How do I practice my instrument?

First Year Band Students - Practice 5 or more days per week, for 15 minutes per day.

Second Year Band Students- Practice 5 or more days per week, for 20 minutes per day.

For each exercise assigned from your band book or each piece of concert music, follow these four steps.

1. Point to the notes on the page and say/chant each note's letter name out loud, while you keep a steady beat. Do this 2 times.

2. Clap the rhythm and count out loud, while you keep a steady beat.  Do this 2 times.

3. Phantom Finger/Silent Slide: place your fingers in the correct finger position (trombones, place your slide in the correct slide position; percussionists, tap one finger on the correct bar) for each note, chanting/saying the notes names out loud, while you keep a steady beat.  Do this 2 times.

4. Play the exercise or segment of concert music.  Count in your head (percussionists count out loud) to keep a steady beat.  Woodwinds and brass, make sure each note starts with a proper tongue articulation, unless the music indicates a slur. Observe all musical symbols, such as repeat signs, key signatures, accidentals, and dynamic markings to make sure you perform the music accurately.  The correct notes and rhythms are only part of performing music accurately.  Do this 4 times.

How to practice after you have learned the notes and rhythms:

• Playing through your music from beginning to end is a good start.  By itself, a run-through is not practicing. Here are some ideas to try.

The Oreo Cookie (or Hamburger) Practice Method

• The top cookie is playing your music from beginning to end.  Ask yourself the following questions....

  • What am I doing well?  

  • What do I want to do better? 

  • Which parts of the music are tricky for me today?

• The cream filling in the middle of your cookie is the REAL practice.  

  • Find the spots that are tricky for you and the notes/sounds/articulations/fingerings that you want to improve.  

  • Go over those sections of the music 5-10 times.  Keep at it!  

  • It might be frustrating at first, but give it another try.  

  • Try again tomorrow!

• The bottom cookie is playing through your music from beginning to end again, after practicing.  Ask yourself the following questions....

  • What did I do well? 

  • Did I improve on the spots I wanted to improve?  

  • Does my playing sound better than the first run-through?  

  • If you can answer YES! to any of these questions, then you've had a good practice session.

The Lego Practice Method

• Build your piece of music measure by measure

• Practice each measure 5-10 times (more for the measures that are tricky for you today, less for the measures you feel confident about playing)

• Then, practice each 2-measure chunk 5-10 times

• Next, practice each 4-measure chunk 5-10 times

• Last, practice the whole 8-measure (or more) section 5-10 times

The Ladder Practice Method 

• This is useful for a long group of tricky notes. It's also useful for scales, arpeggios, and the chromatic scale

• Play the first two notes in a row

• Then, play the first three notes

• When you have played three notes enough times that your fingers are comfortable, add a fourth note, then a fifth, then keep going, starting at the beginning each time

• Start slowly, and gradually increase the speed

Practice along with a recording.

• You can use recordings of the tunes in Standard of Excellece Book 1, available on YouTube (click here)

• For Standard of Excellence Book 2, click here.

• Each practice track starts with a countoff to give you the tempo, then goes through the tune 2 times: the first time is melody and accompaniment (you can use this to listen to the melody before you play or play along), the second time is accompaniment only, so you can supply the melody

• You can click on the Settings icon (the gear wheel) to access Playback Speed to change the speed to slower or faster than normal speed.  0.75 is a good speed to start with, then try playin at Normal speed.

Scales