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Old 02-01-2010, 10:00 PM
220volt 220volt is offline
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Default Need help from classical gurus

Any of you classical gurus care to kindly share your typical practice day? I'm interested to hear what it takes to learn classical piece flawlessly and how to avoid RSI (repetitive strain injury) at the same time. Only specifics. How long do you practice and what do you practice? I guess I'm trying to see what is typical day in a life of a classical player. That is if we have any full blown classical players here.

Seem to me that almost all classical players share stellar technique and amazing discipline. More so than any other genre of music. Even though I'm not a classical player, I guess it wouldn't hurt to incorporate their study habits into my playing as well. Hundreds of years of shared experience must mean something.

Here's something interesting I read in a book about practicing:
"I have always been fascinated by the details of the life of the great classical guitarist John Williams. He is known for his outstanding and "perfect" technique, and I was astounded when I learned that he practiced very little. Later, I learned other details of his early training that I believe are extremely revealing if properly appreciated. He was taught by his father, who was reputed to be a great teacher. He started at four, and although he only practiced about a half-hour a day, he was not allowed to practice unsupervised for a number of years."
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Old 02-01-2010, 10:40 PM
HarleySpirit
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"Practice makes perfect"... is not always true!

Last edited by HarleySpirit; 02-01-2010 at 10:42 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old 02-01-2010, 10:56 PM
corbetta corbetta is offline
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As I've posted before, ideal practice regimens and conditions are not fool-proof and, more importantly, not always obtainable; that said, I had figured out a pretty good system (FOR ME) by the time I graduated with my Master's degree - now it's all but gone down the drain as I scamper to get ANY playing done while working in my PhD.

The principles I put to a use were few and simple.

1) Make sure you do CONCENTRATED work. No noodling, no (#!@ing around. That's how bad habits and potential injury comes about. The easiest way to do so is to break up your practice sessions in 20-minute blocks, during which you work on one thing and one thing only.

2) Keep good posture. I wrote an extensive article on how to do so with a strap on my website. Your physique might require something different, but make sure you are comfortable, in a physiologically efficient position, and taking breaks (during which you should stretch thoroughly as well as walk around). This involves making sure you're warmed up to a certain extent.

3) Practice slowly. I mean S L O W L Y. If you're making mistakes you're practicing too fast. If you practice slowly, you'll be learning things 100% faster. Believe me - I learned this the hard way and wasted a lot of time practicing way too fast.

There's other things, too. Use a mirror to check both posture and technique. Play for people (friends, relatives, a nursing home, your teacher) to make sure you practice performing as well - it's a different thing altogether. Make sure you have fun - that's extremely important.

I could talk about this stuff for days, let me know if you have further/specific questions.
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Old 02-01-2010, 11:48 PM
220volt 220volt is offline
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Good advice corbetta. So what is your typical practice day when you're not studying?
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Old 02-02-2010, 12:12 AM
corbetta corbetta is offline
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Assuming the average day in Conservatory Life, I'd carve out two hours in my morning schedule and two hours in the late afternoon/evening for practicing. Bump that up to six total on a particularly inspired weekend.

My teachers have usually admitted to doing something similar; Segovia was reputedly known for saying he practiced 5 hours a day, in two 2.5 hrs sessions.

I did most of my work on repertoire as I prefer to work on technique in context (i.e. extrapolate a technical exercise from a difficult passage). Others would fit scales, arpeggios, sight-reading, studies, and rep throughout their schedule as they see fit.
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Old 02-02-2010, 01:46 AM
220volt 220volt is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by corbetta View Post
Assuming the average day in Conservatory Life, I'd carve out two hours in my morning schedule and two hours in the late afternoon/evening for practicing. Bump that up to six total on a particularly inspired weekend.

My teachers have usually admitted to doing something similar; Segovia was reputedly known for saying he practiced 5 hours a day, in two 2.5 hrs sessions.

I did most of my work on repertoire as I prefer to work on technique in context (i.e. extrapolate a technical exercise from a difficult passage). Others would fit scales, arpeggios, sight-reading, studies, and rep throughout their schedule as they see fit.
Now that's some useful info. Thanks bunch.
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Old 02-02-2010, 10:36 AM
DupleMeter DupleMeter is offline
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Like others - I recommend short practice sessions spread throughout the day, but I try to incorporate a few things into my daily practice routine.

[1] sight reading - I always try to look at a fresh piece or section of a piece for a a short while. Just to keep my reading chops up. It really helps, but be careful to keep going. Don't stop to fix mistakes - once you do you are no longer sight reading.

[2] difficult passages: as was said by someone else, go slow. If you can play it slow you can play it fast. And going slow will magnify your technique and really show you where you need to focus attention.

[3] anything I am working on to perform, or music I was asked to prepare for a performance. It's just good sense to be prepared

[4] old repertoire: I just rotate through older pieces. It keeps them fresh and is a good ending to a session - as it leaves me on a psychological high note, allowing me to be musically satisfied by playing through a piece well (hopefully) and then walk away from the practice session feeling empowered.

I forget who, but a famous pianist once said: if I miss one day of practice I notice. 2 days and the critics notice. 3 days and the audience notices.

I am also a little different, as I play classical pieces on steel string (blasphemy, I know). I do have a decent classical, but am still looking for a nice concert instrument. But, I still need to practice. And Bach is Bach, Vivaldi is Vivaldi no matter what you play it on.
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Old 02-02-2010, 10:50 AM
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Not a classical guru by any stretch, but but dittos on corbetta's comments
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