Practice time

[MT VERNON BACH]

I am currently a senior in high school planning to major in music in college. I am wondering from the pros, serious amateurs, or college students on TH, how many hours a day should be spent practicing?

Currently my day goes something like this. First an hour of individual practice in the morning, then an hour of symphonic band, an hour of jazz ensemble, and then another hour of individual practice at home. I also have 2 to 3 hours of either wind ensemble rehearsal or youth symphony orchestra once a week, and an hour of private lessons a week.

Generally, this adds to 2 hours of individual practice and 2 hours of ensemble playing a day. Is this sufficient amount of practice or should I look to lengthing? If so, how much more should be spent individually, in ensemble, or in private instruction?

[trickg]

The amount of time you practice is going to depend much more on you than what any of us might think. If you get burned out doing so much playing, or if your chops get to the point that they are overworked and not going to get a chance to recover, it doesn't matter so much how many hours of practice you do a day. What you have described is a good place to start in my opinion and you can add or subtract from it as needed.

Also, you should be looking at the time behind the horn more as a matter of quality, not quantity although I attribute much of the chops that I developed in HS simply to bulk time behind the horn. Just try to keep it in perspective and make sure you are having fun while doing it. If I wasn't still having fun playing, I wouldn't be doing it anymore.

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Patrick Gleason

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[ This Message was edited by: trickg on 2003-02-16 10:09 ]

[douglast35758]

I agree with Patrick with respect to quality - not quantity, but add the following. In my case, my practice duration depends on the intensity of the show and material to be performed. In other words, if I have a three hour high-register big band performance, the practice time required needs to be longer and more intense to insure adequate endurance. If the gig is a one-hour mid-range assignment for church, the demands on my practice time (vs. honey-do projects) are much less. Adding to Patrick's comment, I seem to remember Doc Severinsen saying that one hour of mistake-free practice is worth more than three hours that are full of mistakes. Your conductor might forgive you for running out of steam near the end of a show, but they'll rarely forgive you for missing a do-able technical passage.
Good luck,
Doug

[trickg]

Great point Doug! The type of music that I'm playing and the length of the show play a part in the kind of practicing I do as well. For instance, if I have a big band gig coming up (typically 3 to four sets, I play 4th book so range is not too big of an issue) my practice will be toward maintaining a big sound and getting about 40 tunes back under my belt, depending on the set lists, which the band leader is kind enough to get out a week or so in advance. But, for the wedding band that I play in, where I am THE trumpet player and I'm playing in a lead capacity and loud, I practice with that in mind. Also, I use different mouthpieces for each band so the practice that I do prior to those is done on the mouthpiece that I'll be doing the gig on.
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[tcutrpt]

I agree with the other guys on this one. I'm a junior in college right now and practice time isn't always as abundant as I would like, especially since I play in 3-4 ensembles every semester. The most important thing is quality of practice. If you are making progress and practicing the right things, you are on the right track. Once you get to college, you'll probably find as I did that you have to practice enough to get all of the assigned pieces/etudes worked up for your lessons. This will usually end up being 3 hours or so every day. It is a very personal issue though and don't feel that you have to practice 5 hours a day just because someone else does and says that it is absolutely necessary. It is best to not force beyond the point you feel comfortable, especially at first. Once you figure out your limits, you can start stretching them in a healthy way that will help you improve consistently and steadily.

Matt

[elbobogrande]

These guys hit the nail on the head. I think the important thing is to have goals that you want to accomplish. In my practice, I find it better to have lots of well-defined short-term goals that deal with things I want to have happen during that very practice session. These short-term goals of course lead into the longer term goals in regards to skills/techniques, material etc. Contrary to a lot of other goals in life, I think it's also important to keep your longer-term goals flexible and maybe even open-ended. There's so much to learn that you might not even realize that you're learning. As long as you have an open mind, direction and an idea of where you want to be in the future, your practice will always move you forward in the long-term sense. Even set-backs are learning experiences, so as long as you just don't quit and you keep plugging away, you should get better.

I guess that was my entire practice philosophy in one paragraph. Sorry if I strayed too far from the beginning of the thread.
Hope this helps,
John
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"What? You mean to tell me that Rimsky and Korsakov were both named Nicolai?"

[musicmonkey]

I agree with John, practice for as long as you need to accomplish your goals. But don't practice longer than your chops can take. I think one of the MOST important ideas in developing a practice schedule is to be flexible. If you sit down and say to yourself, "okay, I'm going to practice Arban and Clarke for one hour every day at this time." then you will be constrained. While it is important to have regularity in trumpet practice, it is equally important to be able to practice when you have the time and still be able to accomplish your goals.

So, I imagine your schedule is not 100% predictable from day to day. The amount of time you practice should reflect: (1) the goals you want to accomplish and (2) the amount of time available for practice.

mm

[Nylorac]

And remember to ALWAYS listen to your body. Sure, it's nice to be able to say "I'm going to practice every day for 5 hrs come hell or high water" and that's a great attitude to have, but sometimes that is just not practical. Your body is not a machine - it can sense when you're feeling stressed out, tired, sick, etc. and will respond accordingly. I remember reading a post here somewhere by a fellow wise TH-er who said something to the effect of "If you're feeling strong, push yourself to go further; but if you're feeling weak, take it easy and back off". That's one of the best pieces of advice I've ever gotten!

C

[_trumpetgod_02]

I think that after looking at all of the great advice that has already been posted here the only thing that I han add that sort of brings it together is. Practice smart. Always have your head in the game. If you're not thinking, your not practicing. Just keep that in mind with the above and you'll be fine.
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[ejaime23]

These guys are totally correct, and besides, I think you're spending plenty of time on practice, as long as what you're doing is productive. I'm in college and I spend a whole lot of time on individual practice not to mention the hours of ensemble playing I do. I don't practice a lot because I make it a goal to play for hours straight, but just to do what I can and be productive. I actually end up losing track of time and before I know it I'll end practicing for three hours straight. It's all up to you as far as that goes, but judging by what you wrote, you're on the right track.

[musicmonkey]

ejaime, I love it when I lose track of time while practicing. Like, I'll just be playing and then next thing I know a couple hours have passed. The feeling of being caught up in music is exhilerating to me.

As long as you're having fun and being productive, practice!

mm