A practice guide written by Anabell, Charlie, Harvey, Mali, Mattie, Olivia, Scarlet, Shway, Sonny, and Yufei, who are Leeds Junior Conservatoire students on the Experience Course for 8-11 year olds. Find out how to get the most out of your practice and make amazing progress with top tips from our talented young students.
1. Always start with a warm ups
- Always warm up away from the instrument, e.g. stretches, check your posture, gently rub your hands. Bring your instrument to you, and always keep a good posture.
- Warm up with your instrument and play slowly at first
2. Develop your technique
- Practice technique exercises slowly at first then build up the speed gradually.
- Work on exercises that are linked to the music you are learning.
- Master the basics first
3. Learn to play rhythms accurately
- Learn how to use a metronome.
- Work out the rhythms.
- Practice the rhythm on its own.
- Play pieces in different time signatures.
4. Play Musically
- Think about how you can bring out the character of the music. Does it need to be loud or soft? Does it need to be more dramatic? Does it need to be calmer?
5. Understand your music
- Analyse your music, work out how it fits together, what are the sections, do any parts repeat? Do you know all the notes?
- Spend part of your practice time reading through your music and not playing it.
- Play your piece on an invisible instrument e.g. air guitar, air harp, air flute.
- Research your music, what else did the composer write? When was it written? Be curious.
- Theory is your friend and helps you understand the music you are playing.
6. Work on the hard bits thoughtfully
- Work in micro sections, sometimes just 2 or 3 notes then add on a bit more building into a bigger chunk.
- Be realistic about how long it may take to learn a hard piece.
- Correct any mistakes until you can play a chunk or section 3 times correctly in a row.
- Slow practice
- Gradually build up the speed
7. Develop a repertoire of pieces
- Play more than your exam pieces, work on different things to develop other skills and to keep your interest in music.
- Sometimes you have to play music you don’t like, but you will still learn from it and become a better musician.
8. Develop your listening skills
- Listen to different recordings of your pieces and keep an open mind, Listening to lots of different types of music.
- Use your ears to work things out as well as reading.
9. Plan and Record your progress
- Have a practice diary, use it to plan your practice, make a note of what goes well, and what your next steps will be.
- Think about what you are working towards
- Record yourself, it is really helpful to hear what you are actually doing rather than what you think you are doing and it is also a great way of realising how much you have improved when you go back to old recordings.
10. Have a positive approach
- Don’t be so confident that you think you don't need help or need to work on something.
- 15 minutes of focused time is better than hours of just playing.
- Enjoy and have fun in your practice.
- Be patient, enjoy the journey
- Always finish with something you love and can do well.
- Celebrate your successes, from just learning a challenging bar to performances.
Find out more about Leeds Junior Conservatoire and the range of courses we run for under 18s
