Dear Hans, You are, of course, entirely correct, and will get no argument from me. As my response to the comment about belief and the placebo effect was toungue-in-cheek, I did not fully develop my idea.
I intended, though perhaps too subtly, to point out the dual sides of the practice coin - quantity and quality. I assure you I have, in collaboration with my teacher, developed a pattern of practice very much in keeping with your recommendations. Mindless repetition has little value - something I am aggressively working to teach my boys, one of whom plays Horn, and the other trumpet. If I don't, they tend to play through their lesson material and then wonder what to do with the other 20 minutes of their daily 30 minute practice assignment. They still think I am crazy when I tell them that if they really focused on their work intelligently, they could practice for an hour and not feel like they were done (though the 14 year old Horn player is starting to catch on). They are both getting professional lessons - something I never had the opportunity when I was growing up (well - my band instructors were professional - but not Horn players - and with minimal resources to work with - they did their best). The "boring factor" for the boys is not from lack of material, but as yet undeveloped musical imagination. Still - there is no way I can get an effective, intelligent, targeted practice in, without a commitment to the time needed to do it. And it isn't enough to do once in a while - It really has to be almost daily (Oh, if only I were wealthy enough that I didn't have to pay the bills with a non-horn playing job). Skills and patterns get ingrained and reinforced by repetition. The lip has more strength and endurance by giving it long workouts. And tone improves as I no longer have to consciously think about the mechanics of producing it. Have I arrived? No! In fact, the further I go, the more I realize just how far I have to go. But I continue to make progress. On a nearly unrelated note, I am anticipating the experience tonight of listening to one of the world's leading orchestras play Mahler 6! Timothy A. Johnson Campus Technologies Northwestern College St. Paul, Minnesota http://tajohnson.org -----Original Message----- From: hans Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 12:56 AM To: 'The Horn List' Subject: RE: [Hornlist] Beyond Belief Were you right as believing "lots of time practising" woulds make a better player? No, you were not right, as this requires the right way of practising. This method of hammering in things, is useless, absolutely useless. <snip> But just hammering in pieces, if things (technique) are not prepared yet, off course, this consumes a lot of time & energy. And there is no placebo as a substitute. Clever practising is less time consuming, less boring, less tiring. And it can enrich otherwise wasted boring time. _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
