How to Practice Your Instrument

For musicians, the importance of a consistent practice routine is constantly preached and emphasized. As a violinist myself, it can often seem like playing scales for hours on end is the key to mastering an instrument, but there are actually more subtle nuances involved with the art of practicing.

Before a practice session, always keep in mind that there is such a thing as practicing too much. There is constant pressure for musicians, particularly young ones, to practice excessively. Such ideas push unhealthy targets onto musicians and can lead to injury or burnout. Overpracticing can lead to hearing loss or repetitive stress injuries, such as tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome, in the wrists, neck, shoulders, and back. Always take breaks when practicing and allow days for rest and recovery. Never feel guilty for prioritizing your mental and physical well-being!

Pre-practice Routine

Make sure to practice in a quiet space with minimal distractions, as this will increase the quality and efficiency of the practice session. It may also be beneficial to do some quick stretches prior to playing. Nothing too complicated—simple wrist and neck exercises can go a long way when it comes to preventing injury.

Scales and Arpeggios

Legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz once said that scales are “a thing you’ve got to do and get it over with.” Despite their often tedious nature, scales and arpeggios are definitely important to include in a well-rounded practice routine, as they serve a variety of functions.

For one, they encourage maintaining proper hand posture. Scales and arpeggios are the basic building blocks of music. Practicing them properly solidifies the foundation of a musician and reinforces proper technique and hand positioning. Without mastering the basics, practice becomes less efficient, and future progress can be stunted.

Scales and arpeggios also serve as good warm-ups. They get the fingers moving, and when combined with a metronome and/or drone, they ground the musician’s sense of rhythm and intonation, which sets them up for a successful and productive practice session.

Scales and arpeggios can be applied everywhere. Once they’re mastered, passages in pieces become easier. In fact, classical music can often be simplified down to combinations of scales and arpeggios. So, when sightreading, instead of reading individual notes, recognize the overall pattern. If the notes happen to form a scale or arpeggio that you’ve already practiced thoroughly, little further practice is needed because you can probably already recognize the pattern.

Practice scales and arpeggios in varying keys, speeds, and articulations. This expands the value of scales and arpeggios from simply a tool to maintain hand posture to a tool that can maintain a whole range of techniques. For example, if a piece includes a tricky technique like spiccato (for string instruments) or circular breathing (for wind and brass instruments), practicing it on a simpler set of notes like a scale can help to break down the mechanism behind it. The technique will likely feel easier during the piece if it has first been practiced on scales.

Etudes

Etudes, or studies, are important because they focus intently on a specific technique. By isolating a particular technique and practicing it without distractions, it is easier to pinpoint and correct errors. This maximizes the efficiency of the practice time and makes performing specific techniques in the future easier. 

Etudes also tend to be more fun! They are often less dry to play than drills upon drills of different scale-technique combinations. Etudes are usually more lyrical, and some, such as Niccolò Paganini’s 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, are widely performed as standalone pieces. Some musicians even write their own etudes depending on their individual needs, though most of the time, they choose one from a collection of pre-written studies.

Pieces

Whether they are concertos, sonatas, or orchestral pieces such as symphonies and overtures, pieces tend to take up the bulk of a practice session. Instead of playing each piece from start to finish, it is usually more beneficial to isolate specific passages that are especially challenging and practice them on their own before fitting them together. This ensures that practice time is focused and efficient, especially if practice time becomes limited.

When practicing challenging passages, especially ones that are fast and virtuosic, slowing them down and practicing with a metronome can be very helpful. Camille Saint-Saëns, a notable French composer of the Romantic era, once said, “One must practice slowly, then more slowly, and finally slowly.” Indeed, centuries of musical knowledge have concluded that slow practice is the key to playing fast. Slow practice allows you to catch errors, whereas constantly playing at tempo increases the chance of small mistakes becoming ingrained habits. Practicing slowly, just like with scales and arpeggios, can build muscle memory and precision, which translates well when the piece is eventually played at performance tempo.

Practice rewards!

Practicing an instrument takes huge amounts of energy, concentration, and effort. Make sure to leave some time at the end of each practice session to sightread a fun piece or play through old repertoire. Eat something yummy or call some friends! Remember that being a musician does not mean being locked in a practice room for eight hours a day. Musicians are still humans who need time to recharge and relax, so never feel guilty about skipping a day or two of practicing.

Aside from this, enjoy the process! Practicing offers many intellectual challenges, but it is also deeply rewarding to see results.

Happy practicing!