Practicing

Each audition you take offers an opportunity for learning and growth. While you do not have control over the outcome of an audition, you do

On average, a good practice session for me will be about three to four hours of work, broken up in chunks. I spend about 45

My approach to mental practicing began during a personal crisis. Right after school, I went to Paris, thinking I would be there for a year

How much a person should practice depends on their personal, physical needs. Some people don’t require much practice, and they were just born like that.

Reorienting your practice to the process of learning music and becoming a better musician could be more important than the performance itself. Classical musicians perhaps

Satisfaction is a very important concept that I try to get across when I do master classes and work with students. If you are struggling

Once you’ve put a lot of information into your brain, we all know some of it sticks, some it doesn’t, and some of it sticks

I find that building emotional associations helps with memorization. Let’s say I’m working on a piece and it’s on the verge of being memorized, and

When I graduated from conservatory, I realized I was unhappy with my sound on the piano. After much contemplation and discussion, I observed that my

When I was finishing my conservatory degree at 18, I felt that something was wrong. Until that moment, although I did not recognize it at

When I sit down with a score of a new piece I am learning, my mental practice is divided into two basic parts. First, I

For string players, when we are in college and grad school, orchestral excerpts are seen as somewhat auxiliary — we are busy learning all the

Outside of my orchestra gig, I perform in a fun contemporary music group called New Music Detroit.  I love digging into freshly-written music by today’s

Practice Slowly. It is the number one rule of practicing.  It may seem counterintuitive, but if you really want to learn how to practice cello

Over time, I’ve learned how important practicing fundamental exercises (long tones, scales, études, etc.) can be to my musical well-being. Anyone trying to practice flute

Taking a break from practicing can be a healthy thing to do for many reasons, but getting back into great shape can sometimes be discouraging

 “You’ll never make a mistake if you never make a mistake.”- Julius Baker, a former principal flute at the NY Philharmonic and Juilliard faculty member.   

I tell my students all the time – the absolute biggest waste of time is practicing what you can already play. Even if you are

We work on blend extensively in our ensemble. In a string quartet or a brass quintet all musicians produce sound in a similar way.  A

It is very difficult to maintain a regular rehearsal schedule because we live in three different countries. We try to keep our concert schedule constant

Carion Woodwind Quintet performs all their repertoire from memory. The physical movements they are known for help with memorization, as do the visual cues of

In my previous article I mentioned the listening and research phase developed by Rob Knopper and Noa Kageyama’s Audition Hacker Bootcamp, which proved extremely helpful

Recently, I tried a new preparation technique for preparing orchestral excerpts for auditions. This method was developed by the Audition Hacker Bootcamp spearheaded by Rob

Start practicing far ahead before performances. First I start with listening to recordings of the work. I want to have more reasonable expectations before I

Efficient Practicing Strategies: Create a repertoire list with deadlines Assess repertoire difficulty and prioritize newest/most difficult pieces Create a detailed daily practice schedule based on

“Never practice more than three or four hours a day. No one can concentrate longer than that, and you must spend the rest of your

An average estimation of the time it takes to master your craft is 10,000 hours. This time can be measured through individual practice, spending time