Everyone knows (or at least they should know) that daily practice is essential for developing any skill. During lessons, you are given valuable knowledge to help you achieve your goals, but if you don’t put those things into practice when you go home, I can promise you, you won’t go very far. I can also promise you that your teacher can tell when you haven’t practiced.
The question is, what exactly is “practicing”? We’ve established that it’s important, but so many students don’t actually know what to do when they go home to practice.
I’ll start with what practicing is not:
- A daily jam session- we are not just playing for fun. In fact, practicing can sometimes be the exact opposite of fun.
- A contest- a key component to practicing is patience. When you try to turn it into a race, you lose that aspect, and in turn, you skip over some of the most important parts of developing your technique and skills.
- A performance- practice time is the prime time to slow down and really work out the issues. Why would you put pressure on yourself to play it perfectly, when there’s no one there to impress?
- A run-through- this is probably the most common mistake. Don’t just play through all your pieces and call it good. Take the time to actually work on them.
When I teach a cello lesson, I try to view it as a “how to practice” lesson. I give my students the tools they will need to not just practice, but to practice effectively (believe me, there is a huge difference). Through my years of practicing the cello, and teaching others to practice, I have developed a sort of outline for what your practice session should look like.
Step One: Start With a Warm-up
Warming up is just like stretching before you run. It helps to tone your muscles and prepare them for longer endurance. There are several different things you can do to warm up: undoubtedly the most common is scales. I like to think of scales as “cello yoga.” The notes are not that hard, so it frees up your brain to focus on things like breathing, relaxation, and good technique. Breathing is actually a very important part of playing any instrument. It helps to connect your body with the music, to actually feel it inside, and to connect with the other musicians you will play with.
Another warm-up I really like is just plain old open string practice. I let my left hand rest on my knee while I alternate playing on each of the open strings of the cello. The point of this exercise is to focus on relaxing the bow hand while using the natural weight of your arm to push down on the string. In my experience, about 80% of your cello problems can be attributed to the bow, so it is especially important to practice good bow technique.
Step Two: Repertoire
The bulk of your practice session will usually consist of practicing repertoire. When you are learning a new piece, there are three main things you need to remember. Let’s call it the “Hierarchy of Musical Needs.” The first thing to focus on is rhythm. I sometimes have students practice a piece while air-bowing along with the recording. This is a great way to practice the rhythm without being distracted by the fingerings. The second thing to learn is the actual notes. A good practice strategy for this is plucking. It’s the same concept as air-bowing; you can focus on the notes without the distraction of the bowing and tone quality. Once you have mastered the bowings and the fingerings separately, you can try putting them together. Again, this is not a run-through or a race. Spend plenty of time working out notes and identifying the spots that need extra practice. There are many good practice techniques you can use to work out tough spots, but that is another topic for another time. The third part of our hierarchy is what I like to call the “fun stuff.” This is musicality and expression. This is why we do what we do. Once you get past the difficulty of the notes, you can find what the music means to you. Try to answer these questions: What do I picture when I hear this piece? What do I feel? How can I convey these things to my audience?
Step Three: Review
Shinichi Suzuki compared learning music to learning a language. We listen, observe, imitate, and over time, our music becomes a second language. When using this approach, review plays an important part in our musical journey. When a baby learns a new word, do they stop saying that word forever? Of course not. In the same way, you should not stop playing a piece after you have learned it. Your repertoire serves to teach you, and you can still learn from it, no matter what level you are at. I can personally say that I have learned more from Twinkle Twinkle Little Star now than I did when I was four years old. Another function of review is to give the student tangible evidence of their progress. There is a sense of pride in being able to easily play a piece that was once a struggle to learn. You can now go back to old pieces and see them with a new lens, with increased musicality, and a greater appreciation.
So there you have it: a simple, three-step process for your practice session. Piece of cake… I’m just kidding. It won’t always be easy, but I promise you it will be worth it. The best things in life require time, effort and patience.
Happy practicing!
Jocelyn Francis, Cellist 
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