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practice smarter
Stop Sloppy Practice
We need to practice with intention, focus, and precision to maximize the effectiveness of our practice sessions. Here are some key points to consider if, like me, you want to eliminate sloppy practice habits.
Pay attention to detail. Sloppy practice often results from overlooking small details such as fingerings, articulations, dynamics, and rhythm. Pay close attention to these elements and strive for accuracy in every aspect of your playing.
Slow It Down. Practicing slowly allows you to focus on …
It’s not the What, When, or Where! It’s the “How!”
I believe that It's the “how” you're practicing that makes a difference in the quality and effectiveness of your practice sessions. Simply going through the motions without focus or intentionality may not yield the desired results in terms of skill improvement and musical growth. Here are some key points to consider.
Focused practice: Concentrating on specific goals and areas of improvement during practice sessions can lead to more significant progress. Identify your weaknesses or challenging pas…
You Need to Have an Itinerary
Mike and I spent 6 months on the road with our little travel trailer in 2009. We had no particular destination in mind … we just went wherever the wind took us. We liked to tell people that our itinerary was to have NO itinerary. The main thing we did was travel to follow bluegrass festivals, and we toggled between Tennessee and Kentucky for at least 3 months.
Now that philosophy was fine for a “time out” from our real life. (We were between jobs as opening managers for newly constructed self-…
Practice with PURPOSE
I made a lot of progress in sharpening up my dulcimer skills during December. I noticed my arpeggios got more accurate, some of the tunes I was dragging made it up to tempo, and my muscle memory improved (I didn’t have to keep my nose down on the strings!). In addition, my memorized repertoire of Christmas tunes became extended way beyond what I could play at a moment’s notice in October and early November.
What made the difference? Well, to be honest, peer pressure. I knew there would be Ch…
Go SLOW to Go Fast
Last weekend, I watched the movie “Second Chances,” an uplifting tale of a little girl's physical and emotional reawakening after a car crash claims the life of her father, and leaves her unable to walk without crutches. In the movie, Sunny bonds with a crippled horse, and together they begin to walk, even run, together again.
However, throughout the film, the horse trainer and her coach warned Sunny and another young girl about the importance of warming up their horses, starting them out slowl…
Cockleburs in Your Practice
You may remember, about 6 weeks ago, we got a new family member – Mikaela. What a cute little bundle of love she was ... 2-1/2 pounds of black fur, with beautiful brown streaks running through her hair. In the sunlight, she actually looked like she had been to the beauty shop to have her hair highlighted.
Because Parvo virus cases have been on the rise in the Rio Grande Valley recently, our vet would not allow us to take her outside to play in the grass. However, last Friday she said Mikaela …
Training Your Auto-Pilot
Don't practice until you get it right! Practice until your auto-pilot takes over and you can't get it wrong. - Linda Ratcliff
Once we were ALL beginners. And do you remember when you went to a jam session for the very first time? You might have purchased a brand new dulcimer, or maybe you were given a hand-me-down that you cleaned up and polished. Maybe you had a teacher that guided you through some basics and…
How to Practice Smarter, Not Longer
We’ve all heard the saying, “Work smarter, not harder.” Actually, I’ve been trying to do that all my life - succeeding and making good money with some ideas and losing money in others. But I have never given up. I keep on trying to think up new ways to work smarter.
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