Full Version: Tips Tips Tips
Ok people, who's got any good general tips for learning an instrument/practice tips........mine is that only play a piece for the first time as fast as you can play the most difficult bit (so it's all in time)..i.e. don't speed up through the easy bits and slow down at the more difficult parts! Stood me in good stead has that one! Any more suggestions anyone??
QUOTE
good general tips for learning an instrument/practice tips
Off the top of my head...
Always, always have a 2B pencil (or softer - easier to rub out) and rubber where you practise. Making small notes on the music is so very useful!
Piano: When faced with a page of new, uncharted, seemingly impossible music, cover up everything except the first bar, and even some of that. Then learn to play at least the first bit, even if it's just a few notes. Promise yourself a treat if you make it through the first bar.
Learn about the history and mechanics of your instrument. Learn about how it works and who first made it. Learn how to service it yourself. I get so angry when I see people paying a fortune to have things done that are no more difficult than making an airfix model.
Draw up a practice plan. It's so easy to pick up an intrument and play it absent-mindedly while thinking about school/work/shopping etc, then put it down thinking you've practised.
Use your local library and photocopier to get sheet music.
NEVER, EVER buy books unless they've been well recommended. There is so much rubbish out there! Always check prices on the internet, especially from the USA. Books from Amazon.com are often half the price of those from Amazon.co.uk. The exchange rate means you'll be getting a bargain.
Join a band/orchestra as soon as possible.
Steve
RELAX AND PRACTISE SLOWLY. 
This applies to singing as well!
This applies to singing as well!
Slow practice.
1.Get it in right every detail at slow speed - rythm and all. When you done that, speed it up but a bit. Again, practice at each speed until its perfect. If you can't play it slowly you won't play it fast perfect.
2.Concentrate very hard for the first minutes. FOrget the rest of the world.
3.imagine the sound you want to get then try to project it from the instrument which is an extension of you anyhow and you have a right to expect it sound as you want it to. (It won't work out exactly but it's a great start!
1.Get it in right every detail at slow speed - rythm and all. When you done that, speed it up but a bit. Again, practice at each speed until its perfect. If you can't play it slowly you won't play it fast perfect.
2.Concentrate very hard for the first minutes. FOrget the rest of the world.
3.imagine the sound you want to get then try to project it from the instrument which is an extension of you anyhow and you have a right to expect it sound as you want it to. (It won't work out exactly but it's a great start!
QUOTE(stevensfo @ Jul 26 2005, 10:04 PM)
QUOTE
good general tips for learning an instrument/practice tips
Use your local library and photocopier to get sheet music.
NEVER, EVER buy books unless they've been well recommended. There is so much rubbish out there! Always check prices on the internet, especially from the USA. Books from Amazon.com are often half the price of those from Amazon.co.uk. The exchange rate means you'll be getting a bargain.
Join a band/orchestra as soon as possible.
Steve
Isn't photocopying music illegal ?
It seems to say so on every page of music published by the ABRSM
QUOTE(Watermelon sugar @ Jul 26 2005, 11:16 PM)
Slow practice.
1.Get it in right every detail at slow speed - rythm and all. When you done that, speed it up but a bit. Again, practice at each speed until its perfect. If you can't play it slowly you won't play it fast perfect.
2.Concentrate very hard for the first minutes. FOrget the rest of the world.
3.imagine the sound you want to get then try to project it from the instrument which is an extension of you anyhow and you have a right to expect it sound as you want it to. (It won't work out exactly but it's a great start!
1.Get it in right every detail at slow speed - rythm and all. When you done that, speed it up but a bit. Again, practice at each speed until its perfect. If you can't play it slowly you won't play it fast perfect.
2.Concentrate very hard for the first minutes. FOrget the rest of the world.
3.imagine the sound you want to get then try to project it from the instrument which is an extension of you anyhow and you have a right to expect it sound as you want it to. (It won't work out exactly but it's a great start!
Absolutely!!
For non wind players.....breath in the right places (wind players have to do this, but the rest of us?????). It helps your phrasing.
If you are a keyboard player, make sure the fingering you are using at a slow practice speed will still work when you play up to speed. It's easy for fingering to "just happen" at the note-learning stage, and you can miss odd finger changes you may be doing which take up a few microseconds - these will hold up fluency later.
Work on one phrase at at time and check that your fingering is logical. If the phrase is legato without any rests or breaks, the fingering has to allow that to work. Try out the suggested fingering (if there is one) before making changes. Don't just let the fingering happen, but equally don't be afraid to try out alternatives.
Work on one phrase at at time and check that your fingering is logical. If the phrase is legato without any rests or breaks, the fingering has to allow that to work. Try out the suggested fingering (if there is one) before making changes. Don't just let the fingering happen, but equally don't be afraid to try out alternatives.
Go on as many courses/trips/concerts/masterclasses as you can.
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Isn't photocopying music illegal ?
Not according to my parents' library. The librarian may be wrong though.
If it is illegal, then several million people will be helping police with their enquiries!!
Steve
QUOTE(stevensfo @ Jul 27 2005, 01:01 PM)
QUOTE
Isn't photocopying music illegal ?
Not according to my parents' library. The librarian may be wrong though.
If it is illegal, then several million people will be helping police with their enquiries!!
Steve
Its a breach of copyright to photocopy music without the publishers permission. However if you own a copy I believe you are allowed to copy for personal pracice reasons (such as for page turns, or for annotating in order to keep the original clean)
Anyone know any different?
QUOTE(janexxx @ Jul 27 2005, 12:05 PM)
Its a breach of copyright to photocopy music without the publishers permission. However if you own a copy I believe you are allowed to copy for personal pracice reasons (such as for page turns, or for annotating in order to keep the original clean)
Anyone know any different?
Anyone know any different?
I've posted this before but it may be useful in this discussion. Trinity's diploma syllabus is very clear on this kind of thing (specifically, for use of photocopies in exams but by extension it must apply to privately made copies too..)
QUOTE
Photocopies and other non-original copies of music may not be used in examinations either by candidates or accompanists
unless they have been made in accordance with the conditions set out in The Code of Fair Practice published by the Music
Publishers’Association (revised 1992)
unless they have been made in accordance with the conditions set out in The Code of Fair Practice published by the Music
Publishers’Association (revised 1992)
More here: http://www.mpaonline.org.uk/faqs/photocopy.html
and here: http://www.mpaonline.org.uk/code_ofp.html [long!]
QUOTE(mrbouffant @ Jul 27 2005, 12:11 PM)
QUOTE(janexxx @ Jul 27 2005, 12:05 PM)
Its a breach of copyright to photocopy music without the publishers permission. However if you own a copy I believe you are allowed to copy for personal pracice reasons (such as for page turns, or for annotating in order to keep the original clean)
Anyone know any different?
Anyone know any different?
I've posted this before but it may be useful in this discussion. Trinity's diploma syllabus is very clear on this kind of thing (specifically, for use of photocopies in exams but by extension it must apply to privately made copies too..)
QUOTE
Photocopies and other non-original copies of music may not be used in examinations either by candidates or accompanists
unless they have been made in accordance with the conditions set out in The Code of Fair Practice published by the Music
Publishers’Association (revised 1992)
unless they have been made in accordance with the conditions set out in The Code of Fair Practice published by the Music
Publishers’Association (revised 1992)
More here: http://www.mpaonline.org.uk/faqs/photocopy.html
and here: http://www.mpaonline.org.uk/code_ofp.html [long!]
Surely you're not going to to the library and photocopy music you already have !
Therefore photocopying music the library has, breaches copyright and is illegal.
QUOTE(ianfiat @ Jul 28 2005, 05:54 AM)
Surely you're not going to to the library and photocopy music you already have !
Therefore photocopying music the library has, breaches copyright and is illegal.
Therefore photocopying music the library has, breaches copyright and is illegal.
Exceptions to the rule:
- You photocopy a piece of music from a library for the examiner to use in the exam because your copy of the same edition is too heavily marked to be easily cleaned up for copying
- Not all music in a library is in copyright. Especially older editions of long-dead composers works.
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