Creating a Daily Practice Routine

By Nick Etheridge

How to use your practice time more efficiently

Introduction

It is a cold hard fact that to become a successful performer in any discipline involves years of dedicated

practice. There are no shortcuts. To become the best we can a structured and disciplined practice

routine is an essential tool for optimum progress and efficient use of time. Unstructured practice

routines lead to poor results, frustration and de-motivation.

The art of practice is a skill that all musicians should develop. This essay is not intended to tell you WHAT

to practice but HOW to structure your time and help you build a practice which will lead to faster

improvement.

What is Effective Practice?

Effective practice is the regular investment of time dedicated to the improving our performance. This is

not warming up or just playing, it is a methodical and functional approach to how we improve our

instrumental and musical skills.

Effective practice includes:

1. The ability to realistically assess one’s own musical standard

2. Consolidation and improving technical instrumental skills

3. Identification of problems areas and finding solutions

4. Preparation of music for performance and development of musicality.

Instrumental skills include the daily practice of the core skills including sound quality, articulation,

rhythm, flexibility, scales, sight reading and as the performer advances more advanced work like

multiple tonguing and the development of musicality and style.

Take great care not to obsess on only one aspect of your playing while practicing as this will upset the

fine balance of your instrumental skills and performance.

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Structure and Time Management

Time is our most valuable commodity and we must utilise it to our best ability. It is of critical importance

that structured practice time is allocated by the performer which is committed to. We are all creatures

of habit and establishing regular and positive practice patterns is critical to success.

It is generally considered that practice should be based around multiples of 45 minutes sessions for

optimum productivity and concentration. After each session the mind needs to rest or engage in a

different activity so when practice resumes the mind is fresh and alert.

All performers should develop a realistic awareness of their abilities on their instrument. This should be

a regular and comprehensive audit of both strengths and weaknesses. By doing so it is possible to

identify the areas that need development and create a structured practice routine for optimum

improvement.

Preparation – warm up

The first session of the day should be preceded by a short preparatory warm up of easy stretches, simple

breathing exercises that prepare the body for the day’s work. Some musicians also include a short

period of buzzing on the mouthpiece, slow low tones or simple melodies like a hymn tune.

Daily Practice Routine – Content

Write down and stick to a structured schedule. This should be supervised by the student’s teacher and

strictly adhered to for a determined period of several 3-5 weeks before reflection and modification

anything less will not give a good indication of real progress.

Sample practice schedule:

Warm Up

Session One

0-15 mins Technical Work – i.e. Long notes, low tones and articulation

15-30 mins Study or Piece

30-45 mins Scales and Arpeggios and Flexibilities

Rest

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Session Two

0-15 mins Pieces or Study

15-30 mins Technical work

30-45 mins Sight reading

Rest

Session Three

0-15 mins Technical Work

15-30 mins Sight reading

30-45 mins Technical Work, including high register work

Rest

Resting

After each practice session it is important to rest. 10-15 minutes rest should be sufficient to rest the

muscles involved in playing as well as restoring focus to the mind so

Always stick to your structured plan and avoid patchwork and undisciplined practice. If concentration

wanders have a short 5 minute break away from the instrument then return to the work with renewed

focus and discipline.

Session Four (or the last session of the day)

The last session of the day can be used to either return an area that need more work like a piece, sight

reading or an aspect of technique that need development . Part of this time can be used to just play for

fun.

It is also very important to end the days’ work feeling positive. It is better to end sooner when you are

playing well than just keeping going for the sake of it and tail off on a negative or frustrated note. You

will then be motivated and feeling positive to continue the following day.

Warm Down

The last session of the day should include a short 5 minute warm down to relax and ‘cool down’ the

muscles of the face and prepare for the next day’s session. Many brass players warm down with low

pedal tones or even slow legato hymn tunes.

It is healthy to have one day off a week to rest the muscles of the face..

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Setting Goals

Setting and working towards goals is crucial for improvement. General musical aims are vague but

setting tangible and specific goals is a powerful motivational tool. Writing down your goals sticking to

them!

There are three types of goal that should be set and frequently revised.

1. Short Term

These are weekly or monthly objectives like learning a particular study or new work for

performance

2. Medium Term

This include improvements in technical aspects of performance like improving sound or technique

or recital or audition preparation and worked at methodically over a period of six months or a year.

3. Long Term

Long term goals are ultimate objectives like winning a job or position and employment as a

professional performer or even soloist. These can be goals for 3-5 years in the future.

Patience and Perseverance

Patience and perseverance is vital ingredient to improvement. We are all hungry for results but must

avoid the temptation to assess our performance obsessively on either an hourly, weekly or for some

areas even monthly basis. Results must be judged over the longer term in the context of the goals we

have set for ourselves.

Many musicians find it very useful having a daily chart or practice journal to log both the time spent per

day and what has been worked on during that period (even a simple spread sheet is highly effective).

This is also an excellent motivational tool and encourages continuity and consistency once dedicated

practice routine has been started.

Conclusion

Mastering a musical instrument is a ‘disciple’ similar in many ways to dance, sport or even the martial

arts requiring dedication, intelligence and self control. The techniques laid out above will help bring

structure to your work and speed up your own musical journey, the pace of which will be determined by

the quality of your practice and the goals that you set for yourself. Ultimately if you follow these sound

principles you will maximise your potential.