Practice Makes...

In spite of what the proverb says, practice does not make perfect. There is always something that can be improved, especially for an amateur musician. In fact, it's probably true for the vast majority of professional musicians as well. What practice does do is make better music.

Since the NFA Convention, my friend Jonathan and I have been engaged in an ongoing discussion about practicing. Both of us are working toward settling into a consistent routine of practice that includes both technique and fun. Jonathan has had more formal training than I have, both in terms of years of study and in terms of content. He's had theory and composition along with performance training, and he did some of in France. I've had six years of formal lessons, the last of which was over 20 years ago, and I always felt like I was playing catch up. G minor scale? Ummmm...

When asked, I'll say that I'm pretty much a middling amateur when it comes to the flute. A couple of years ago I was asked to play a Mozart trio at church. The other two musicians were a professional bassoonist and a child prodigy violinist. When we sight read through two trios to choose one, I managed to keep up. I was reminded again that I sight read better than I think when I attended the flute choir reading sessions at the NFA Convention. I've played for weddings and church services. I'm not a bad musician, but I could be better.

For the last 20 years "practice" has been pulling out things I like and playing them for 15 or 20 minutes three or four days a week. Unless, of course, I had a gig. Then I would practice at least 30 minutes every day until the performance. After that I'd take a break until I felt like playing again.

Attending the NFA Convention gave me a lot to think about. The workshops I attended that were geared toward amateurs talked about practicing technique--the "icky stuff," as one presenter called it--even if only for 5 minutes a day. Intonation, articulation, and scales all help us make music. I returned home determined to start a more regular practice routine, including the dreaded Taffanel-Gaubert exercises!

I've been practicing 30 minutes a day. Right now that consists of 10 minutes working on Taffanel-Gaubert #4, 10 minutes on Frederick the Great's/Quantz's 100 Daily Exercies, and 10 minutes playing fun stuff--mostly traditional dance music (jigs, reels, etc.). I'll vary what I'm working on, and any gigs that come my way would alter what and how long I practice. But my aim is to keep a balance of technique and stuff I like to play.

Because I live in an apartment and don't like to practice after 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. in deference to my neighbors, that can put a crimp in my practice time.

Or used to.

At the Convention Linda Chesis led an Over 30 Open Master Class in which she gave everyone a plastic drinking straw and showed us how to use it to work on articulation and intonation. Interesting, I thought. I was still a little skeptical even after having seen first hand how it helped improve a musicians playing pretty much immediately. So last night I did't get home until 10:00 p.m. Since I couldn't practice with my flute, I thought I'd give the straw thing a try. I spent 15 or so minutes "playing" through Taffanell-Gaubert #4. Today when I started to work on the scales with the flute, I noted a discernable improvement in both my articulation and my intonation.

So even on days when I can't practice with the flute, I can still practice. Every little bit helps.

As does having a friend to talk with about practicing and receive (as well as give) encouragement as I work toward becoming a better musician.