5 Ways to Improve the Results of

Your Practice Sessions

Lots of string players talk about practicing more often, but few know
how to make it productive
By Robert Howard posted December 2010

THE PROBLEM
Practice is a bore.

TRY A FRESH APPROACH

Like any endeavor, there isnt a right way to go about practicingfind those
methods that work for you. I find the emphasis on quantity over quality
often leads to frustration, boredom, and resentmenttheres nothing worse
than the mindless, rote tedium of feeling forced to play 90 minutes a day. In
fact, this common, but zoned-out method of practice often ingrains more
problems more than it solves.

THE SOLUTION
1. Identify the Problems

Students often tell me they sound bad. This is so unhelpful! Of course,

every string player wants to improve. Identifying the problem, or problems,
is the first and most difficult step.
2. Break It Down

Many string players dont know the difference between playing and
practicing. Playing is what you should do to diagnose a problem. Its most
useful in the first and final stages of the learning process. Initially, youll
need to get a lay of the land to assess the potential difficultiesit can be
useful to play through bits, even if youre faking parts of it. After youve
taken the piece apart and worked out the kinks, play through the piece
again to see what stuck. But the vast majority of practice time should not be
spent playing through a piece. Rather, it should be spent breaking down the
component parts. You may notice, for instance, that playing fast repeated
notes is easy on one string, but impossible on multiple strings. In this case,
find all the string crossing advice and exercises you can to address the real

underlying problemfor example, tackling string crossings, but not simply

playing fast.
3. Set Clear Goals

Why spend an hour learning something you can do in 15 minutes?

Remember, stringing tasks together can be difficult, but no single thing is
so hard. By setting clear, reasonable goals, youre able to track your
progress, identify problems more quickly, and feel a sense of true
accomplishment. How do you do this? Divide practice time into specific
goals, and spend just five to 30 minutes on any one goal, depending on
your tolerance, time, and experience. A typical practice session might
include focus on intonation, dexterity, string crossings, and maintaining a
single contact point. Ten minutes spent on each goal equals a 40-minute
practice sessionhopefully not enough to become truly fed up with any
one aspect.
4. Be Ready to Switch Gears

Still, frustration can set in quickly. If it does, remember that practicing has
diminishing returns. The master cellist and teacher Heidi Litschauer once
told me to give something three tries: if, on the third try, I didnt see a
noticeable improvement, I was to change something in my technique or
approachchange the bowing, try one hand alone, alter the fingering,
experiment with the rhythm . . . something! The fact is, there is no one-sizefits-all solution.
5. Keep Your Focus

Most problems fit into one of three categories: rhythm, intonation, or sound.
Different practice techniques work well for each of these categories.
Working on one at a time is helpful. For instance, if rhythm is an issue, only
work on rhythmnothing else, and so on.
Heres a brief list of suggested techniques:
Rhythm: say the rhythm aloud, tap to the beat, or walk to the beat while
clapping the rhythm and deliberately practicing alternate rhythms (for
unevenness).
Intonation: play everything as if it were a half note, practice shifts backward
and forward (there should be a whole other section on shifts!), check with
open strings and/or harmonics, or play with drones (always sing/hear the
phrase before you play it).

Sound: play open strings alone; play slow scales, sustaining a 20- to 30-

second bow; practice everything in the lower or upper half; or watch your
contact point in the mirror.
When in doubt, tape yourself and listen to the playback. Or videotape the
session, so you can better evaluate your skills. My friend Cathy Van
Hoesen says, We always worry about what were good at. And be openminded about your strengths and weaknesses: for instance, I often hear
students with the best intonation complain about their intonation, yet they
have no idea that its their bow changes or their tone that Im focused on.
Learn to be suspicious, as well as observant.
*This article appeared in Strings December 201