Practice Chat - 17th June 2009 - transcript

Welcome! You have entered [Practice Chat] at 9:44 pm
[howtopractise] 9:45 pm: Hi All, welcome. I'll wait for 10 and then we'll begin. Smile
[Practice Chat]: stix has entered at 9:57 pm
[stix] 9:57 pm: Hey
[howtopractise] 9:58 pm: Hi just waiting a few minutes for more to join
[stix] 9:58 pm: sure
[Practice Chat]: LeilaHallan has entered at 9:58 pm
[howtopractise] 9:59 pm: Hi Leila
[Practice Chat]: Anne has entered at 9:59 pm
[Practice Chat]: VGirl has entered at 9:59 pm
[VGirl] 9:59 pm: hello
[LeilaHallan] 9:59 pm: Hi. I'm new,here. I do teach piano, so I'm interested in practicing
[howtopractise] 10:00 pm: Great.
[Practice Chat]: JOEVAI has entered at 10:00 pm
[Practice Chat]: shauno has entered at 10:00 pm
[howtopractise] 10:01 pm: At least I'm not alone so that's a good start - I'll give it a couple more minutes Big smile
[Practice Chat]: keyboy has entered at 10:02 pm
[Practice Chat]: 3KID has entered at 10:02 pm
[Practice Chat]: RachDminor has entered at 10:03 pm
[howtopractise] 10:04 pm: Hi everyone, welcome to How To Practice. Thanks for taking time out of your day to join us for the first ever 'Practice Chat'. I'm certainly looking forward to it and I hope we can all learn something in the next hour or so.
[howtopractise] 10:04 pm: Before we begin a there are a few simple rules I'd like us all to follow. Firstly no rude, abusive or abscene language. Secondly please let's keep this a friendly place - I'm actively welcoming disagreement but let's keep it to a civil debate. Lastly, please be patient when asking questions/getting replies. We are almost certainly on different systems with different connections abd response times will vary.
[howtopractise] 10:05 pm: Everyone sitting comfortably?
[shauno] 10:06 pm: yep
[VGirl] 10:06 pm: sure
[LeilaHallan] 10:06 pm: mug of tea at hand
[howtopractise] 10:06 pm: As this is the first chat the floor is open to any practice related topic that you want to discuss. I have some topic areas we can touch on but I'm happy for the discussion to branch of into any area of practice.
[RachDminor] 10:06 pm: Yes, smoothie right here in Santa Monica, CA. Wonder where we're all from.
[howtopractise] 10:07 pm: Was just going to suggest the same thing. Could you all introduce yourselves by telling the group your location and your instrument and approx ability (student/teacher etc)
[howtopractise] 10:07 pm: I'm Mike. Based in Cornwall, UK, play trombone, piano, bass and a few other things. Teach and play professionally.
[LeilaHallan] 10:08 pm: Texas ( thanks to RachDminor for the twitter info) teach piano. Lot's of hyperactive & dyslexic students
[VGirl] 10:08 pm: Hey, i'm in Georgia but I've not been playing the violin all that long.
[stix] 10:08 pm: me drums london uk. At college at the mo.
[RachDminor] 10:09 pm: I'm almost .. er, 55, former piano competition type with performance degree, teach piano now but lovvve to play. Always looking for interesting practice ideas and techniques. (Good, Leila!)
[JOEVAI] 10:09 pm: I'm from Melbourne, Aus. Play guitar at college but gigging quite a lot.
[RachDminor] 10:09 pm: (why I did I read age in that description request? Puzzled )
[keyboy] 10:10 pm: I'm a piano student from sacremento.
[howtopractise] 10:10 pm: 3KID how about you?
[howtopractise] 10:10 pm: just giggin on my guitar around the LA area.
[howtopractise] 10:10 pm: ?????
[howtopractise] 10:11 pm: You want to try that again?
[howtopractise] 10:11 pm: just giggin on my guitar around the LA area.
[howtopractise] 10:11 pm: hmm. Want to try logging out and in again?
[RachDminor] 10:11 pm: That's weird, huh?
[howtopractise] 10:11 pm: ok
[howtopractise] 10:12 pm: Ok, anyway sounds like we've got a real mixed bag which is great.
[howtopractise] 10:12 pm: Let me throw this out to the floor as a starter. Why do you practice?
[Practice Chat]: 3KID has left at 10:13 pm
[Practice Chat]: 33KID has entered at 10:13 pm
[33KID] 10:13 pm: Wierd
[howtopractise] 10:13 pm: Ok, Why do you want to graduate?
[JOEVAI] 10:14 pm: To get a job?
[RachDminor] 10:14 pm: Lately, in addition to trying more efficient practice techniques, it's almost therapy for me. I think most end up playing for themselves, anyway.
[stix] 10:14 pm: I want to be a pro so I need to work at it
[shauno] 10:15 pm: For me I need to keep up with my playing to make sure I can play well when teaching students.
[LeilaHallan] 10:15 pm: My students practie because the lessons work on a point system. It works really great, but only for the aisians.
[howtopractise] 10:16 pm: ok, so a couple practising to enter the profession.
[LeilaHallan] 10:16 pm: Texans don't seem to be that interested in "points"
[howtopractise] 10:16 pm: I'm kind of with shauno - I need to keep up my standard but as I also play professionally I need to be ready for whatever gig comes along.
[keyboy] 10:17 pm: because my teacher says I should - but I want to as well. Sad
[RachDminor] 10:18 pm: I recently starts a points incentive, too. There are so many distractions for students - experimenting with all kinds of things.
[howtopractise] 10:18 pm: OK, some varied reasons but for me I would suggest that having a very focused specific reason for practising is a good start. I find that most people haven't even considered this question.
[RachDminor] 10:18 pm: I should mention that my practice is serious, too. I love the brainwork of it with soul connection. Nothing else l ike it.
[howtopractise] 10:19 pm: How can we know what or how to practice if we don't know why we are practising?
[JOEVAI] 10:19 pm: isn't that what the teacher is for?
[JOEVAI] 10:20 pm: i let them know the type of things i want to do and my teacher tells me ways to do it
[RachDminor] 10:20 pm: no, a teacher helps develop a plan for practice (the hows) but we each have to find the why for ourselves
[keyboy] 10:21 pm: what about a beginner like me?
[RachDminor] 10:21 pm: After a certain age, I think people only practice because they want to ... it serves some inner need
[VGirl] 10:21 pm: I'm a beginner too
[LeilaHallan] 10:22 pm: This is the teacher's challenge. If you have 35 students, there are 35 angles to approach the subject of practicing.
[howtopractise] 10:22 pm: Interesting that there's a reliance on other people to show/tell you why to practice . . . . .one to think on.
[howtopractise] 10:23 pm: Agree Leila. finishing on that it's good for us all occaisionally review our reasons for practice - the real deep reasons.
[RachDminor] 10:23 pm: I think that a normal beginner mentality. You can't know what gifts practicing can yield until you've done it for quite awhile.
[howtopractise] 10:24 pm: Let's move onto motivation. Anne you said earlier you wish you had better motivation?
[shauno] 10:25 pm: I find it hard to get going with scales.
[howtopractise] 10:25 pm: How do you mean? To get started?
[Practice Chat]: xnicky has entered at 10:26 pm
[RachDminor] 10:26 pm: Have you tried making any games of them?
[xnicky] 10:26 pm: Hi everyone,
[RachDminor] 10:26 pm: This will help you not only with your exam but teaching future students who will most likely feel similarly.
[howtopractise] 10:26 pm: Hi xnicky, we're just discussing motivation.
[LeilaHallan] 10:26 pm: Scales are the easiest. You can zone out, or think about what's for lunch. Mind you, you're not supposed to, or course.
[RachDminor] 10:27 pm: A dear friend, great flutist, plays them while reading the newspaper. That horrifies me, truthfully, but ..
[VGirl] 10:27 pm: I like to play 3 in a row.
[LeilaHallan] 10:27 pm: Yes, that's what I mean, reading the newspaper
[RachDminor] 10:28 pm: change up the rhythm, dynamics, tempi, add words (maybe about how much you hate scales) .... play with them
[RachDminor] 10:29 pm: I've made a spinner game for students to "choose" which scale they do next ... adds some playfulness
[howtopractise] 10:29 pm: Anne: Let's touch on that upper level. Do you have a plan in place to get you to August? Do you know which scales you need to learn by when? I find with scales that little and often is good - and of course there's the 'Bag Full of Scales Method' on the site.
[RachDminor] 10:29 pm: not right for you now, I know, but ...
[RachDminor] 10:30 pm: Yes, little and often .. that's good
[stix] 10:30 pm: As a drummer I'm really lucky not to have to do scales :rolleyes:
[RachDminor] 10:30 pm: just straight scales or contrary motion, etc.?
[LeilaHallan] 10:30 pm: I like that spinner game idea. I could use it in my class sessions. Everyone hoping for C Major.
[howtopractise] 10:30 pm: that's useful - but for practice it can add to motivation and variety to play then in a rondom order - can really show if you know them or not.
[JOEVAI] 10:31 pm: my teacher says to always use a metronome for scales.
[RachDminor] 10:31 pm: LOL, Leila ... they really like the spinner ... I've made lots of spinner games
[xnicky] 10:32 pm: Just been looking at this website and I think there were some suggestions for scales on their.
[RachDminor] 10:33 pm: Anne, I'd get mathematical about it. Count how many weeks you have, how many days a week you'll practice, divide the 48 scales .. divide and conquer (with frequent reviews) - and yes to metronome
[howtopractise] 10:33 pm: Yes, a practice plan - a kind of countdown to the exam.
[RachDminor] 10:34 pm: I'm into making graphs for that kind of planning. A few minutes of work and you can see clearly what you have to do ... mark which are already good and which are problems. Only a few are probably problems.
[howtopractise] 10:34 pm: Also helpful to dry run the exam in front of friends and family.
[RachDminor] 10:34 pm: good idea
[33KID] 10:34 pm: that's interesting but how do you practice for gigs?
[RachDminor] 10:35 pm: Also, notice how many have the same fingering .. group those (like C, D, E, G, A majors). The black keys vary more ... target those.
[stix] 10:35 pm: I try and listen to lots of diffent stuff so I know the styles before I turn up
[RachDminor] 10:35 pm: I only play classical .. useless here, sorry.
[33KID] 10:36 pm: i try to get all my scales down - that helps but I'm not good a new tunes
[stix] 10:36 pm: I try to work on my reading everyday
[stix] 10:37 pm: though a lot of it is by ear
[howtopractise] 10:38 pm: Having played commercially in pop and show I think you need to practice great all round technique, sight reading and improvisation so that you can play anything at the drop of a hat.
[33KID] 10:38 pm: yeah I used to practive improv a lot but wasn't very structured
[xnicky] 10:39 pm: I do a lot of jazz improv but my practice mostly starts with scales and technique before that.
[VGirl] 10:40 pm: I'm only beginning - sounds like ur all so much better than me.
[howtopractise] 10:40 pm: The only difference is many more hours practice - you'll be better than us one day
[howtopractise] 10:41 pm: And if you practice effectively and think about what you're doing you'll get there quicker than most - certainly quicker than I did.
[VGirl] 10:41 pm: my teacher doesn't talk about practice much.
[RachDminor] 10:41 pm: few do
[LeilaHallan] 10:41 pm: I suspect practie is structured exactly the same way no matter how long you've been doing it. You just know more of the jargon after awhile.
[howtopractise] 10:42 pm: That's a real shame - ask them to discuss it with you. Ask them to show you how to do it.
[howtopractise] 10:43 pm: Do you think so? I was in that rut for years before I started to think more deeply about it. I change my methods and approach and started to get more done in less time.
[RachDminor] 10:43 pm: Leila, I used to think so but no longer. There are some serious ways to get better results in less time. I'm old already but learning new tricks.
[xnicky] 10:43 pm: less time thats for me:clap:
[RachDminor] 10:43 pm: haha .. cute emoticon!
[shauno] 10:44 pm: I think a lot of us know these techniques when we think about it. We just don't stop and think.
[LeilaHallan] 10:44 pm: Have you read 'The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle? It's all about something he calls "deep practice". The book will blow you out of the water.
[RachDminor] 10:44 pm: Heck, I still want to win the Cliburn. No chance of it but I'm going to play the Rach D minor before or ..... well, ... die trying?
[howtopractise] 10:45 pm: Thanks for the book tip I'll add it to the list.
[RachDminor] 10:45 pm: Ooo, I'll add that to my list. Thanks, Leila .. hadn't heard of that one.
[LeilaHallan] 10:45 pm: It was only published last month (May)
[howtopractise] 10:45 pm: If you want more there's lots in the reviews section and bibliography on the site.
[VGirl] 10:46 pm: are there any good books for beginners?
[RachDminor] 10:46 pm: I'm embarrassed to say that I've only recently become very good at isolating actual "problem" spots ... and focussing there. It's usually very little to work on.
[shauno] 10:46 pm: how about those practicespot ones?
[howtopractise] 10:46 pm: I'd also recommend practicespot books for beginners.
[RachDminor] 10:47 pm: I think that site is brilliant ... and his books worth buying to support him. (Am I speaking out of turn by mentioning these?)
[RachDminor] 10:47 pm: oh, good .. relief!
[Practice Chat]: Anne has left at 10:47 pm
[howtopractise] 10:47 pm: no, I think those books are excellent - particularly for younger learners.
[RachDminor] 10:47 pm: darn, Anne could have benefitted from his scale suggestions
[howtopractise] 10:47 pm: Bye Anne!
[Practice Chat]: Anne has entered at 10:48 pm
[howtopractise] 10:48 pm: We're drawing to the end of the hour - I just wanted to mention a few things.
[howtopractise] 10:48 pm: The discussion may finish here but you can carry it on on the forums - not very busy at the moementbut I'm hoping that will change.
[RachDminor] 10:48 pm: I'd love it if teachers here could share a couple of their most effective and "popular" techniques that encourage practice.
[RachDminor] 10:49 pm: New here .. are there forums here on this site?
[Anne] 10:49 pm: I help my students make a practice sheet to fill out by themselves everyweek
[howtopractise] 10:49 pm: Yes. ok Rach let's finish on that topic in a minute.
[RachDminor] 10:49 pm: k
[howtopractise] 10:50 pm: I'm looking for upcomming volunteers for upcomming practice clinics - so if you or your students would like to have an email consultation then let me know - free of change and annonymous but the tips will go on the site.
[howtopractise] 10:51 pm: I'd also like to hear any fedback on this chat session, what you liked, or didn't like?
[VGirl] 10:51 pm: it was a a bit tricky for me
[stix] 10:51 pm: maybe seperate out different instruments?
[howtopractise] 10:52 pm: All comments gratefully received on the forum or via contact forum
[howtopractise] 10:52 pm: Also any comments about what you do/don't like about the website :whistle:
[howtopractise] 10:53 pm: OK, let's go round the room and give us your 1 top practice tip.
[RachDminor] 10:53 pm: I have more of a request. I'd love one for (classical) teachers who are themselves advanced - to share what really works for them in terms of teaching HOW to practice - that students respond to and ask for again and again.
[VGirl] 10:53 pm: play things 3 times in a row
[Anne] 10:53 pm: and then post it on the blog....riiiight?
[LeilaHallan] 10:53 pm: I am vowing that by the time school starts in Sept. I will have made several colourful and classy-looking game spinners for Major and minor scales.
[RachDminor] 10:54 pm:
[JOEVAI] 10:54 pm: talk about practice with my teacher more
[Anne] 10:54 pm: My practice tip would be to record and listen to yourself
[xnicky] 10:54 pm: I need to get a detailed plan - I'm a bit aimless at themoment
[howtopractise] 10:55 pm: Learn to listen really, really carefully. Until you can hear your mistakes you can't put them right.
[RachDminor] 10:56 pm: isolate a problem spot, clap rhythms so it's clear, play and sing lines so I can hear them, slowly put well-learned hands together - when good, add measures before and after to patch it in with no gaps
[Practice Chat]: keyboy has left at 10:56 pm
[RachDminor] 10:56 pm: a LOT of time is wasted going back to the beginning (or at least too far back) over and over and over
[howtopractise] 10:56 pm: btw if you want to find me I'm on twitter @howtopractise or facebook/mike.saville.
[RachDminor] 10:57 pm: Thanks for doing this, Mikc.
[RachDminor] 10:57 pm: er, Mike .. sorry
[howtopractise] 10:57 pm: It's been a really interesting first session for me. I hope you've all gained something.
[howtopractise] 10:58 pm: No thank you all for turning up and sharing.
[howtopractise] 10:58 pm: I will do this again with a more specific agenda and cover a single topic in more detail.
[RachDminor] 10:58 pm: Oh, my one suggestion for Twitter is to put more times on post ... was hard to figure out for a bit.
[howtopractise] 10:59 pm: ok, noted.
[Practice Chat]: stix has left at 10:59 pm
[howtopractise] 10:59 pm: Thanks everyone. Enjoy your practice.
[JOEVAI] 10:59 pm: thank you.
[Practice Chat]: JOEVAI has left at 10:59 pm
[shauno] 10:59 pm: cheers
[Practice Chat]: shauno has left at 10:59 pm
[RachDminor] 10:59 pm: Leila, maybe after you make your spinners, we can compare. That could be fun. Bye, everyone!
[xnicky] 11:00 pm: byeeee!
[Practice Chat]: xnicky has left at 11:00 pm
[howtopractise] 11:01 pm: Spinner party!!!
[RachDminor] 11:02 pm: haha!
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