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'!