March 2010
Teachers and Educators
A place for those who teach music to come and discuss issues and solutions relating to practice. Share experiences of difficult students as well as those that are destined for stardom. If you have some methods that work really well please share them.
Students
Are you learning and instrument? Would you like to improve more quickly?
Use this group to share information and ideas with others who are learning as well.
Getting Started Guide
Music practice can be a confusing subject for the beginner.
OK, so you know you have to practice if you want to get better but what should you practice? How much? Where? When?
Don't panic! There are plenty of resources on this site to help you with all these questions. In fact we have so much information that we have prepared this 'Getting started guide' to show you which resources you should begin with. Once you are more familiar with the subject of practice you can go onto explore our other resources.Read more . . .
Free Music Practice Diary PDF download
We are making a PDF version of our Music Practice Diary available to download. Site members who have reached the level of HTP Novice and above can download the file attachment by visiting this link.
Of course you can also purchase the diary, and we would suggest doing so for larger quantities. If you require a very large number for your school or establishment then please contact us for details of any discounts currently available.Read more . . .
Practice Help
On the face of it music practice is very simple.
However once you scratch the surface and begin to realise that no two people will practice in the same way or have the same requirements you being to realise that it is a vast subject.
So where can you go for more specific help with YOUR practice problems?
Luckily we have lots of answers!
Getting startted guide
It's worth taking a look at our getting started guide as this covers common problems that many musicians face.Read more . . .
Community Forums
We are exceptionally pleased to be able to welcome you to the brand new HTP website, the one stop shop devoted to helping musicians and music educators across the globe with their music practice techniques. After many months of late nights and a lot of coffee, the HTP technical gurus have put the finishing touches to the new site. We have created a more navigable website with additional resources, better tools, and a new visual design. Not only is it packed with all the good stuff our users have come to expect, but a whole raft of new offerings designed to enhance and inspire your music practice. To enjoy the full website experience all you have to do is sign-up and get active. The best bit is it's all for free.Practice methods competition
Here at HTP we are always looking for original and interesting approaches to practice. If you've visited our Practice Methods section you will know that we have a large repository of practice methods already available to our users. This competition is your chance to add your own ideas to ours.
If you have an idea for a practice method that is not already on this site then send it to us and we will award the top suggestions with some HTP goodies. You can submit entries by using the form below. There will be one first prize and two runners up prizes. We'll also feature some of the best ideas on the site.
Try to be unique, original and above all helpful in the method that you submit. You should also pick a catchy title that we can use to refer to the method. For some inspiration why not check out the practice methods section.
A few competition rules: Read more . . .
Wisteria Practice Books
Do you publish or use a practice notebook that we don't know about? We'd love to hear about it so we can review it for our readers. To stay in touch with How To Practice subscribe to our newsfeed.
From the outside this series of notebooks promise much with their bright, colourful covers. On the face of it something that every student would like to own.
The inside of the front cover is given over to recording student and school details, which instrument, grade, contact details and so on. The inside of the back cover has a few basic musical terms and symbols explained. Useful, if a little plain.
The bulk of these practice books are given over to lesson pages which cover a double page spread. Depending on which version you buy you get a different number of lessons. For example the Yearly Practice Book has many more lessons than the Pocket Practice Book.Read more . . .
Teachers - you are lazy!!
 Photo courtesy of Paraflyer |
We want to help you practice better. Click here to receive regular advice or here for help on your current problems.
Let's face it, you teach the way you were taught. Play this exercise, learn that scale, come back next week and play that piece. Sound familiar?
This is certainly how I was taught 20 years ago. It pains me beyond belief to see that the large majority of instrumental teachers still give lessons in exactly this way. It's not down to lack of talent or lack of knowledge. These teachers are bored, jaded, waiting for the next pay cheque and most of all - lazy.
In the 21st century with countless calls on your students attention span it is no longer good enough to teach every pupil the same, use the same material all the time or use the same structure for every lesson. You need to be creative to stand out from the crowd and you need techniques to ensure that your students work efffectively outside of lessons. Remember they are with you for perhaps thirty minutes per week. For the other six and a half days they're one their own.
How are you going to ensure they enjoy themselves and make progress in this time?Read more . . .
Improve your teaching by Paul Harris
Do you publish or use a practice notebook that we don't know about? We'd love to hear about it so we can review it for our readers. To stay in touch with How To Practice subscribe to our newsfeed.
Having revealed the worst side of instrumental teaching in Teachers . . . you are lazy! I thought I'd better redress the balance and suggest some ways in which teachers could improve their teaching. A book that sprang to mind was Improve Your Teaching by Paul Harris, he of Improve Your Practice fame.
At 64 pages this book is brief but it does provide a lot of useful ideas and excercies you could incorporate into your teaching. From new ways to describe music, making up pieces out of others and making sure what you say is clear to students there are a lot of good ideas.
The best idea to come from the book is what Harris calls 'Simultaneous Learning'.Read more . . .
Practice Everyday
Make sure to do something everyday. Even a little will help.
Remember every day that you don't practice you lose a little of the knowledge or skill you have learned.
Just as there is no single correct way to play a piece, there is also no one right way to practice.
I'll admit it. I'm difficult to please. Especially when it comes to books on practice. 
