Practice Does Not Make Perfect
One of the worst old sayings for students is the classic cliché “practice makes perfect.” This saying implies that you simply need to keep doing something over and over for it to eventually be right. The problem with this saying, is that if you do something wrong over and over, it will never become perfect over time. For example, if you add yeast to bread dough in the wrong order -or you forget it all together, your bread will not rise properly no matter how many times you practice making it the wrong way. Instead of this misleading cliché, I prefer “practice makes permanent.” From the first time one reads through a piece of music, there are habits that become ingrained. This is the reason it can be harder to work on a piece you might have learned several years ago than a brand new one which is more technically difficult; all the old bad habits are attached to the easier piece. It is important to practice every piece the right way the first time. Otherwise, you may be paying the price for many years to come.
What do I mean by “the right way”? I mean, playing all the correct pitches and rhythms and dynamics that are written in the music, the first time. This may sound difficult, but it really isn’t. I specifically did not say to play the piece at the indicated tempo the first time. This is the crucial ingredient when it comes to practicing: practice slowly. Look ahead in the music for the hardest section and pick a tempo at which you can play all the pitches, rhythms and dynamics correctly the first time. This tempo may make other sections of the music boringly easy, but do not rush. Enjoy how amazing you sound on the easy parts! Try to make them as amazing as possible. You will be happy you did not rush ahead when you make it to the difficult sections.
Are you not sure what the pitches are? Does the music have large leaps, or go into an extreme range on the instrument? Don’t guess and pick out notes at random like you are throwing darts! Use a keyboard or a keyboard app to play out the line that is causing trouble. Once you have heard it on the keyboard, try singing it before you play it on the trombone to make sure you have the notes in your ear.
Do you have other practicing problems? Tell me about them so I can help solve them for you.
