How long should one practice

[carl-swanson]

This is really true Elizabeth. And when you are learning a really difficult piece, it’s a good idea to learn it, put it aside for several months minimum, and then come back to it. It will come much easier the second time around. Frances Miller told me once that she always told her students that you have to study a piece and let it rest three times before you can really play it.

[phoebe-powell]

Great tip Elizabeth!
My teacher always said never to practise until you arm fall off, and if you’re starting to feel sore then take a break for 30 minutes and come back to it.

[Janna B.]

I think everybody has some great things to say – I especially enjoyed Carl’s.

I want to make an analogy here. I once attended a seminar by well-known writer Stephen Laws. He said that when he writes he must be careful not to empty his “well“ of ideas each day, if he does, he has nothing to start with on the next day. I think practicing can be like this. If you practice out all your ideas and become exhausted, it will be more difficult to come back to the same piece the next day. If you stop when you’re still excited about it and “could practice longer” you can have a greater desire to come back to it. Sometimes, of course, you just have to grit your teeth and grind through. Similarly, Stephen Laws said when he was uninspired he made himself write his daily “quota” of words anyway – it didn’t matter if he changed them later.

Another thought on practice – listening to a good recording can count as practice. The better you can sing the melody in your head the faster you will learn and the easier everything will be.

[Karen Johns]

I agree with you wholeheartedly about listening to music as practice, Janna. I have found by listening to other harp recordings that my own playing has improved. This is especially true when dealing with music that has tricky rhythms and several time signatures. Great insight!

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