Practicing methods..

[Ken Smith]

I think we should talk about practice methods for Orchestra works. Please share your opinions as well as the good and bad as far as what has worked for you and what has not.

I know there are several high level pros teaching this very subject as far as methods and efficiencies go. Lets get them down here in print.

For me, when I get a new piece of music that I have not yet rehearsed I have a few things I do at the start.

First, I look it over for various things like tempos, key changes, time sgnatures and difficult passages. This is mainly for something I have never seen or heard.

Next, I work on the difficult passages to learn the notes, bowings and fingerings. Once I have that under my fingers I work on it in tempo, slow to fast up to speed.

Once I 'think' I can play it I look for a You Tube recording of it and try playing along with it. If I find more than one recording, I try them as well if the tempos are different or the sound is better. Not everything on You Tube is of the best quality so I just try and make do.

After playing with the recording I can see the trouble spots and then go back to the music and work on those sections. Then, back to the recording over and over till I can play along with it.

If I am having trouble with notes, rhythms or fingerings I might put the bow down and just work it out that way. Once I feel I have it, I pick up the bow and add the stick-factor in.

Dynamics are the last thing that 'I' usually get into. Everything else just seems hard enough so I usually save that for the rehearsals and see how things go. The You Tube recordings are too difficult to hear when playing to get the dynamics down to any performance level.

Once I get to rehearsal and have other basses around me, the difficulty starts all over again. If most of them have it and I don't it might throw me off audibly once we all come in on the downbeat. If some or most don't have it down and I do on the first downbeat, then I have to fight thru 'their' mistakes. I am not sure what's harder. Trying to play when your learning it 'live' with a section that can play or, fight the players beside me that can't play it or haven't practiced enough before the first run through.

I think being prepared as best as possible is always the way to go. Don't depend on someone in the section holding you up. It's not like riding a cloud at all. Your own playing mistakes can throw you off just as much as someone else's mistakes.

Did I mention using a metronome? Well, that's also a tool I use as well as the subdivisions. If in 3 but conducted in 1, I might practice in a fast 3 to help but later do it in 1 once I have it down.

Basically, whatever works, I'm up for trying. I don't always choose the most efficient method but I plow thru the material most of the time and show up prepared. I said 'most' of the time'!;)

[Thomas Erickson]

What he said... except -

Unless a piece has some very odd or difficult segments, I'd rather not listen to a recording of it. That's assuming it is something I haven't heard/played before; I kind of prefer to play it "by the book" as much as possible, at first, and see how it's going to come together with the orchestra. A better known piece obviously I'd like to hear as many interpretations as possible so as to be prepared for whatever bizarre mangling might be asked... :D

That said, what I do like to do is get ahold of the complete score if I can and not only read it through several times ahead, but have it on the stand as well. That way I don't have to be wondering WTF is going on with other sections or rely on them to be getting things straight, at least as they may relate to me or the bass section as a whole.

[Ken Smith]

What he said... except -

Unless a piece has some very odd or difficult segments, I'd rather not listen to a recording of it. That's assuming it is something I haven't heard/played before; I kind of prefer to play it "by the book" as much as possible, at first, and see how it's going to come together with the orchestra. A better known piece obviously I'd like to hear as many interpretations as possible so as to be prepared for whatever bizarre mangling might be asked... :D

That said, what I do like to do is get ahold of the complete score if I can and not only read it through several times ahead, but have it on the stand as well. That way I don't have to be wondering WTF is going on with other sections or rely on them to be getting things straight, at least as they may relate to me or the bass section as a whole.

In the main Orchestra I play in we get the music about a month in advance of the first rehearsal. Then about a month later we rehears on Monday, Thursday, Friday and perform the Concert on Saturday.

With so little time to hear what's happening with the Orchestra or section I use YouTube or CD recordings to practice with before the first rehearsal. If something is way off on that first Monday it may be difficult to fix by Thursday. It's best to know what you are getting into by the Monday downbeat.

On occasion we get only 2 rehearsals and maybe once a year or two we get 4 rehearsals if it's in the budget for a major works.

This is NOT a Community Orchestra where they play once a week for a month or two before. This is a Regional local Orchestra that works only for the week of each concert. Practice and learning (or knowing) what to play is expected to be under the fingers by the the first rehearsal.

If you mess up, you will loose the Job for what ever that's worth.

[Thomas Erickson]

If you mess up, you will loose the Job for what ever that's worth.

For sure! :eek:

I don't think there's any problem with listening to or playing along with recordings beforehand at all; it's probably a good way to go. I personally have found it, at times though, distracting to have a certain interpretation of the music in my head going in - I find that it's more effective (for me) to study the material as it's written and woodshed as needed, and then adapt anything that needs tweaking for the interpretation/performance at hand - just kind of a more "direct" path, almost like if I get a particular interpretation in my head first, then before I can get on board with what's being asked I have to "undo" my thinking rather than working from my own, albeit perhaps flawed, study.

I think it is undoubtedly just a matter of how different people learn, like how some pick up material better from lecture and others from text, and still others do best by observation; a healthy balance of each being the most successful for all involved, I'd say...