Efficiency and “depth” in violin practice
You can watch the video version below.
Today I want to talk about your practice sessions. How do you practice the violin efficiently - or any instrument for that matter? How do you make sure you’re not wasting time and not leaving a lot on the table after practicing? Do you know that “icky” feeling after practicing for hours and hours, but feeling like you didn’t progress much?
A few days ago, I received a question from a violin teacher who wanted to know if there is a fast and efficient way to learn new pieces and not be too stressed about it. When you’re a professional musician who has to perform or teach regularly, or someone preparing for auditions or competitions, you have to be quick and efficient.
The answer to the question above is yes - and it might come as a surprise to some of you, because it is simple.
It’s about being able to focus on depth.
I will give you five bullet points on how to do that, starting with exactly this.
Focus. Practicing your instrument requires sustained periods of time in which you must concentrate deeply on your technique - or, if you’re more advanced, also on your artistic output and interpretation. When you’re a student, you need to continuously work on your technique and make things automatic. This requires focus. When you become an artist, you start to create your artistic output with both your mind and, hopefully, your heart. Your hands and body become a medium - a vehicle to transmit it. And guess what? This also requires focus. The great artists of today don’t check their social media constantly while practicing, and the great ones of yesterday didn’t have the distractions we have now. If you don’t know how to resist these distractions and focus deeply, there’s little chance your practice can be effective.
Take a break. There will come a point where you won’t be progressing any further with a piece - or at least not at that given moment. It’s always good to know when to take a break or let things “stew” a bit. When you’re practicing, always try to find something interesting to work on.
Explore other “avenues”. This ties to the previous point - sometimes, you need to make progress in other “avenues” in order to get unstuck in your main one. This can truly open new horizons for you. For example, my avenues might include working on different bow touches, exploring various sensations in my fingertips, really listening to the resonances of my violin, playing the same piece with different bows- or simply putting the violin back in its case and going to watch a movie instead. Find your own avenues.
Squeeze everything out of your practice. When you want to become a great musician, you have to squeeze every last drop out of your practice session. Otherwise, you might be leaving a lot on the table. The sessions don’t have to be too long - if you truly make the most out of them, you won’t be able to maintain deep focus for too long anyway. There is much more to practicing than merely learning a new piece or learning it as fast as possible.
And finally, listen to your gut. If you’ve had a good, efficient practice session, you’ll know it.
Conclusion: Your practicing should have a purpose and make sense! Playing the violin requires truly fine craftsmanship and detailed work. So take your time to go deep. Don’t get caught in the cycle of preparing pieces quickly but without much attention. Try to produce recordings and play concerts that really make an impact on your audience - and on you, the artist - because that’s the real point of it. But also know when to stop and do something else, because sometimes, it’s already good enough.
Most of you are here because you’d like to learn how to practice more efficiently - and I wish I could give you an easy answer. But I’m also making these videos to have a conversation with myself. Regardless, I hope I’ve provided you with some insights to consider in your own practice, and that my reflections have been helpful to you. Thanks for reading.
Let me know what you think about this post in the comments - and if you got value of it, I warmly invite you to share it with your friends.
