A Lecture for Students Teachers and Parents by Dr Miroslav Lončar The Harmony of Daily Practice Intriguing title Goals of the presentation To give some ideas about practicing more ID: 629876
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Slide1
The Harmony of Daily Practice
A Lecture for Students, Teachers, and Parents
by
Dr. Miroslav
LončarSlide2
The Harmony of Daily Practice
Intriguing title
Goals of the presentation: To give some ideas about practicing more
efficiently;
and how teachers, students, and parents can collaborate effectively in this important aspect of learningSlide3
The Harmony of Daily Practice
Let’s analyze each part of the title:
Harmony
–
Merriam Webster definition: A pleasing arrangement of parts(Discord: lack of concord, disagreement, inharmonious combination, variance)Harmonious practice will consist of several parts that can be arranged in a pleasing way for better resultsDaily: After a while, we start loosing our skills and start forgetting things. In order to make progress, the previous learning experience needs to be fresh in our brain and fingersAfter a few days, we have to re-learn what we already knew, we regresslet’s say a students intents to practice six hours a weekUnbalance in practicing can create anxiety, frustration, physical problems, tension, and injuriesAll serious musicians practice daily.
1. Bad:
2. Good:
3. Best:
Days 1,2
3,4
no practice, days
5, 6
three hours a day
2 hours every other day
An hour each daySlide4
The Harmony of Daily Practice
How much to practice:
Year of Study
Hours/Week
Minutes/Day
111022203330444055
50
6
6
60Slide5
What Is Practice?
Practice is a
combination
of activities
that we engage in to reach a certain goal: learn a line of music, memorize a section, play a piece expressively, play without mistakes...All aspects of playing the guitar need to be practiced:Sitting positionTechniqueProjection Practicing without a regard for one of the following elements will produce undesirable effects and will foster bad habits:-sitting position-tone quality (nails)-rhythmic accuracy (counting) and steady tempo (metronome)-projection (know your dynamic scope)-expressionPractice pronouncing the title of the composition and the name of the composer (ask teacher!)How to practice a piece: Two simple, important rules: 1. Slow, 2. Small unitsCreate a productive pressure on yourselfBruce Holzman: “Some practice until they get it right, some practice until they can’t get it wrongSlide6
Creating Harmony
A harmonious practice session will consist of several parts,
(
makes
the time go by really
fast)How to arrange a practice session:1. Stretching2. Warming up3. Technique: right hand techniques, they are the building blocks of our pieces: free-stroke (arpeggios)rest stroke (scales)Left-hand Techniques: Connectingpress-release for relaxed playingFinger independenceSlursBarring4. Repertoire/InterpretationAnalyzing the piecePre-reading (visualizing--athletes) Slow practicing of a section–- a measure, a 2-measure phrase, a 4-measure phraseBuilding bigger blocks5. PerformanceSome common mistakes in practicing: Playing too fast for the level of learningAttempting to play a difficult piece without going through the important steps of learning it as outlined above.Playing wrong (Practice makes --- permanent )
Not going back to the written music frequentlySlide7
How to practice Daily
Ideally, we should practice the same amount of time each day
If it is not possible to reach the desired amount of daily practice time in one block, one should try to:
Break it up in smaller sessions, use
free time
to practiceUse traveling time, waiting time, TV time, bed time--for various types of practicingPractice different things (analysis, visualization, mock playing, practicing the technique on your body)If you don’t succeed one day, there is always another daySlide8
Who Are the Actors?Slide9
The Role of Teachers and Parents
Teachers:
Teach
students
the value of practice
Teach students how to practiceIncorporate practicing techniques in the lesson—practice with studentAssign music that is appropriate for the level and enjoyable to play — ensure a successGive frequent feedback, Talk to the parentsOrganize performances where students can practice performingProvide information about opportunitiesParents:Create a conducive practicing environment (room, instrument)Help the student work out a daily practice schedule, encourage the student to practice Reward practicing (?)Talk to the teacher on a regular basis (how involved?)Develop your own interest in guitar, be a passionate listenerSlide10
Role of the StudentStudents:Develop a discipline of practice
Learn to practice slowly
Take the responsibility for a given assignment
Be honest
with
yourselfBe your own critic!Listen to guitar music! Listen to classical music!Slide11
Practicing for a Performance
Practice for a performance by performing!
Take advantage of many types
of performances:
home performance, studio
performances, shared performances, solo performances, ensemble performances, competitions, recordings, live broadcasts, public placesEach situation is different and needs to be practiced because it feels differentAn important performance should not be a first performance –( How I prepared for an important performance)Difference in approach between learning a piece and practicing for a performanceWhy do we perform? Practice to express yourself through your playing Why sometimes performances don’t go well even if performer knows the music well?Mainly because of a feeling of unfamiliarity with the situation, the main one being in front of other people– not having a point of referenceFitness for a performance does not last long – performing needs to be recurrent
When to start performing?
How do you know that you know a piece well?
Practice to recover
!
“I hope” is a recipe for a
disaster (“Failure to
p
repare is preparing to fail”)Slide12
Questions and Answers, Discussionmloncar1@verizon.net
Thank you!