How It's Possible To Get The Most Out Of Your Violin Practice Time
The old adage “practice makes perfect” may not be entirely true when it comes to violin practice, but practice certainly does make you a better player. If you need to become better you need to practice.
Violin practice should be enjoyable and not a chore, but it must be productive too. Simply playing a bunch of tunes you know by heart is not truly practice, though it may be fun. To get the maximum out of your practice time you should try to keep 1 or 2 points under consideration.
Try to find an area to practice where you won't be distracted. Finding a room without a TV, net access, etc. Is probably a good start, and letting the answerphone pick up any calls will help. Be certain that you have what you need enthusiastically at hand. Glaringly, things such as your violin and bow, a music stand and sheet music for any tunes you want to work on, but less manifestly, a metronome and a recorder of some form (audio only or auvio/video). A bottle of water or other drink is optional.
Violin practice is best done with quality rather than quantity. You don't need to practice for hours every day, but you should try to practice at least three or 4 times per week. Spending hours on violin practice in each session can actually be counter productive. You do not learn well if you are too exhausted or annoyed. You will learn better by spacing out sessions. Repetition is a great thing. The more that you work on a similar thing the better you will get at it – though not all at the same time. Violin practice works best over time. Rather than working on one section of a piece for hours at a time, you'll find you have better results if you work on the section for a few minutes, and then switch to something else. Maybe revisiting it again later in your practice session, but better still , let it sink in and try it again in your next practice session. I have revealed that I will be working on a piece and just get annoyed in an attempt to get it right and then the day after it all slots into place easily.
If you're learning a new piece, break it down into sections. Break it into logical sections four or 8 bars at a time and then move on rather than attempting the entire thing right now. Listed to a recording of somebody else playing the same tune. Listen for the accents and flavour the other player adds to the tune. Don’t just attempt to play music as it is written, add your own interpretation. You can play all the same note, but play them differently – it is a sophisticated excellence, but you can actually hear the difference.
A good way to approach violin practice is to start with a warm up of some type. Some quick scales, arpeggios or exercises are good to begin with. I find I've got a couple of arpeggio exercises that I tend to run thru extremely fast at the beginning of any practice session. I then run thru a tune or 2 that I know by heart before buckling down to learn new stuff. I often practice just for 20 or thirty minutes at a time, but I do incline to pick up an instrument more than one during the day.
To encourage yourself to practice violin, keep your instrument near you and out of the case. Keep it near your desk or couch. You can pick up a cheap stand for your violin that will permit you to keep it close at hand and safe from damage. You may not pick it up for a full practice session, but you may find it convenient for a fast mini practice when time allows.
Remember when you do practice violin, make it fun. If you're tired or merely don’t feel like it – put it off. Don’t force yourself to practice violin if you don't like it. You won't learn well if it feels like work. Work on your violin practice, don't work at it.
Greg Weir is a fiddle (violin) player from Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. Greg runs the Violin Price website, a web resource for people interested in learning, playing or collecting violins. Visit http://violinprice.org/ for more information on violins, violin value and violin and fiddle music.
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