I didn't know that Ole was going to send this to the list, but I'm glad that he did. In a series of messages that I've been having between Ole and Greg Alley, I've started to gain some clarity in the shortfalls of my daily practice. Greg has adapted some very well conceived ideas about "knowing" why you practice a particular exercise. He has developed for himself a set of 3X5 index cards for every aspect of his practice day spelling out the What, How, and Why for a particular exercise.
I took his lead, and developed the What, How, Who, When, Where, and Why questions related to Maintaining a Practice Log. This of course is my slant on this topic, but certainly gives some relevant aspects of an important tool that can be used by all players (whatever your playing level).
I am going to continue this exercise for myself, and develop the more standard topics: Long Tones, Lip Slurs, Articulation, Scales, etc. By asking myself the What, How, and Why questions, I will have a very clear understanding of each exercise that I do every day. I'm sure that we all have a feel for the How and Why of most exercises, but after I completed this writing task for myself about the Practice Log, I really learned something (critical thought scores big points again). I think we would all get much more out of our practice day if we each did this for the specific exercises that we practice daily. Especially when it comes to making those important priority decisions when practice time is limited ["I don't have time to do everything today, and I know that I must play the following exercises/music at a minimum (This would be based on the writing that you had done concerning each element of your practice day")].
I'm going to write about many of these individual topics for myself
over the Holiday break. It might be a good "assignment" for all of
us! We could compare notes after the break!
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona
- -----Original Message-----
From: Ole J. Utnes [mailto:Ole.J.Utnes@hive.no]
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2000 7:48 AM
Subject: [TPIN] Trumpet Practice
Derek Reaban wrote an excellent article called:
"An Introduction to Maintaining a Practice Log and Recording Practice"
This article is part of a resource page called "Trumpet Practice"
The page is made in "homage" to trumpet player Eddie Lewis (Eddie used to be on TPIN) We both got inspired to construct a better practice by Eddies two books "Daily Routine" and "The Physical Trumpet Pyramid."
Also TPIN'er Chase Sanborn's work is part of this inspiration. We have asked Eddie & Chase if they take "their own medicine"?
Have a look.
Comments are welcome. (+ tips about other resources etc.)
Ole