Practice Tips #1: A Musician Should Live by Frizzle's Law

Hey guys, Sulli here with the first Practice Tips in a while. I'm going to make this an actual series now, and will have its own tab and picture soon but let's start off slowly. First, let me say I am a 90's kid, so I will use a lot of 90's-00's references when I'm writing these tips so bear with me if you don't quite get them at first. Anyone who has been in a science class at all since the mid-late 80's will recognize this first reference.

                                                  

So, let me go ahead and say one of the biggest problems that I see in students that I've taught or have studied with. They aren't confident enough with their instrument and/or not confident enough with their playing. I, too, have had my fair share of these sorts of mishaps and still do from time to time as well, however what got me through that was with a little saying; live by Frizzle's Law. Now, as you can probably guess I'm referring to Mrs. Frizzle from "Magic School Bus". Her most famous saying is to "take chances, make mistakes, and get messy" and I see it as the perfect example to practice and sight read by.First we have “take chances”. I see this as, "Don't be afraid to take a chance on something new. Do it because you know no matter what, you will benefit from it.” Use this as a way to see a mistake in the practice room or from sight reading as menacing. One will never grow as a musician, or a human being, if they don’t ever look at something new and say it’s too hard. Personally, I love to go for new stuff. I look for the most challenging pieces I can find and try to play through them. If they are completely out of my league then I put it down and come back to it whenever I think I think it’s just the right amount of challenging. That, too, is another point I need to stress as well. If it’s entirely out of your league then don’t force yourself to play it. One should know his or her strengths and weaknesses however don’t ignore it because you think it’s too hard. Give it a look over, or try to play through it. If you can’t make it through, then don’t push yourself too hard.

Next we have, “make mistakes”. Now, in this case I don’t mean to make them intentionally while performing or repeatedly make them when you should have fixed them in the first place. By this part, I mean “Don’t be afraid to make a mistake when practicing because something is too difficult”, or “Don’t let making a mistake in a performance throw you off your zone”. Don’t let a mistake make you frustrated while practicing. Remember that you are simply practicing a piece, not performing it so should there be one then note it and work on it more. A good musician knows when a mistake is from not practicing enough, and when it’s an honest mishap (yes, they will happen whether you’re ready or not). When it is an honest mistake, and you are in a situation where it would not be in the best interest to stop playing then don’t stop. Don’t let a mistake throw you off your zone.

Finally, we must remember to, “get messy”. This doesn’t mean to get messy with your technique, but “Don’t be afraid to sight read music because it might sound messy”. Don’t forget that you are practicing for a performance which shouldn’t sound messy. One should get messy when it comes to practicing and sight reading because the piece shouldn’t be performed messy.

So, as you have hopefully seen this thought can be used as a good mentality to practice with whenever one may need it. If you like what you have read then don’t forget to Subscribe to the blog via email, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or SoundCloud. As always, thanks for reading and remember to fear the cellos!