82
votes
Accepted
Do advanced musicians still practice scales every day?
My father was a French horn player for the New York Phil and later the Pittsburgh Symphony. It was a rare day when he didn’t go down to the basement and play a series of scales and arpeggios, ...
- 1,072
69
votes
Will playing without mistakes at all become easy for me in the future?
Consider the wise words of Ira Glass:
Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is ...
- 791
67
votes
Hands-separate piano practice doesn't seem to help with hands-together playing
Your experience is quite typical. Playing two hands at the same time is completely different than playing both separately.
But the point of learning parts separately is NOT about making it easier to ...
- 1,430
62
votes
Will playing without mistakes at all become easy for me in the future?
If your aim is to record smooth performances without having to do too many takes, the simple answer to that is to perform pieces that are comfortably within your capabilities, rather than pieces where ...
- 45.7k
59
votes
How to avoid stopping when I play a wrong note on the piano
The source of the problem
The most common cause I've encountered for this kind or problem is practicing primarily from the beginning a piece.
The "mechanical" solution
Beginners tend to ...
- 71.5k
57
votes
Accepted
How to play songs that contain one guitar when we have two or more guitarists?
Some alternatives from the top of my head
Double the guitar part on both guitars
Double the bass part on one guitar
Split the roles inside the chord: guitar 1 plays power chords (root and fifth only),...
- 26.1k
56
votes
Do advanced musicians still practice scales every day?
I'm told that my great-grandmother, a professional pianist, practiced her scales for some hours each day. I don't think that you're "ever done," unless you've decided to quit playing.
As with any ...
- 9,126
49
votes
Accepted
What is this metal M-shaped device for?
It's a clip that you use to hold music books open on the stand, like so:
- 22k
39
votes
Do advanced musicians still practice scales every day?
Supposedly Heifetz said, "If I skip practicing one day, I notice the difference. If I skip two days, the critics notice. If I skip three, the public notices."
- 24.2k
39
votes
I have been practicing a song for 3 hours straight but I keep making mistakes. How can I get it right?
Three hours at one session! Unless you're the sort of person who can concentrate really well for that length of time, you've wasted at least some of it. Harsh, but realistic. Most of us cannot give ...
- 184k
36
votes
Accepted
When practicing on my instrument - which is more important - quantity or quality?
Wrong reps create wrong results. DO NOT play fast and wrong. Practice as slowly as you need to to avoid wrong notes. This is very important.
The reason that you need to practice in the first ...
- 9,126
36
votes
Accepted
How to minimize the pain for a beginning guitar student so they won’t give up before they develop calluses?
Learning the guitar as a beginner has many inherent challenges from the very start.
For one, you are asking the new guitar student to teach their brain how to tell their fingers to contort in very ...
- 27k
34
votes
Why can't I sing high notes as a young female?
You could be not reaching those high notes for any of these reasons:
You are young and your voice is still developing
your vocal technique is bad
you're doing the wrong exercises and over-straining ...
- 16.8k
33
votes
Hands-separate piano practice doesn't seem to help with hands-together playing
As a piano teacher for more than 50 years I can assure you that you are not alone! Many students have the same experience, though quite a few do not. Of the hundreds I have taught I would say it ...
- 2,561
31
votes
How can I learn to compose?
Don't get hung up on 'learning theory' or 'not learning theory'. What you want to do is gain knowledge about music, so you can use that knowledge to produce music. In the field of music, some of that ...
- 45.7k
30
votes
Accepted
How to prevent one mistake from derailing an entire piece?
You have to practice the skill of playing onwards after making a mistake. You might have to start by having the music in front of you, finding the place where you made the mistake in the music, and ...
- 53.7k
30
votes
Accepted
Is maximum speed a thing?
Almost for sure, the problem is that as you approach upper limits, you exert yourself more. When you're playing fast, your muscles have to relax INSTANTLY (like, already relaxing while you're pushing ...
- 3,933
29
votes
Accepted
Do I need to practice recovery from confusion? How?
I’m surprised I’m the first one to bring up an important practice point that three of my teachers have recommended. Practice starting from different points in the piece. Not only at the beginning a of ...
- 53.7k
26
votes
Importance of using all fingers while playing guitar
There are so many things that I play all the time that I can't figure out how to play with two fingers at all that I wonder if you are mainly playing very specific music.
You will want to be able to ...
- 53.7k
23
votes
Accepted
Is it true that classical musicians are not rhythmical?
From the point of view as a primarily jazz player that later in my career spent a lot of time in an orchestra I think the hypothesis is an oversimplification, and probably due to the eg. pop musicians ...
- 1,224
22
votes
How to minimize the pain for a beginning guitar student so they won’t give up before they develop calluses?
To add to these great answers, I only have one suggestion - climbers chalk
Moisture in the hands leads to blisters. Chalk alleviates moisture build up in the hands and helps to build callouses.
Some ...
- 1,822
20
votes
Accepted
How should one practice a piece that is learned, but not fully mastered?
I suspect that if you keep making random mistakes with a specific piece and you are not generally out of shape (as in, "I have been playing three hours a month for the past six months") you probably ...
20
votes
Will playing without mistakes at all become easy for me in the future?
Practice it at a speed where you CAN play perfectly. If you can't play a section correctly however slowly you go, sort out why. Your fingers are moving to the wrong place. Move them to the RIGHT ...
- 85.4k
20
votes
Does Doodling or Improvising on the Piano Have Any Benefits?
I think you were too harsh. Improvisation is itself a useful skill, especially so if your friend has an interest in jazz. Trying new things can also help with composition - I'd imagine most music ...
- 554
20
votes
Accepted
Do they make "karaoke" versions of concertos for solo practice?
These types of recordings are usually called or "play-alongs" or "play-a-longs." A company called Music Minus One has been making classical music play-alongs since the 1950s.
The company is now owned ...
- 6,448
20
votes
What did bebop masters practice?
A quick note at the beginning--it's important to remember that the solos a bebop musician plays are not exclusively the result of practiced notes. They are a result of ideas one hears, intuitions one ...
- 11.1k
19
votes
Accepted
Does Doodling or Improvising on the Piano Have Any Benefits?
I do perhaps see where you are coming from - 7 hours a day certainly is a big investment, and there can be a risk in doodling (and, for that matter, noodling) in that your fingers follow the same ...
- 45.7k
19
votes
My child's violin practice is making us tired, what can we do?
The first thing to note is that learning to play a musical instrument should be a pleasure not a punishment. There is nothing to be gained and much to be lost by forcing her to play / practice.
The ...
- 5,562
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible