Practice: The Basics

Qualities of Poor Practice

Consider the opposite of each of these qualities. Do any of them seem familiar?

• Some days one feels too busy to practice.
• One's playing sounds mechanical and unexpressive.
• The teacher keeps noting things that went unnoticed in practice.
• It is difficult to get through a passage without stopping to correct mistakes.
• The mind wanders after the second or third repetition.
• One is bored.
• A passage is practiced, but when played for someone else it cannot be played well.
• When a mistake appears, it causes a stop.
• The same mistake appears (or it requires every bit of conscious energy to keep it from appearing) whenever a passage is played.
• Fingering and pedaling are uncertain.