How do you practice?

[theotherleadingbrand]

I'm curious about people's practicing habits. Aside from the poll question, I'd like to know what makes a practice session for you all. Do you warm up, stretch your fingers, down a pint, drone away on ornaments, or anything else in particular? My personal habit is to listen to something, get inspired and try to learn it, and then figure out what I need to work on. I'm not as dedicated as I should be but I practice most days of the week for about 15-20 minutes.

[Nanohedron]

It's sort of an organic thing with me. Usually I start off just playing, and then something grabs my attention. Then I go about practicing whatever until I've gotten to a certain level of satisfation or disgust with it, as the case may be. Then back to playing, then practice, etc. etc. Eventually I just play, and the added pleasure of any improvement is a bonus.

[lixnaw]

2 1/2 too 3 hours a day mostly on the low D (breaks not included)
one or two days a week only about an hour and a half

but i really do need a lot of practice

[MarkB]

One to two hours in the morning before work, and maybe an hour or so after work, including the nights I play in sessions.

On the days when I start later in the day, I will practice three hours overall before going to work.

MarkB

[Switchfoot]

Go through all the dittys I already have learned for a bit, until I feel warmed up and they all sound "right". Practice any new stuff until I'm sick of banging my head against the wall (or, once in a blue moon, actually consistently get it right), start improvising with whatever is floating through my head, continue improvising and swapping back and forth with songs I already know until I either have to do something else or feel new inspiration to attempt the new song again.

[Darwin]

Since I'm a complete beginner, I spend a fair amount of time practicing new tunes. The first stage is getting to where I can play the correct notes in the correct order with approximately the correct duration for each. Once I've reached that stage with a new tune, I work on refining it. Since most of my new tunes are slow airs for which I have both written and recorded music, I try to play along with the recordings. When I can do that pretty much on autopilot, I figure I've learned the tune and it goes into the tune pool for regular playing.

I have been working on a few somewhat faster tunes ("Over the Waterfall", "Rights of Man", and "Boys of Bluehill"), which I already know on the guitar and mandolin. Those usually have some rough spots that I spend a fair amount of time on, such as articulating all the notes clearly in "Over the Waterfall" as the speed increases. These also require more work on breathing than the slow airs do. I consider these as separate from my main practice, which is dedicated to learning slow airs.

I often play scales in various patterns (E-D F#-E G-F#..., D-E-F# E-F#-G F#-G-A..., D-E-F#-D E-F#-G-E F#-G-A-B, etc.), both ascending and descending. I don't have a regular routine for this, but I'll probably do more of it now that I have a few tunes under my belt. I've just started playing scales with each note broken by a cut or a tap. Someone here mentioned playing octave jumps, so I've begun doing that. Something new for me is to play ascending and descending scales with the notes alternating between the first and second octaves.

I'd say I only spend an hour or so on concentrated practice. In addition, I spend anywhere from one to three hours just playing the tunes that I already know. I have a list of tunes and try to play each one through at least a couple of times. I sometimes go back through the list again in the evening. However I spend most of my non-practice time playing my newer tunes, just to get them firmly embedded.

On top of the concentrated playing, I take constant little breaks to work through whatever new tune I'm working. I find that a new tune sinks in better that way. I try to restrict myself to one new tune at a time, allthough I did drop work on "Amhran na Leabhar", which was going rather slowly, to learn "Coinnleach Glas an Fhomhair", which I could hum almost immediately after a couple of careful listenings.

My approach comes from over 40 years of guitar playing. I only learn a few new fiddle/banjo tunes on the guitar each year, but I can happily spend an hour or more playing scale patterns and working on weak spots in particular tunes.

[chas]

I dunno that I'd draw a distinction between practicing and playing.

For me it varies quite a bit. This time of year, it's usually half an hour or so on at least three weeknights plus maybe 10 minutes in the car, then 1-3 hours each on Saturday and Sunday. In the last couple of months, 90% of the home playing has been flute rather than whistle. (Curiously, I've found recently that the flute playing has actually had a negative effect on my whistle playing.)

In the summer, I'm outside a lot more, so the playing time is cut at least in half.

[TonyHiggins]

As much as I can manage, which is usually 1-2hrs a night and hopefully a marathon on the weekend. I stress if I miss a day. I work on tunes in categories, like a bunch of reels for awhile. Then I might feel inspired to pick up a low whistle and do slow airs for awhile. I try to spend some focused time on relatively quick rhythmic playing, kind of like a drill. There's a coordination training that takes place with that. I also focus on the tunes that I play least well, trying to bring them up to par with everything else. I figure the improvements I make with sticky elements will improve the rest of my playing. Sometimes, I go on a binge of learning new tunes and do that for a week or two. Then, I won't do that for months. Right now, I have a lot of work to do on things I already know half-baked, so I'm avoiding new material. I keep a written list of tune names that I know because I've accumulated more material than I can deal with in one day. Everything I learn is something I've heard and really liked, rarely because someone else asked me to learn it. (I did that with a band once and it didn't suit me. It's also the reason I'm not psyched about learning a session repetoire- too many tunes that don't excite me.)

(Wombat, I noted your comment in another thread about boring dance music. I've heard lots of those, but haven't learned any of them. On the other hand, there are reels that make my hair stand up and I think I'll die if I don't learn them. Get L. Nugent's Windy Gap. Listen to Thady Casey's or Chieftains5, the first tune on track 5. They'll change your religious beliefs.)

I always listen to myself critically, noting my timing, breath control, phrasing, ornamentation etc, etc, (did I forget anything?) and I'm always thinking about how it could be improved. I use recording and reviewing for the same reason, experimenting with more or less tonguing, for instance. My wife says it sounds like a lot of work, but it feels like a great big art project that'll never end. My practice time in the evening usually starts with my wife asking, "So, are you going upstairs to doodly doodly?" I respond with a sniff, hold my nose high, and walk majestically out of the kitchen.
Tony

[talasiga]

I dunno that I'd draw a distinction between practicing and playing.
.......

Me too,
I gave up drawing some years ago.

(But hey I will still answer your poll )

[RonKiley]

Well now I know one of my problems. You better players practice way more than I do. I would also like to know what is the most effective way to practice? Also what is the best way to learn a new tune? I listen to them, use the notes to get me going, and then try to play along. This doesn't work well for jigs and reels because they are too fast for me. I really appreciate the advice I get here.

Ron

[SwtCaro]

Being home full time with a 3 1/2 year old and 1 1/2 year old, I find I don't get enough time to practice. I'm so busy taking care of the house or the kids that not much is left just for whistle, and we've got something going 3-4 nights a week. Sigh. There's a season for everything, I guess . . .

But I do try to play 10-15 minutes a day. Usually end up playing things I already know.

SwtCaro

[AngeloMeola]

Now, practice consists of playing tunes. When I first started, I spent time on playing scales trying for an even rhythm. Then I practiced octave jumps up and down the scale. I did that until I could hit the notes either tongueing or not for the full 2 octaves. I practiced rolls mostly as a finger exercise to get more speed and dexterity.

Now my big problem is memory. I have a heck of a time memorizing a tune. I have bits and pieces of lots of tunes, but not many complete ones. I can use sheet music, but I don't really read the notes while playing (only while figureing out how the tune goes). I look at the music and say to myself, "Here is the part that goes diddly-diddly." And then I play that.

[OnTheMoor]

I do about an hour a night, more if I can, school work willing. I hate doing tunes from sheets, doing it by ear I find I learn a whole lot faster and more. My big problem, and what I hate most, is getting the timing/rythm, there's alot of body between my foot and my fingers. Usually I find I'm tapping my foot to the whistle rather than playing the whistle around my tapping foot... anyone have any tips?

[Tyghress]

I whistle for an hour or so in the morning, another before and after dinner. Occasionally through the day/night I might read something, or hear something that makes me want to try a tune and I grab the nearest whistle.

Some of this time is just noodling around while waiting for water to boil, or the potatoes to be done, and I'm seldom really working on the quality of my playing. Two or three times I week I do serious scales and exercises and may not play more than a tune or two after. Most of the time I flip open a book and play something on the page, noting what I hear in my head as being different from what is on the page. I often use a metronome while doing this, and making a mental note of what a comfortable speed is for any given tune. On a tune I think I know pretty well, I may set the metronome two clicks higher that my comfort zone and see if I could manage it. If I sound cruddy I'd either slow down the metronome or do some exercises like the fingering I'm using.

That's my playing at home. But twice a week its just blow on the fingers to get them warm, get my drink, sit down and play along with friends.

[burnsbyrne]

I feel like something is missing if I can't play every day. I usually practice for 20-25 minute sessions, rest my arms for a while and then play again for 20-30 minutes. I often play exercizes while watching TV, during commercials if my wife is also watching to minimize discord. In my 33 year experience with music (guitar and whistle) I have found that a half hour of practice every day is the bare minimum for me to keep progressing or prevent regressing. I think it is necessary to feel about practicing like you feel about eating. If you don't do it every day you feel hungry and weak. I think most accomplished musicians like to practice and do so as much as possible.
Mike