Posted by Brandon Ostrom on February 22, 2002 at 20:25:23:
Hello. I've been playing Tuba for half a year, and I am putting almost as much time as physically possible in practicing it. ( about 6-8 hours a day) However, I was wondering how I should make better use of the time I have. Though I am playing for the entire, I believe that my focus during this time is not being properly applied. My question is this:
Should I spend the time hammering pieces to perfection, or should I skim over as many pieces as possible to get the general gist of what I should know? (<---- what i've been doing to far)
Hammering to perfection will obviously make me play a given piece better, however I do not believe it will improve my reading, as I find this method only good for learning how to play a particular piece. (I.e. just cause I perfected one doesnt mean i can pick another one and read it really good the first time through). Unless however, I make a combination of the two methods of practice, which would take a whack more time. That is, hammering out as many pieces to perfection as possible.
Thus is my dilema of structure, not time. Any comments welcome. Go nuts
Brandon "who practices enough that his hands are christmas green from holding 30 pounds of brass by the time he is done" Ostrom