How to practice a musical instument effectively

You have your instrument, you have some basic technique, and you have the time. You want to practice. What now? It's easy to spend hours and hours practicing and still feel like you've made no progress. This article will give you the foundation you need to make the most of your practice time.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• a place free of distractions
• your instrument
• music stand
• sheet music (optional)
• tuner
• metronome
• chair
• full-length mirror (optional)

1. Find a quiet spot.
   
   You need to be able to give complete attention to your instrument. Lazy practicing leads to lazy playing.
2. Tune your instrument.
   
   Use your tuner and get your instrument to match it as closely as you can. Let it serve as a warm-up for your ears, and use it to help you focus on practicing. (Fixed-pitch instruments can skip this step... obviously.)
3. Warm up.
   
   Start with a scale. Play it slowly and pay attention to your intonation, the quality of the sound you are producing, and your posture. Look at yourself in a full-length mirror to see what your playing posture really looks like. Adjust as needed.
4. Practice your technique.
   
   If there are any new tonguing methods, bow strokes, rhythms, etc. you have been struggling with, isolate them. Use your metronome when working with rhythms. Take a few minutes to master a technique on its own, and it will be easier to integrate into your music later.
5. Practice your music.
   
   Finally, you can look at the music you have been trying to learn. Resist the urge to "play through" tough spots. This is practice - isolate each trouble spot and play through it slowly; then work up speed until you can play it just as well as the rest of the piece.
6. Enjoy yourself.
   
   Now that you've gotten through the things that need doing, play something just for fun. Maybe this means learning to play your favorite song, or maybe it means learning to make animal noises with your instrument. Have fun with your newfound skills.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are taking lessons with a private teacher, ask them what you should practice. Make a new list every week.
• Try finding a recording of the song you are working on. Hearing someone else play it will help you know how it's supposed to sound.
• Start with short practice periods (15-30 minutes a day) and gradually build up to longer ones. Marathon practicing is not only less helpful, but it has also been associated with practice-related injuries.