begin the practice session with a familiar piece, pattern, or song that can be played comfortably.

3. Following the familiar piece, one can begin to go on to the more unfamiliar (some say “difficult”) work. To me, difficulty is a matter of familiarity. The more familiar you are with material, the easier you perceive it to be. Consistent, organized practice sessions help you gain familiarity with the new material more quickly. It is important to begin the “unfamiliar” immediately after the “familiar” so you can compare the relaxation and flow between the two tasks. A goal would be to maintain the same feeling and relaxation as you go from the familiar to the unfamiliar.

4. In order to maintain this feeling of relaxation and flow, slow and careful practice is necessary. Many times we practice material much faster than we can play it accurately and cleanly. Every time one makes mistakes due to practicing too fast, the mistakes are being learned. Practice only at a tempo that results in correct performance. Increasing the tempo is a matter of repetition, once the material has been learned and internalized correctly and without mistakes. Prior to a performance, I will often play the piece at half-tempo or below to “double-check” that I have internalized the music correctly.

5. With the ever-present danger of repetitive motion ailments and injuries, it is crucial that one takes brief breaks from playing to relax a bit during all practice sessions. Stretching and mild flexing motions, away from the instrument and without anything in the hands can relax the shoulders, arm, wrists, hands, and fingers. The break is also important to the mind as it is critical to be refreshed and alert mentally if the practice session is to succeed in providing significant results.

6. Repetition is an essential part of any practice session, especially when learning new material. Divide the music into short phrases and practice each phrase many times consecutively. Using a metronome, set a tempo at which one can play a phrase easily and without mistakes. Play it several times at this tempo and then move the metronome up in tempo slightly. Continue the process until the desired tempo has been reached, then move on to the next section. Once all the sections can be played at the desired tempo, set the metronome to a slower tempo and string the phrases together into larger sections. Play the combined larger sections multiple times, until they can be played comfortably, without mistakes, and then slowly increase the metronome again. Playing with a metronome, drum machine or computer sequencer is great in developing a clock-steady pulse, but be sure to spend some of your practice time performing without the metronome too. This ensures that you have internalized the rhythm correctly to the pulse in your mind and that you are not solely relying on the metronome to provide you with a sense of pulse.

7. The musician not only strives for accurate muscle memory (“auto-pilot”
mode), but s/he should strive for awareness on many different levels. These levels include physical awareness of activity, aural awareness, visual awareness, and the awareness of sensation or feeling. Through controlled repetition, the musician can focus upon the feel of the activity and the accompanying motion involved. Without the help of a mirror or other visual aid, this tactile sensory development is important. Developing this feeling of what it is like to perform effortlessly is critical, but the mind needs to be engaged and alert in the process of building the musical coordination and physiological movements as they are “programmed” into the muscles. Try repeating phrases for three or four minutes without pause instead of playing it a certain number of times (which would require the brain to count and be distracted from the levels of awareness). Use a kitchen timer or alarm to count the minutes so you can focus your attention exclusively on the many levels of “feeling” the movement is producing.

8. Practice difficult passages above the designated tempo. This will allow the performer to relax and play expressively during performance. You can extract a difficult passage, adjusting it slightly, if necessary, to make a technical exercise where the technical challenge is purposefully increased (i.e. repeat challenging parts, add ornamentation, etc.). This will serve to make the original passage seem “easier” and will undoubtedly expand the performer’s technical facility.

9. Practice is a life-long process, so demand that when you practice you always play musically. Develop a “singing style”, with artistic qualities, on all the instruments to help convey your ideas and emotions to the audience. Communication starts in the practice room. Carefully listen back to recordings of your practice sessions and compare them to what you “think” you are saying musically.

10. Repeat this recipe daily, because practice does not make perfect. PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.

Jeff Moore is a Professor of Music and the Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He is an Associate Editor of Percussive Notes and author of the book Drumstick Control and a contributing author to Gary Cook’s Teaching Percussion. He is an international performer and clinician and has appeared throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia.

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