Nr 1 Mistake in Practicing the Violin or Viola

Written by Zlata Brouwer
Published: March 5, 2015 at 3:19 PM [UTC]

People don’t really know what practicing is and because of that... they don’t really practice.

When you start to play the violin or viola, you can play the tunes in your book almost right away. Perhaps at this point your practice consists of playing through the piece three times.

When you play piece, you are playing... not really practicing. You are not focussed on a specific subject. Subjects could be for example bowing, rhythm, intonation or tone.

In the video I demonstrate how people practice without focus and fight themselves through the notes time after time and think they are done practicing.

In the video I also demonstrate how to practice focussed on a specific aspect of your playing and on a tiny fragment of your piece: chords, bowing, timing, rhythm, variations, side exercises etc.

In the end you can play through the piece as part of practicing. This is to bring all the pieces together and to see how the piece has improved is a whole.

When you really want to improve, focus on the specific aspect and/or fragment you want to improve on. After improving, try to fit it into the whole piece.

Is this video helpful to you? Please let me know in the comments below! If you like it, share it with your friends!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions or struggles on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com and I might dedicate a Violin Lounge TV episode to answering your question!