15
Your question assumes that the current standard is to use electronics as an aid. They can be helpful but a musician must be able to hear the correct tones. This takes time and practice to get right and there are exercises and techniques for achieving very good relative pitch. Relying on electronics to do this is actually detrimental to a musician's ...
12
I agree with other answers that the speed to practice scales at is the speed where you can play them accurately, evenly, smoothly, and cleanly.
Beyond that, when you ask what the goal should be in terms of speed or where "diminishing returns" set in, I would counter by asking you, "Why are you practicing scales in the first place? What are you trying to ...
10
It's usually better to practise regularly (say 5 days a week?) and only as long as you can retain your concentration and focus. That's obviously a very individual thing. Shorter, regular sessions are better than intermittent long ones. You have to work out your own balance. Try to get into a routine - eg. start with scales and arpeggios, then exercises ...
7
You are missing the difference in society between 1800 and today. In 1800, people learning the violin would usually either be the children of professional or amateur musicians, or members of the upper class who employed private tutors for every aspect of their childrens' education, including music.
So the student would be learning in an environment where ...
7
The speed you should be doing them at is the speed at which you can do them accurately and evenly. Once you get comfortable doing them at that speed, notch it up a bit - never going faster than you can handle. Don't just practise the ones that you are good at and know well. Spare time and energy to get the trickier ones just as good.
There is no rule ...
6
The absolute best exercise to train your relative pitch is to sing music on some kind of movable system.
This is because movable systems—like movable do and scale-degree numbers—teach you the function of what you're singing, which is ultimately exactly what relative pitch is. (Fixed systems, like fixed do, do not teach function, which is why I believe it's ...
6
Scales are great exercises and warm-up material. They help get fingers flexing, and also help one understand which notes go together diatonically, but that will depend on which scales one plays.
As far as speed is concerned, it is as important to be able to play them slowly and in time as it is to play them fast, albeit accurately. If it's for exam purposes,...
4
You are probably going much too fast, as a beginner.
We don't know what standard you are at after your "unsuccessful tries", but the ABRSM exam syllabus gives speeds for the different grades. If we convert them into 16th note scales (they are given in the syllabus for 8th-note scales) they are:
Grade 1 - 30BPM. 2 - 33. 3 - 40. 4 - 52. 5 - 63. 6 - 76. 7 - ...
3
I agree with Richard learning and training solfege (movable do re mi) practicing all scales and modes and intervals from the same tone. But there is another training that was the greatest benefit to me: By trying to play or notate melodies, tunes of well known songs, and controlling my writing with an instrument. Later you can continue with your own ...
3
I don't see electronics as much help for practice in general. The pitch reference was most likely a piano or a decent flute/recorder: the ability to compare pitches even for different tone colors had so to be trained earlier, which is a definitive advantage.
Not only for hitting the correct pitch (which is far from being the only useful ability improved by ...
2
Here's a different slant—try being a team member. If you know you have an exposed passage coming up, arrange with one of the other trumpet players that they'll do your line for a couple of bars (which will be in the stave) while you gather yourself before coming in above the stave. Also, farm out the high parts so everyone has a go. This is much less ...
2
Playing high is much more about control than strength. You're probably getting tired quickly because you're trying to rely on strength rather than air support and a controlled embouchure.
The best way to improve range is not to work on playing your highest notes, but to work on making slightly lower notes easier. Focus on trying to play high C with as ...
2
It all depends on how good you want to get. If you want to play really well, you have to practice a lot. If you don't care, then you don't need to practice as much.
When you do practice, you need to get the most out of you practice time. You have to make sure you're playing the right exercises in exactly the right way and with full concentration. That often ...
2
Since you're asking for warm-ups, not 'how to'...
I sing in half a dozen throat styles, especially syzgyt.
After studying Hefele a few years back, I moved on to analyzing the intervals I could achieve with vowels (caps are long): I-U II-i III-E IV-o V-A VI-O VII-a VIII-U and minors iii-e v-u vi-O.
With that you can do solfege warm-ups: DU Di DE Do DA DO ...
2
Same way they mostly do now. There's not much use of electronic aids.
2
Skimming through the existing replies, I'd also like to add that practising scales induce Discipline as a pianist. Especially true if you want to be a professional pianist or classical pianist (hobby or professional).
Practising scales help with lots of other small things such as techniques, music theory, sight-read so on and so forth. But to be good at ...
2
Let me try to unpack the quotation a bit.
Romantic characteristics:
"Chromatic expansion": more possibilities for use of chromaticism, in context, I think this refers mostly to harmonic patterns (like chromatic chord progressions you wouldn't generally find in Bach or Mozart, for example)
"Development of striking elaborations of linear tonal syntax": "...
2
I concur with the other answers that you are looking for movable system ear training, even if all you want is to improve your internal tuner. As Richard pointed out, a movable system teaches you the function of each note within the context of the scale. Once you have a feeling for this function, you will have a much easier time recognizing when you are not ...
1
The Main Characteristics of Romantic Music
https://www.rpfuller.com/gcse/music/romantic.html
Freedom of form and design. It was more personal and emotional.
Song-like melodies (lyrical), as well as many chromatic harmonies and
discords.
Dramatic contrasts of dynamics and pitch.
Big orchestras, due mainly to brass and the invention of the valve.
Wide ...
1
It's not strictly necessary to use an electronic tuner to tune a violin! In fact, getting all strings in tune with each other is quite enough, even in the early stages - provided the strings aren't too loose or tight!
And that can be a good way to start listening to the notes it produces - the P5 sound.
Playing violin needs concentration on the sound ...
1
How did beginning students practice hitting the right notes?
One doesn't need an electronic tuner or recording to check their intonation. When the violin, a tuning fork or a wind instrument, or even a piano, could be used, though the piano would go out of tune with time, though relatively slowly.
When one is playing, one can listen to the interference / ...
1
Can you play anything at 16th notes + 130 bpm speed?
If not then you need to polish your chops. Some comments have suggested that if you just play the passage slow and slowly speed up it will come up to speed. For the most part that is the correct way to get a new piece learnt to speed. But that also assumes that your foundation does not have a gaps. If ...
1
These are all good answers. @michael-curtis makes the key point regarding thoughtful as to robotic approaches. Unless you are one of the 1% of the 1% of musicians born with what can only be described as the "gift", then you need to do real work in order to attain any level of competence. Jascha Heifetz has been quoted as saying that if he missed 1 day of ...
1
The usual advice for training prefers frequent but shorter sessions over infrequent long sessions.
It's hard to say exactly what numbers to use. There are psychological factors as play. But, I think a minimum of 20 minutes a day, everyday is a good starting point.
Everyday practice is a goal. You might miss some days. The point is to make it a natural ...
1
Try to focus on relaxing your face muscles and making your air faster. When the note does come out, it shouldn't be forced; it should just be a result of your fast air. I think working up to the note with scales is a good idea, just don't over do it all at once.
1
It is normal that you can reach the higher tones easier when the instrument is cold. Further your lips and muscles are getting tired - also from warming up.
I've seen a video where a trumpeter puts his tongue between the under lip and the teeth to play high notes. The tone is not so fine but at least he is able to reach the notes.
When I am not in form I ...
1
The left hand thumb (1) always plays the D note. So, when you play the first chord (Bb+D) with your left hand 1 3 fingers, keep the 1 (thumb) in the same place when playing the next D eighth notes (2 4 fingers take care of the Bb and C#).
1
No pedal! I guess you are concerned about the octave drop of the 2nd beat B♭(l.h.). Or it might be the third beat B♭ and C♯ which are played at the same time - but it can't be written with both dots on top of each other!
If it's the first, then work at it slowly,, until it can be played without looking. It's muscle memory, whatever that may ...
1
My experience is that you will need to be nasal to sing in the mask. The air flow (which produces the sound) will need to pass through both the mouth and the nose. For sufficient air flow (the amount of air must be huge!) you will need a lot of space inside your mouth (note that it does not mean that your jaw is opened as open as you can!). The space inside ...
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