practice session time

[john]

how long do you all play for in a practice session - i can only keep it going for about 45 mins myself, but i remember talking to john murphy and in his prime he could do 6 hours a day

[CHasR]

what ive found in my vast musical experience is that, there are such things as "plateaus". You can shed, shed, shed, until you get to this wide expanse of technical ability, which requires only maintenance to remain there. Once exhausted on this, then you shed, shed, shed, & shed until the next level. It may take a little longer to exhaust your effort while there on that plateau, but to get to the next level [which originally seemed to be but a stones throw away] requires an exponential amount of shedding. Each sucessive level subsequently requires exponentially more shedding, for exponentially less expanse of 'terroir', and an even smaller window to accomplish any further advance. ya with me? I wrestled this info from a "big 5" symphonic violist at great personal chagrin. Ive found every crumb of knowledge so gotten, to be indispensable for the carrerr musician.
so: what im sayin is-- time is immaterial, irrelevant. its the depth of intimacy you have with your chosen instrument that makes all the difference. take it or leave it.

[Jäger]

Before I would play for about two hours, structured as follows:
15 min warming up
1 hour practicing two new tunes and working on them in detail
45 minutes of practice to maintain and improve upon the tunes I already know

But as my repertoir has grown, 45 minutes is no longer enough, and I was getting exhausted and tensewhen trying to play for more than two hours straight. So now I'll just do the warming up and practicing the two new tunes before giving it a rest, and then comming back a while later, do another 15 minute warm up and then practice old tunes for a bit over an hour, landing me at 2½-3 hours per day in total, roughly.

[An Draighean]

I can play for at least 1-1/2 hours without getting too tired, so that's what I try to do in one sitting but I will try and have more than one practice in a day if my schedule allows. I usually start by running through my repertoire; at my age it takes work to keep them firmly in memory. Then I will work on specific techniques I am trying to learn, by repeating small examples over and over and playing tunes that have that technique in them. Then I will usually end playing something by ear or work on memorizing a new tune.

[Steve Turner]

It depends on how much time is available to me. During the working week, a practice session might be as short as 20-30 mins. At the weekend, a practice might last 2 to 3 hours.

[Jarlath.I]

CHasR has it totally correct as far as overall practicing goes (he does a great job describing the big picture). My only additional advise is to try to practice everyday. Uilleann piping is a lifestyle.

As Steve pointed out, there are days when it's just too crazy to find the time, but if I only have 15 minutes, I'll take the opportunity to play (either playing a tune or two, or spending the time working on a short passage that's giving me trouble). I found, at least for me, I will get more accomplished in 15 minutes each day then I would just spending three hours on a Saturday afternoon. Of course, if I have a few hours, I totally take advantage and do something more like what Jäger does. Six hours seems to be a long practice time. I believe there is a point of diminishing returns when you practice that long.

[Cathy Wilde]

As Steve pointed out, there are days when it's just too crazy to find the time, but if I only have 15 minutes, I'll take the opportunity to play (either playing a tune or two, or spending the time working on a short passage that's giving me trouble). I found, at least for me, I will get more accomplished in 15 minutes each day then I would just spending three hours on a Saturday afternoon. Of course, if I have a few hours, I totally take advantage and do something more like what Jäger does. Six hours seems to be a long practice time. I believe there is a point of diminishing returns when you practice that long.

I agree! When I was a scholarship classical flute player I played 6 hours a day ... or, should I say "I locked myself in a practice room with my flute for six hours a day"? Yeah, that's probably more accurate ... . How much time I spent practicing vs. how much time I spent daydreaming or "angsting" about my inability to play something is probably worth examining.

Anyway, when I took up the pipes 30 years later I made a pledge to play at least 15 minutes a day. While I haven't always succeeded in that goal, overall the consistent 15-minute approach has really paid off. On days when I'm not awful it's a happy 15 minutes, and on days when I'm playing terribly at least I'm not reinforcing the wrong stuff for too long!

I also find I can pay attention and stay on task much better for shorter "chunks" of time, and the angst level is lower, too. I don't get all worked up about stuff or as tense. Instead I think "Oh well, try again tomorrow."

I've never approached anything so minimally-yet-methodically before, but I've been pleasantly surprised by the results ... and by how little pain (physical or emotional!) this seems to cause. Sure, I'd probably be LOADS better if I played more like an hour a day -- and when I can get the time I do play longer -- but the "10,000 hours, 15 minutes at a time" plan is what I've got for now, and I really can't complain. In fact, I'm enjoying the heck out of it!

Now if I could just get to doing the same thing with reedmaking

[tommykleen]

15 min to 45 min. most days. On days I miss I get a little cranky.

[m muir]

It varies with me. Sometimes half an hour a day, sometimes up to an hour. It all depends on available time and with work and two young kids, I usually don't get to practice until the evening (sometimes very late if our two year old daughter refuses to go to bed!). But I'm very disciplined and methodical about it and will try to practice every day even if I'm exhausted.