Practicing Thoughts by Doug Yeo, Tom Ervin, Oystein Baadsvik, and others

The Difference Between Playing and Practicing

By Douglas Yeo

Sooner or later, the successful musicians must learn the difference between playing and practicing. No matter how much you play your instrument, you will never reach your full potential unless you develop productive practice habits. Here are my recommendations for making the most of your hours in the practice room:

(1) Plan your practice session. Far too many musicians just start playing with no advance thought about how or what they want to accomplish. One of my former teachers, George Krem, would begin each day with a list of his short-, medium- and long-range goals, and work on everything he had planned. Few performers are as disciplined as this, but the successful ones always have a plan.

(2) Warm up. The purpose of your warm-ups should be to develop consistency. Play slowly in the middle register at a comfortable volume. I generally do 20 minutes or so of this each day, but the exact amount of time isn't the point. The point is to maintain your level of technical expertise while minimizing "off" days. I generally include a few minutes of mouthpiece buzzing in my daily routine. If you decide to do this, try attaching a piece of plastic tubing about eight inches long to the mouthpiece, to give some added resistance.

(3) Practice your legato. When I began playing seriously 25 years ago, I used the Bordogni/Rochut Melodious Etudes to develop my legato - and I still use them today. To add variety, I transpose them into every key, and play them an octave higher

or lower than written. This enables getting the feel of proper legato playing in different keys and registers.

(4) Practice your articulation. Again, I use a relatively small body of etudes - by Kopprasch, Blume and Blazhevich - to work on my articulation. Each etude includes eight or so different articulation patterns, so when you multiply that by 11 different keys over three octaves; you have a tremendous number of combinations to practice. Sometimes, just for variety, I'll play etudes written for other instruments - the Kreutzer etudes for violin work particularly well.

(5) Practice extreme dynamics. Most orchestral trombone passages are meant to be played either extremely loud or extremely soft. Unfortunately, most trombonists rarely practice at these extremes. You may find that a few minutes of extremely loud playing is all you - or your neighbors - can tolerate. It's okay to take a break, just to get the ringing out of your ears. But remember that this is the level at which you will be expected to play much of the time. Try to push the envelope of what you can tolerate each day in your practice.

(6) Practice solos. This is the part of your practice that should really be fun! Playing solo pieces allows you to combine techniques while enjoying the music. Since solos are longer than the usual orchestral passage, this part of your practice will also help you develop endurance. Composers have not been particularly kind to trombonists, and there are relatively few solo pieces available. Again, I rely on transcriptions - believe it or not, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto makes a great trombone solo!

(7) Prepare for auditions. This section of your session should prepare you for a specific task, such as an upcoming concert or audition. Everyone knows the dozen or so orchestral excerpts you'll be asked to play for auditions, and you need to have them down cold. Write the names of the passages on cards, mix them up, and play them in random order. This simulates the audition,

where you don't know in advance what they will ask you to play, or in what order.

(8) Use a tape recorder. Listening to a recording of your playing can be a dramatic - even traumatic - revelation. Try playing the tape at half speed, which lowers the pitch an octave. You'll hear variations in intonation, irregularities in vibrato, problems with articulation - everything! This isn't something I recommend doing every day - it would be too demoralizing - but it's helpful to do this every two or three weeks.

(9) Keep your focus. By now it should be obvious that productive practice involves discipline. Many students believe this means practicing a certain number of hours each day. Again, the amount of time you spend practicing isn't really the point - it's the quality of your practice time that counts.

All students of the trombone (or any instrument, for that matter) recognize that developing good practice habits is important for having consistent improvement. I am often asked about practicing, and whether there is any particular "way" that is good to practice. Here are a few thoughts.

There are very few things in life, beyond religion and mathematics, that can be considered "Truth" statements. Having said that, beware the teacher that says there is "only one" way to practice.

Because people are different, everyone practices differently. Some people prefer to get up in the morning and immediately begin playing; others prefer to practice in the afternoon. What is important is for you to develop a routine that allows you to warm-up, maintain skills you already have, and hone and develop new skills.

Roger Bobo, formerly tubist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and now living and playing in Italy, has written an excellent book on warming up and fundamentals called Mastering the Tuba: Volume 1. It is published by BIM and is one of the best resources of its kind, not only for the variety of exercises it contains, but for Bobo's remarkably insightful comments on the warm up process. The book is useful for players of any brass instrument (not only tuba).

As part of a daily routine, I recommend covering the following types of repertoire:

1. Legato2. Articulations3. Extremes of dynamics4. Solo playing5. Audition preparation (for players with orchestral aspirations)

See Roger Bobo's book and my resource College Level Bass Trombone Repertoire for suggestions on repertoire to use as well as tips on balancing these kinds of playing in your practice routine.

My colleague in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, trombonist Norman Bolter, together with Carol Viera, has put together an excellent booklet about practicing called Methods of Effective Practice. It is clear, concise and the most useful written material I have seen on the subject. The book is only available at Norman Bolter's in-person engagements, such as master classes, so for information about the booklet, Norman Bolter's master class schedule, as well as other excellent trombone/music resources that they have produced, contact Norman Bolter, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston MA 02115 USA or the publisher, AIR-EV Productions, 675 V.F.W. Parkway, Suite 352, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167 USA. Further information about Norman's music and class schedule may be found on the Air-ev Productions Website at www.air-ev.com.

The first teacher I had at my undergraduate alma mater, Wheaton College (IL), was George Krem. George was one of the most disciplined players I have ever known, and would often plan out his practice day early in the morning. He would take care to articulate, either verbally to himself or in written form, his short, medium and long term goals for the day, and how each thing he was going to do would fit into a plan to accomplish his goals. George would lay out a stack of practice material and work until he had completed everything he had planned. Some days it took an hour, other days it took five hours.

The important thing from George Krem's example is the value of personal discipline. His model of discipline may not work for everyone, but it was a model that works well for many people. Many students have asked me about this area of discipline, and how to keep one's

focus when practicing. Here are a few questions to ask yourself if you're having trouble getting things accomplished:

Is your problem with focus only related to the trombone? Do you have the problem only when practicing or when in

rehearsals and/or concerts (chamber music and orchestral) as well? Do you tend to jump from thing to thing in other areas of your life as well?

What happens when you get "unfocused?" Does your mind wander to other things so you actually have to stop playing? Are you interrupted by other people when you're practicing? Is your life so busy that you always feel you should be doing something else that simply "must" be done now?

Do you set short, medium and long term goals for each practice session?

When you sit down to practice, do you just start playing or do you think before you play?

Why do you practice anyway? Where do you practice? Everyone has "off" days. What do you do when you have one? What is your career goal? What signs do you have that it's a

realistic goal? What goes through your mind when you go to live orchestra

concerts? What gives your life meaning? Who inspires you (in any area of life, not just music)? To ask the

question another way, who are your heroes?

The answers to these questions will be a starting point in determining the cause of your lack of focus. Most people to whom I have posed these questions can quickly self-diagnose what they need to do. Developing self-motivation and focus is something that needs to come from within - if you need someone else to provide you with your inspiration, you are in for a long, tough road ahead.

Now and then a student will be perplexed as to why they can't seem to get anything done in the practice room. Here's what I did with one student:

Concerned with the fact that a talented student of mine was not showing results commensurate with the amount of time he claimed to practice, I instructed him to tape record a typical day of practice. I asked him to turn on the tape when he entered the room and turn it off when he packed up and left, for as many sessions as he did in a day.

He proudly brought me the (three 90 minute) tapes a week later and I was horrified to see how many times he started an etude and didn't finish it, let obvious problems go uncorrected and - most of all - how many times he was interrupted by other students ("Hey man, how's it going, you wanna hang out, it's a nice day outside?"). The tape just kept rolling.

When I asked the student to listen to his own tape, he, too, couldn't believe it, and he was convicted by his own laziness. His 4 hours of practice a day really amounted to about 45 minutes of unproductive playing (playing is very different that practicing). He got his rear in gear and really started working.

I've used this tool several times. On occasion a student won't even bother to give me the tape; he's so embarrassed and gets convicted right away. In any case, when a student makes a realization by his own deeds, the impression may stick better.

There is another tool that I use regularly in my personal practice as well as in teaching. Edward Kleinhammer used to have an old Wollensack reel-to-reel tape recorder in his studio. Every now and then, during a lesson, he would tape record my playing - usually only about four to eight measures. He would record at a fast speed and then play it back at a slower speed, resulting in the passage being heard at half speed and one octave lower. This tool was extremely effective in pinpointing problems of intonation and articulation. Also, it is much easier to notice dragging rhythm this way as well.

I highly recommend the periodic use of a tape recorder in this way. Today, it is not necessary to purchase a reel-to-reel machine to accomplish this; inexpensive hand held dictating recorders can be found with dual speed. The important thing is not the quality of sound of the recording, rather it is only being used as a diagnostic tool for pitch, rhythm and articulation (note shapes). You don't need to use it very often, but now and then, it's a good "reality check." Don't become demoralized when what you hear back doesn't sound very good. The tape recorder doesn't lie, but when you hear a problem at half speed and can fix it, your "normal" playing will really shine.

Finally, people often ask me how long they should practice each day, and whether it is possible to practice too much. My answer is simple: practice for as long as you can get something productive done while keeping in mind other playing you may need to do in the day. Never practice when you are unfocused or distracted. And if when you play, it hurts - STOP! Simple rules.

I'd better get back to practicing!

© Douglas Yeo

Thoughts on Individual Responsibility

by Sam Burtis

So many of the questions I hear about playing really have to dowith not taking responsibility for what YOU do when YOU play, whenyou practice.

In another forum just yesterday I talked about how long it took mepersonally to begin to stop evading the commitment to practiceCarmine Caruso's stuff correctly.

What learning how to play a musical instrument really comes downto, past some sort of line level musicality and intelligence and acertain physical strength and fairly good reflexive system, is desireenough to break through the strictures of self-excuse under which wealmost all labor and get down to work. (I believe that musicality andintelligence are almost synonyms, really,. I mean, you can have acertain limited kind of "intelligence"...the one that makes andremembers lists well...w/out much musicality, but I have YET to meetanyone who was either truly musical or truly intelligent in a broadersense who did not have the other characteristic as well. Crazy,sometimes...but not stupid.)

This getting to work, this taking of individual responsibility, issomething about which we never seem to hear in discussions aboutlearning how to play, yet it is the single most important (andrarest) element in the process.

Buy three or four of the best method books, listen to the playingof the masters, take a couple of lessons with great teachers, and youreally do have enough information to become a fine player.  Pastthat, it's all effort, commitment and time. (And of course actuallygoing out there and playing with others.)

     In the beginning of my method book I quote Jimmy Knepper, wholived for years in a very inaccessible corner of Staten Island atleast an hour and a half's complicated travel outside of Manhattan.He said "You know, people come all the way out to my house to studytrombone with me, and I spend two or three hours telling themeverything I know. In the next couple of weeks or months they usuallycome back again, and I basically tell them the same things all overagain. Some come back two, three, four, five times, but...eventuallyall of them stop coming back."

    "However...I'm getting it down to about twenty minutes now..."

I used to think this was simply a way of saying that there isn'tall THAT much real information needed to learn how to play, butthere's more there. The fact is, unless a teacher is in some waysubstituting his or her own energy for the student's (which is almosta necessity with most students no matter how talented they may be, atleast up to a certain point in their lives), then repeated lessonsare almost totally useless. Carmine Caruso's greatest strength,beyond his understanding of how to teach brass, was his almostinfinite patience as he waited for people to take responsibility fortheir own playing and by extension, their own lives. He would do it

FOR them until they were ready, and then gradually wean them from thehabit of relying on him.

    Once you have the information, then it's time for you to learn howto use it yourself, and this is often the hardest part of the process.

    This comes down to individual responsibility, and it goes toactual performance and styles as well. The whole "ensemble"mentality...at least the most common, mediocre garden variety...islargely one of willing abdication of individual responsibility, ofsurrendering to the safety of the herd, the safety of being told whatto do.. This is one reason so many ensemble players have bad time,questionable pitch, weak attacks and neutral sounds.

They have passed the buck so many times it's only worth about 33 cents.

When Miles Davis or Stan Getz or Bird or J. J. stood up to play,they were the essence of commitment, the essence of individualresponsibility. Take it or leave it. So too were/are the greatorchestral soloists as well.

So...what am I saying here? Beyond all the mouthpiece mumbo jumbo, beyond the various techniques and styles of teaching and playing, beyond all this...pay attention to what YOU are doing.

That way, you become your own teacher.

The best musicians are consistent in their work ethic, have clearly defined goals, and are very efficient in their use of time.

 -Dan Traugh