Tips for Success
Tips for Beginning Students
Beginning string students need lots of encouragement. Always keep in mind that playing an instrument is a skill and developing a skill requires patience, practice and perseverance.
- Practice each and every day.
- Find a comfortable place in which to practice (your bed is not a good place).
- Musical instruments are not toys. They are very fragile - precision instruments.
- Do not allow others to handle them. Play the instrument each day and maintain your instrument in good working order. A damaged instrument may not play at all.
- Set up a consistent time each day (free from distractions) that will allow you to practice and not disturb the family. (15-20 minutes a day, to start).
- Play for parents and relatives once you learn some songs.
- Parents should sit with their students at least once a week while they practice. (Have them show you what they are doing. Help them count.)
- Write down the school lesson time and be sure to take the instrument to school.
- Be consistent with good practice habits (nobody wants to break a GOOD habit).
- Every instrument has periods in the learning process that will be difficult. Learn the definition of the word “persevere”. Call the music teacher if you need help.
- Parents should consider taking a few lessons on the instrument. It gives you better insight into what your student is going through, and it may be fun for your child as well as yourself.
Their teachers want them to succeed. Let them know if you have concerns.
Good Practice Habits
When is your “prime time”? If you feel freshest in the morning, early morning practice may be for you. If you feel your energy peak in the afternoon or at night, practice then. Do you tire easily when you practice? Divide your practice time into two segments instead of having one long practice session. Whatever time you do choose, be consistent and try to practice at the same time five or six days a week.
When you practice, find a quiet room where you won’t be disturbed. Turn off the TV, put away your CD player, and turn on the answering machine.
Playing a musical instrument is not a passive experience. You need physical strength and energy to practice with proper playing position. If you practice while you’re tired, you may run the risk of slipping into poor playing habits.
There is much information to learn and much to master physically as there are many things going on beneath the surface. We hear beautiful music but the string player is actually performing many actions and thought processes at once, including:
- Playing the correct notes including correct string and finger
- Playing the notes in tune (how high up on the instrument to place the hand & whether fingers are placed touching or apart)
- Playing the notes for the correct duration in rhythm
- Playing the correct style; each composer is interpreted differently depending on what period of music history they lived in
- Volume of the music
- Direction of the bow
- Pressure of the bow
- Bow speed
- Playing the note in context of the melody (the level of importance of that note in the musical phrase)
- Interacting with other musicians