NEHITA ABRAHAM
1. Create the Right
Environment: Set up
the right mental and physical
atmosphere like a quiet room
for concentration. Once you find a
comfortable setting, stick with the choice
you made.
Ensure that your environment meets
your needs: Grab water, snacks, pens,
notebooks, sheet music, highlighters,
download a metronome app, a tuner,
etc., in advance so that you’re well
prepared and uninterrupted
from the get-go!
4. Practice Smarter,
Not Longer: We’ve all been
guilty of pushing our practice
till the last minute because we find
the work intimidating, especially if
we have a large portion or a full song
to do.
Practicing little by little and often
will give you willpower and
encouragement because your
goal isn’t this giant thing, it’s
smaller and realistic.
SCALE
PRACTICE
2. Tension Free
Warm Up: Not only do we need
to warm up our muscles to avoid
injuries and get them moving, but we also
need to warm up our bodies and minds to
avoid stress and boredom. Ever yawned during
a warm up? I know I have, because repeating the
same warm-up technique is annoying!
So as essential as your warm-up is, don’t get stuck
with the same routine. Refresh your brain with
different techniques like using dynamics (play it
softly or loudly) and articulation (staccato,legato)
or try to sight read for a change. Remember, find
a gentle way to tell your body to be relaxed –
lower your shoulders and loosen any part of
the body that feels tight.
5. Speed Comes Later:
A good practice session has
these key elements:
•
•
3. Have A Goal:
When you start with a
clear intention, you know
where you stand and where you
have to be in the future. So, write
down your goal. If you’re a beginner,
you may need help with stiffness or
singing without straining if you're a
singer. Look for the right tutorials
for that specific goal and in 6
months, your goal may totally
change!
6. Identify Where
You’re Going Wrong and
Fix It:It’s easy to say we only
have 15 - 30 mins and just power
through the whole practice session
even if we play wrong. Identify where
and why you keep making the mistake
and slow down to fix it. If keeping
tempo is the problem, try clapping
your hands or tapping your feet to
the tempo alone, without worrying
about performing the notes.
CLEAR ARTICULATION
•
7. Right
Frame of Mind:
If you’re not in the
mood to practice, it’s
okay to take a day off
instead of getting
frustrated.
TIPS TO HELP WITH
CORRECT NOTES
THE RIGHT FINGERING
10. Reward: Play
If you are a beginner or someone that can play
any piece of music you
scales confidently, there is always room for
just want to jam to, after
practicing slowly. Practicing to get every note
you’re done. Ultimately, it’s
totally even in volume, with the correct
the joy from the sound of our
technique, at the same speed and the right
instruments that we feel the
fingering is the challenge. Once you
most connected to. So, take
get
better,
you
can
speed
up
but
8. Flow Without
off the pressure and have
remember
the
3
elements.
Anxiety: It’s always a
some fun!
good idea to take a second to
9. Remember
pause when there is a fingering
Why You Started:
change while playing a scale.
If you get overwhelmed,
This reduces anxiety because the
remember why you started
pressure to complete the scale in a
learning. Go back to your first
hurried manner is removed. Start
day and see the progress you’ve
by playing the notes slowly,
made and why. The same thing
pause to change, and then
that motivated you back then,
continue.
can motivate you now.
38
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com