Don't Practice to be Perfect

I am an advocate of practicing so that you can ENJOY playing a piece. Practice makes perfect is something we constantly hear and strive towards as string players, but it can be a source of incredible stress as well. 

Why?  

Because mistakes happen. A string will break. Your bow will break. The room will be so cold that you can’t feel your fingers, or it will be so hot that your instrument slips from your sweaty palms. You will  forget a note. You will go sharp. You will go flat. You will forget your music. Forget your place. Maybe  even forget your name.  

That doesn’t mean it will happen every time, but it will happen. And when it does, you need to not let it freak you out in the future. The best you can do is practice, prepare, be reasonable, and don’t forget to forgive yourself if something unexpected happens. 

PRACTICE  

• Set time aside each day to play without distractions. Turn off the TV and set your ringer to silent.

• Make sure you tune. I like to use the TE Tuner app set to fine tuning and saw wave.

• I like to play one “fun” song to loosen up before I get down to business. 

• Start (or continue) your practice session with at least 15 minutes of scales. 

• Practice slowly in the beginning. My teacher and I always mark out small passages that are tricky and require more attention. 

• I cannot stress how wonderful a good teacher is in helping with fingerings and phrasing.

• Practice with a metronome to instill muscle memory. 

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PREPARE 

Some things are inevitable when you begin competitions or auditioning, but preparation can help. An  extra set of strings, a second bow and a tuner are important. But here are some other common issues. 

Playing too fast– When you perform, your nerves will get to you. This means that your heart will  start to beat faster, and your playing will follow suite. This is why practicing with a metronome is so important. It helps instill muscle memory. 

Distraction – Practice in whatever shoes and clothing you will perform in until you get used to it. You don’t want to be distracted by things you aren’t used to wearing. Also, make sure you eat  (don’t overeat), drink and go to the restroom before you perform. 

Tight playing –Another common stress response of the body, is constricted blood flow to the  fingers. Yes, the body betrays string players when under stress. To help prevent this, make sure  to stretch before you play and if you know it will be a cold room, you might want to consider wearing gloves beforehand. 

BE REASONABLE  

One of the worst feelings is knowing that you should have practiced more. On the flip side of that, driving  yourself crazy (in search of perfection) until you loathe the piece or worse, your instrument, is not a great feeling either. 

• Remember, if you are enjoy performing a piece, your audience will enjoy listening.

• Try positive affirmation. Say “I’ve practiced, I’ve prepared, and I’m ready to do my best now”  before you perform. I find it more soothing than the “Don’t screw up. Don’t screw up. Don’t screw  up.” mantra that initializes panic mode in my brain. 

• If something unfavorable does happen, remember that every performing musician alive has  experienced some of those same things. Forgive yourself.