Daily practice is every musician’s ideal. Some children have the perception that it’s ok to skip a day if they do double the amount the next day. This idea is wrong. Practice is a gradual process – much like physical growth. We all eat every day in order to get enough energy and minerals to grow a little every day. It would be convenient if we could get all our meals out of the way in one day of the week and then spend the rest of the time doing other activities… But it just doesn’t work that way!

Just as we eat at regular intervals daily, so we should practice daily. If we have time, we should do 30 minutes in the morning – when our minds are at their peak performance, and 30 minutes in the evening, as a relaxing activity after dinner.

During practice, try to remember a few important points:

• Have a number of specific things/goals you want to immediately do.
• Vary the tempo: sometimes slow, sometimes fast, sometimes with a metronome.
• Fix mistakes right away – don’t just reinforce them by keeping on going!
• Take breaks if you are feeling tired. If you can’t focus, you can’t be as productive.
• Remember to Eat!

Author: Joanne Gad