It’s About Time

In this month’s article I want to talk about working with a metronome. I have always felt that if you’re a good listener and have a great feel and sense of good timing, other musicians will love to play with you.

Go Practice!

How many times have you heard your teacher or mom or dad say this and you think to yourself, “OK, now what?”. When I took lessons as a young student many years ago, I constantly asked this question. I would go to my room, pick up my sticks, and play around a little thinking I had “practiced”, but when I got to my next lesson I never played my assignments as well as I wanted. Has this happened to you? It can be very frustrating! So, I thought I would share with you some fun practice ideas you can use throughout the week before your next lesson to better prepare. Because when you play well in your lesson, the lesson is much more fun! Give them a shot and see what you think!

Making The Most of Your Practice Time

You put a lot of time, effort, and expense into learning to play the best that you can. And you know that the best way to get even better is the same way you get to Carnegie Hall (at least according to the old joke)-practice, practice, practice. But, bad practice is not much better than no practice at all. Make all your hard work pay off by practicing smart. Don’t just log in long hours of unfocused and unproductive flailing. Here are some suggestions to help you make the most out of your practice time. Follow them, and your practice will be more efficient, more effective, and (sometimes) more fun.