1. Seek Private Instruction
2. Make A Schedule
3. Set Goals
4. Concentrate
5. Relax - Practice Slowly
6. Practice Hard Parts Longer
7. Play With Expression
8. Learn From Your Mistakes
9. Be Optimistic
10. Look For Connections

Seek Private Instruction

It is important to find a private teacher who knows how to play your instrument. They can help you with the specific characteristics unique to your instrument. They can help you learn the proper techniques to better enable you to perform on your instrument.

Private lessons usually last between 30 to 60 minutes a week. Depending on the length of your lesson, the price can be between $10.00 to $20.00 a lesson. The teacher will sit with you one on one and help you with your specific needs. They will give you weekly assignments and help you master them.

Students who take private lessons usually do better in class. This is because during normal classroom rehearsals, each student can not work directly on their own specific needs. The goal of the rehearsal is to unify the band to better perform the music. Practice time at home and private lessons help you to become better at playing your music. This allows you to be more productive during class.

There are several places to find private lesson teachers. Area music stores have qualified teachers. You can call the store and ask them who their teachers are and how much they charge for lessons. Some of the stores in our area include:

Wert Music (Erlanger, KY):  (859) 727-1138
Buddy Rogers (Beechmont Ave.):  232-0777
Willis Music (Eastgate Mall):  (513) 752-6341
Strings N' Things (Beechmont Ave.):  (513) 474-6033

You can also call local colleges or universities. Here are a few that are close by:

College Conservatory Of Music:  (513) 556-6638
Northern Kentucky University:  (859) 572-6399

The benefits of studying privately are incredible. When you can play your instrument well, you will have more fun than you can handle!

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Make A Schedule

A schedule is a good way to organize your practice time. When you practice, it is important to follow a consistent routine. You should always try to practice at the same time each day. It is also a good idea to find a nice quiet place where you can concentrate without any interruptions.

To make a schedule for your practice routine you need to determine what days you are going to practice. You then need to determine the length of time you will practice. I suggest you practice at least 20 - 30 minutes every day. Once you plan out your practice schedule, it is important to stick with it.

During the practice session itself, figure out what you are specifically going to practice. You should include a warm up, your scales, music that you need to work on, and something you enjoy playing for fun. By following a schedule you will begin to develop good practice habits that will enhance your knowledge of your instrument and your music.

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Set Goals

Setting goals for yourself is very important. Since each student develops at a different pace, it is important to set clear goals for your own needs. Goals help you to have something to aim for in your personal development. It is very likely that your goals will be different from someone else's. As long as you are always trying to achieve success you will improve your talents.

Some goals to set for yourself can be things like:

• Learning all of your scales

• Learning all of your music

• Improving your tone quality

• Increasing your range

• Learning new fingerings

• Learning how to sight read more accurately

• Counting rhythms correctly

There are many more goals you can have. It comes down to your own desires and your own ambitions.

When you set a goal for yourself, be sure to set a certain date that you want to achieve it by. For example: If I wanted to learn all 12 of my major scales, I could set a goal of learning one new scale a day. After 12 days, I could expect myself to know all of the major scales.

Be sure to set reasonable limits to your goals. Don't set yourself up for failure. For example: If I wanted to learn to sight read more accurately, I wouldn't want to set a goal of only one day. It would not be possible to master that skill in such a short period of time. It could take years before you are confident enough in your sight reading ability.

Whatever your goals happen to be, always work towards them. When you finally master them you will become confident in yourself. Then you will be able to set higher and higher goals!

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Concentrate

Concentration is an essential part of practicing. It requires you to focus on the "task at hand". When you concentrate, you are devoting yourself totally to what you are doing. If you concentrate during your practice session you will more likely retain most of what you were working on. That can mean reaching your goals faster. Reaching your goals will make you a better musician. Being a better musician means you will have more fun with your instrument!

Don't allow yourself to become easily distracted. Distractions cause you to start over. They also can make you feel frustrated. If during your practice time it is getting difficult to focus on your goals, stop and come back to them later. That will help you to make the most out of your practice time.

Here is an example of what it is like to really concentrate on something.

Most people your age really love video games. Have you ever been so involved in a game that you lost track of time? It could feel like you have only been playing for a little while when really it could have been several hours. That is because you were so focused on the game nothing distracted you. You were totally concentrating on the game.

Good concentration during practice will only help you to be more effective in your work.

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Relax - Practice Slowly

Don't be in a hurry to get your practicing done.  It is important to take your time and practice slowly and carefully.  The more difficult your music is, the more slowly you should practice it.  Practicing slowly on a hard section of your music allows you to work out the problems you may be having with it.  Take your time and carefully work out the fingerings and rhythms.  Be certain you are doing everything correctly.

A great tool for practicing is a metronome.  A metronome is a device that measures the number of beats per minute.  It makes audible clicking sounds per beat and can help you play your music steadily.  Set your metronome at a slow setting and play along with it.  When you become comfortable at the slow setting, slightly increase the speed.  By using this strategy, you will eventually be able to play your music at the correct tempo.

Relax and have fun!

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Practice Hard Parts Longer

The majority of your practice time should be spent on the parts of the music that you find the most difficult.  It can be frustrating and discouraging to keep trying to attempt something that you can't do very well.  Sometimes the music might seem too hard to play.  However, if you remain persistent and have a desire to master the hard parts, you will become that much better!

Some good strategies for tackling the hard parts are:

• Play them very slowly at first and then gradually increase the tempo.

• Break them down into smaller parts.  If it is 8 measures long, only work on 1 measure at a time.  You could even work on only 1 beat at a time.

• Practice it daily.

Many times if you have worked on a difficult passage it may seem like you are not getting any better at it.  Often however, after a little while you start to notice that it is getting easier and easier to play.  Consider the following example:

We don't see ourselves growing taller.  We grow very slowly.  Eventually we have to begin wearing different sized clothes.  Even though we didn't see ourselves getting taller, we know we did because our old clothes no longer fit.  Practicing is the same way sometimes.  We don't always feel like we are progressing but we actually are.  The results of your hard work start to show themselves over time.

Be patient and continue to work on the things that are difficult for you.  I guarantee you will be better for it!

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Play With Expression

Music has the ability to make us feel many different emotions.  How often has a song made you feel happy or sad or even scared?  Great movies usually have great soundtracks.  The music adds so much to the movie because the music helps you feel what is happening on the screen.

As a musician, your music should be performed with expression.  You have the ability to express your feelings about the music to the listener.  Once you can play the correct notes and rhythms, take your music to the next level by performing it expressively.

You can play more expressively by:

• Thinking about what the music should sound like as you play it.

• Adding vibrato.

• Adding subtle nuances such as unwritten dynamics and slight tempo changes.

I like to think that music is to a musician as a script is to an actor.  An actor has to say his lines with expression.  They have to make you believe in what they are saying.  They don't just read them out loud.  A musicians script is the music.

Perform your music beyond the notes and rhythms and make it expressive.

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Learn From Your Mistakes

When you practice you are bound to make many mistakes.  I believe mistakes are a good thing.  Why?  Because mistakes help you pinpoint where your problems are.  When you make a mistake analyze why you made it.  Was it a wrong note?  A wrong fingering?  A wrong rhythm?  Try to step back and determine just what it was that caused you to play it incorrectly.

Once you have made a mistake try to figure out how to solve it.  What is it that you could do differently that would help you not make the same mistake again?  Develop some strategies that will help you overcome this mistake.  This problem solving will enable you to become more aware of what it is you are doing wrong.  Once you understand what you are doing wrong, you are more likely to determine a solution that will lead to your success.

Don't be discouraged by your mistakes, learn from them.

Possibly one of the most important tips concerning practicing is to remain optimistic.  Never begin to doubt yourself.  Always believe that you will be able to play everything to the best of your ability.  It's easy to get discouraged and feel like giving up, but successful people always continue to move forward.  If you fall, get back up.

Know that you have unique talents and abilities that no one else has.  You can do anything you set out to do if you have persistence and a positive attitude.

When you practice, you might discover that sometimes different songs or passages have some things in common.  Making these connections can help you ease into the new section because in a way, you've already done it before.  You don't have to "reinvent the wheel" every time.  In a lot of music, you will have a very similar thing to play even though it's in a different part of the song.  Knowing that you already played it once in the song will help you to understand that it isn't anything new.