Don’t Waste Time; Practice Efficiently

Regardless of your instrument,
here are four tips to making the most of your practice time.

1. Having a quiet place to practice without any sort of distraction

Being able to practice in your own space without any external distractions is so important for effective practice sessions. As simple as it sounds, it does make a big difference! When we are constantly checking our phones or getting up to do other things, it distracts from the goals we’ve set and slows progress. If we are mentally prepared for our practice sessions, our goal can be met more efficiently. What is the end goal with each practice session?

2. What is your goal for this session?

Sometimes at the end our practice session we might be left thinking, “What now?”. This might be because we had no real goal to begin with. Before each practice session, it is important to have a set of goals to accomplish. Create smaller tasks that are easier to tackle, helping you reach your musical goals more efficiently each practice session.

3. Practice the song in pieces.

Do you normally play the piece a few times, then call it quits?
This may be hurting more than improving your practice sessions.
You want to practice smarter, not harder, meaning you don’t always have to start at the beginning and run the song over and over again. Start where you feel like it’s the most difficult and break it down into sections, slowly putting the sections together.

4. Listen to recordings.

To really capture the style of the piece, it is important to listen to the song as many times as possible. Listening to how other players interpret the piece is a great way to influence our own playing to find our own style or to even match the style that the composer wanted. It is important for a musician to be versatile with their styles so that playing becomes much easier and enjoyable for yourself and the audience. Try to listen as many times as you can so that when you practice on your instrument, you already have an expectation of what it should sound like.