how to practice…
It’s not uncommon to never really learn how to practice. I wrote an article before named “goin’ to the shed” - a spin on the idea of ‘woodshedding’, something musicians have to do when learning music.
There are many ideas, articles, books and information out there from some of the best pedagogues of horn. A quick Google search surely pulls up a few.
Nonetheless, here are is a quick guide for practicing that anyone can use:
give your music a good look-over, doing prep work before you pick up your horn will save time and chops!
*check out the key and time signature, look for mixed meter, key changes, complicated rhythms, accidentals, and range (is there bass clef? transposition?)
write in things that will keep you from making mistakes you’ll have to undo later such as accidental, rhythm beats, articulations, even fingerings if it helps the ease of a passage
I will often sing/clap rhythms BEFORE I sightread a piece to already have an idea of what’s coming
play sections under tempo with a metronome
identify the hardest parts so you know where most of the work will be (don’t always start at the beginning)
Once you have an idea of what you’re dealing with, you can isolate what will take the most attention.
A great analogy is to think of going across the country in your car.
You know the address (think destination: musically equivalent to right notes, right partials, right rhythms, etc).
Not practicing is jumping in the drivers seat without a map, without GPS, without a phone and stepping on the gas driving aimlessly to the other coast.
Practicing is knowing where you’re going, but more importantly how you’re getting there.
Where are the turns? What’s the speed limit? Are there speed traps? road construction? gas stations to stop at? Would be wise to just drive off and hope for the best?
So, back to isolating the hard parts. Here are some ideas on that:
slow the metronome way down to a manageable tempo and increase speed little by little every day
if the difficulty is in the high register, practice an octave lower to get it in your ear
if it’s a transposition problem, play in F first; likewise, if it’s a stopped horn passage, play open first
look for alternate fingerings
sing, buzz, play: work at a piano and sing the part, then buzz along (slurred and all tongued each respectively) perfecting accuracy and tone as much as possible, then play again
change up the rhythm: swing the passages and alternatively try the inverse rhythm
change up the articulations making sure that air is not sacrificed
blow wind patterns with the printed articulations to make sure your air is strong and consistent
