Posted by Gary P. on June 30, 1999 at 11:12:14:
In Reply to: Re: PRACTICE!!! posted by Bryan on June 30, 1999 at 01:48:31:
I took my first lesson from a well-known professional when I was in high school. The first thing he asked me was how many hours a day I practiced. I said between 4 and 6. And indeed I did have the horn on my face all of that time. He looked at me with a smile and asked, "OK..now..how many of those 4-6 hours are actually 'practicing'?" At first I was confused, but he explained that the mind has a limit on how long it can concentrate. Once this limit is reached, you are merely going through the motions. He had me cut my practice time in half and instead practice 2-3 hours, but INTENSELY.
The amount of practice time is not the main thing, although I think 2 hours would have to be the minimum. I think it has more to do with the intensity and structure of your practice sessions. Try breaking your practice up into digestible chunks. 30 minutes of warmups/basics in the am...an hour on technical studies/etudes....then an hour or two on solos/excerpts/etc.
This to me seems an ideal way to tackle every aspect of playing and at the same time you have the horn on your face all day, just not continuously.
Good luck!