Practicing

A lot of students (or more often their parents) ask how much they should practice. I think that is not the most important question about practice. The real question is how do I practice so that I improve? If you practice an hour a day running through your assigned pieces, playing out of tune, with incorrect rhythms, what you will gain in those hours is solidifying how to play out of tune of tune and out of rhythm. If you are doing this with the added benefit of poor posture and a collapsed hand position you will have also helped solidify habits that hold back your progress. If this is your practice habits-more time at it will not lead to improvement.

It would be better to practice fewer hours, but fully focused on the areas you or your teacher have identified for improvement. If it's standing up straight with the violin up on your shoulder (not drooping the scroll in the front towards the floor), a week of 5 minutes a day in front of the mirror practicing placing the violin into playing position and then playing open strings (or a simple exercise or tune) while staying in good posture is likely to have more long term positive impact than playing your pieces without focus on posture.

While clearly eventually you will need to practice more, it is most important to have a goal for each practice and focus on noticing and fixing mistakes, intonation, rhythm and improving any technique you are currently learning.

Younger children will likely need their parents to help in this process (with teacher direction on what to watch or listen for). Older students will learn that they are their own teacher during practice.

To answer the question of how much practice time: it depends on age and level, as well as your teacher's recommendations. I usually recommend 15-20 minutes for beginners (less if they are very young), 30 minutes for advanced beginners and intermediate players, and 45 minutes to two hours for students who wish to advance. Students progress well with 45 minutes daily, but if they are looking to win auditions or go to music school more time will be required. If a student is only practicing 2-3 times a week (fairly common for kids with multiple activities), I do encourage at least taking the instrument out daily for a 5-10 minute practice, in addition to the few days of full practices. Even very short daily practice will lead to faster improvement than occasional long practices.

Practice is the key to success and enjoyment. It should feel like a creative and nurturing endeavor that engages your mind and heart. Seeing progress in your playing will make it worthwhile and make playing more fun.

Happy Practicing!