At some point during your relationship with music, you are going to realize your time for practice gradually shrinks. You might have time to warm-up before a gig but generally your practice time lacks scale practice or time focused on anything outside of what you might be performing. This moment has hit me multiple times and my thought is always, "What happened to all that time I had between classes?" or more accurately, "Why does this scale sound like crap?". Maybe it's a thought that strikes during all those summer wedding gigs or attending a fantastic concert. Whenever the thought hits you, its time to re-evaluate! My most recent realization hit the year following the completion of my masters degree. After taking much needed time to explore all the things I love outside of practicing, I decided it was time to get back to the grind. As artists, we are forever in pursuit of learning and improving.

 

So how do we go from glossed over practice to always improving in practice? How do we make time to fit in a meaningful warm-up, scales, etudes, and performance repertoire? It starts with raising our base level technique (ergo: raising the bottom line) every time we pick-up the instrument.

My idea is to have a discussion on all of the technique, etudes, repertoire, and other exercises that happen in the practice space. We will take each practice staple and take it apart, talk about why we include it in practice, and then put it back together in a holistic way that is easy to apply to any length practice session for whatever level you are at.We are also going to focus on drawing relationships between those practice essentials and what you are performing. The goal is to create super efficient at practice while still improving your weakest areas. I also want to point out by raising our bottom line, we are taking time to rekindle our love for the instrument. The more time you spend with your instrument, the better you will know it, the better you will play it! 

 

I want to lay out a little map of what we will be talking about, but don't hold me to anything specific! I am hoping there is some natural inspiration along the way from you and my practice that might change the schedule! If you have any requests or ideas for a post in this series, please let me know! 

 

Entry 1. The Art of Practice: Here, we are going to introduce the practice space (by the way that is space, not room - I will explain that more later) talk about how to find and define your unique bottom line, what to fit into each practice session, and some healthy practice habits to keep in mind for both your mind and your body! 

 

Entry 2. Warm-Ups: these are so essential to your health and can evolve to serve your needs/bottom line in so many ways! We will explore warm ups for the left hand, right hand, and even scales, rep and etudes!  

 

Entry 3. Scales: the most tumultuous relationship I've ever had! I'm going to explore all the scale methods (to my knowledge) for viola. We will also talk about interesting ways to approach your scale practice! 

 

Entry 4. Etudes: I would love to discuss etudes from a pedagogical standpoint! We will work on assessing where you are and what etudes you can use to better your playing! I also want to share my thoughts on etudes that cover extended techniques!

 

Entry 5. Rep: This will be the most viola-focused of all the entries. I really hope to whip up a fun topic on hardest passages or unknown gems in the rep!

 

Entry 6. Performance Anxiety: This topic is near and dear to my heart! Many of us don't dedicate any practice time to performance enhancement but it should be an essential in the practice space! This entry will be focused on introductory techniques and if all goes well, maybe another small entry dedicated to continuing those techniques and enhancing your results.

 

Again, this is just an outline of my project and I really would love to hear suggestions! Stay tuned for the first entry! 

 

Rachael