Practicing Tips & Tricks

Daily Practice - A Reminder, A Checklist

It's absolutely critical that you practice at least something every day!  What you practice is also critical.  Just playing a few tunes, or jamming with friends is only one part of daily practice (the fun part!).

Divide your practice time into three parts of equal length.  That means, if you practice 30 minutes a day, each chunk will be 10 minutes.

First part: A Daily Scale "Set"

• each day play a different scale set from the circle of fifths (if you're practicing bluegrass music), otherwise a different tonic set using the 7 church modes
• practice 2 octaves, use 4th fingers always
• remember where to shift when playing in 3rd and 4th positions
• fiddlers: practice the 4 bowing patterns with each scale
• mandolinists: practice the 5 picking patterns with each scale
• circle of fifths: practice the major AND the relative minor with each set
• modes: practice all 7 modes
• practice the arpeggios for each scale (1,3,5,8)

Second part: New Material

• Sight read assigned new material
• Practice first measure, slowly, without ornamentation or bowing until you have the notes down, then go on to 2nd, 3rd, 4th measures
• After you have the measures well established, add any ornamentation and bowings as indicated in the sheet music or by your instructor
• Don't try to learn the whole piece in one "chunk".  It's better to master one 4 bar phrase than to play the whole piece poorly

Third part: Review & Sight Reading, having fun!

• Jam with friends/family
• Review old material, work on the hard parts
• Sight Read out of the Fiddler's Fakebook or any other book as assigned by your instructor

Practicing Tips & Tricks

Daily Practice - A Reminder, A Checklist

It's absolutely critical that you practice at least something every day!  What you practice is also critical.  Just playing a few tunes, or jamming with friends is only one part of daily practice (the fun part!).

Divide your practice time into three parts of equal length.  That means, if you practice 30 minutes a day, each chunk will be 10 minutes.

First part: A Daily Scale "Set"

• each day play a different scale set from the circle of fifths (if you're practicing bluegrass music), otherwise a different tonic set using the 7 church modes
• practice 2 octaves, use 4th fingers always
• remember where to shift when playing in 3rd and 4th positions
• fiddlers: practice the 4 bowing patterns with each scale
• mandolinists: practice the 5 picking patterns with each scale
• circle of fifths: practice the major AND the relative minor with each set
• modes: practice all 7 modes
• practice the arpeggios for each scale (1,3,5,8)

Second part: New Material

• Sight read assigned new material
• Practice first measure, slowly, without ornamentation or bowing until you have the notes down, then go on to 2nd, 3rd, 4th measures
• After you have the measures well established, add any ornamentation and bowings as indicated in the sheet music or by your instructor
• Don't try to learn the whole piece in one "chunk".  It's better to master one 4 bar phrase than to play the whole piece poorly

Third part: Review & Sight Reading, having fun!

• Jam with friends/family
• Review old material, work on the hard parts
• Sight Read out of the Fiddler's Fakebook or any other book as assigned by your instructor

Looking for some amateur string musicians that would like to sight-read some quartets

Cello, viola, violin, violin

Are there any classical musicians out there, amateurs, who would like to sight-read some quartets?

There used to be a group of such folks in the Amherst area in the 1980s, but the person who organized it is now in Loomis Village and doesn't get out much.

I'd be happy to host it!

Do I really need to read music?

I get asked this question all the time. "Why do I need to read music?"

Well, imagine if you couldn't read English. First, you wouldn't be reading this post. Imagine if someone had to read everything to you everyday, from street signs to magazines, to text messages and Facebook status updates. How would that be for you? In a word, debilitating.

Certainly there are lots of good people in the world - brilliant, even - that can't read or write. But those people, almost without exception, would encourage you not to follow their path. Reading and writing are the gateway to learning and communication on a much higher and more efficient level.

The same is true for music. Of course, there is much to be learned from listening and imitating. And there are many great musicians who never learned to read or write music. But the written version of what you're hearing can allow you to be more expressive and accurate than you could ever be without seeing it. Written music also fills in more of the "why" of the music, sort of like how books can tell you a character's thoughts, but the movie rarely can.

For my money, reading music is as critical to the musician as reading and writing your spoken language is to the average human being. Not doing it won't end your career, but gaining the skill can only make you better.

Happy reading!

Daily Practice - A Reminder, Checklist

Daily Practice - A Reminder, Checklist
by Adam R Sweet

It's absolutely critical that you practice at least something every day!  What you practice is also critical.  Just playing a few tunes, or jamming with friends is only one part of daily practice (the fun part!).

Divide your practice time into three "chunks" of equal length.  That means, if you practice 30 minutes a day, each chunk will be 10 minutes.

First Chunk: A Daily Scale "Set"

• each day play a different scale set from the circle of fifths (if you're practicing bluegrass music), otherwise a different tonic set using the 7 church modes
• practice 2 octaves, use 4th fingers always
• remember where to shift when playing in 3rd and 4th positions
• fiddlers: practice the 4 bowing patterns with each scale
• mandolinists: practice the 5 picking patterns with each scale
• circle of fifths: practice the major AND the relative minor with each set
• modes: practice all 7 modes
• practice the arpeggios for each scale (1,3,5,8)

Second Chunk: New Material

• Sight read assigned new material
• Practice first measure, slowly, without ornamentation or bowing until you have the notes down, then go on to 2nd, 3rd, 4th measures
• After you have the measures well established, add any ornamentation and bowings as indicated in the sheet music or by your instructor
• Don't try to learn the whole piece in one "chunk".  It's better to master one 4 bar phrase than to play the whole piece poorly

Third Chunk: Review & Sight Reading

• Jam with friends/family
• Review old material, work on the hard parts
• Sight Read out of the Fiddler's Fakebook or any other book as assigned by your instructor