In this post, you'll learn about five super common practice mistakes and how to fix them.

STOP always starting at the beginning!

The time and mental energy we have to spend practicing is finite. If you're always starting at the beginning of your piece, the beginning will sound great, but things will go downhill the closer you get to the end. The goal is to make the entire piece sound great, not just the beginning 😉 A better strategy is to break your piece down into sections, and then practice the hardest ones or the ones that sound the worst first.

STOP going in without a plan!

In order to have the most efficient and productive practice session, it is vital to go in with a plan. Set specific, measurable goals for each section, and define how long you want to work on them. For example: work on intonation in measures 1-8 for 10 minutes. After the session, evaluate your progress on these goals. This is one reason that I like to use a practice journal. It's a space for me to write down my goals beforehand, store anything that comes up in the session like things that work particularly well, things that don't work, and any questions that come up, and then evaluate myself afterwards. A thoughtful plan for your practice session is an absolute game changer.

STOP using the wrong practice techniques!

In order to solve your desired problem, you need to use a technique specifically targeted to that problem. For example, if you wanted to work on intonation, practicing with the metronome is not the way to go. The metronome is a great practice tool for rhythm, speed, and figuring out tricky rhythms, but it is not going to help you improve your intonation. Once you have identified your goal, you need to use the right techniques to help you achieve it.

STOP the mindless repetitions!

Repetition is important, but only in the correct way. Once you have picked a practice technique to improve your desired element, you need to be listening and analyzing your work as you go. Once you get the passage sounding the way you want it to, you need to repeat it ideally as many times as you played it "incorrectly" while working on it, ideally more. Think about it this way-if you played the passage 5 times incorrectly and 3 times correctly, what is the likelihood of playing it correctly on the next try? I'm not a math person, but you're definitely more likely than not to play it incorrectly!

STOP being afraid to record yourself!

Recording yourself is an incredibly valuable tool. However, some students tend to avoid it because they aren't satisfied with the way they sound. And I get it; recording yourself can be brutal. But it really is an unbiased look into what you actually sound like. Recording yourself can help you identify progress, hear things that you miss when you're actually playing, and help you figure out what you still need to improve. Don't avoid it just because it can be a little uncomfortable 😉

Which one of these are you guilty of?