V.com weekend vote: With just 15 minutes, what would you practice?
If you had only 15 minutes to practice, what would you work on?
First of all, let me just reassure you that yes, a 15-minute practice session is indeed worthwhile. It is better to get in at least some practice on a busy day, than to neglect the fiddle altogether!
But what to do when time is that limited?
There are a few options: the first that comes to mind for me is scales, simply because that is usually how I warm up. So if I'm just doing the first part of my practice and not the rest, then I would probably simply do my Galamian acceleration scales and leave it at that. It exercises the fingers, reinforces intonations, and I always add in number of bowings (detache, spiccato, ricochet), so it also gives my right hand a bit of exercise.
But if I'm in the middle of an orchestra week, and just have 15 minutes on a given day? I would probably spend the entire time looking at passages from the orchestra music. Or, if I were playing a solo at church, I might just play through that.
I'll confess, it's a rare occasion when my top priority is to play an etude, but I certainly would see the merit in that, especially if you have one that addresses a particular technique.
And also - I'm remembering my student days, when a teacher was re-working my bow arm - during that period of time, I was playing open strings while concentrating very deeply on a certain type of martelé bowing: bow direction, a perfectly pure tone, a bit of "weight," etc. Fifteen minutes of deep concentration on a very particular aspect of technique can be quite valuable.
For the vote, let's just think about this week. If you had just 15 minutes to practice, given your current goals and/or workload, what would you practice? Please participate in the vote and then tell us about it in the comments.
Thank you to Susanna Klein for this idea for this week's vote! If you have an idea for the Weekend Vote, please e-mail Laurie!
You might also like:
- Efficient practicing for the time-crunched
- The Science and Art of Practicing: with Molly Gebrian and Shelly Tramposh
- Practicing or Wasting Time: Learning the Art of Teaching Yourself
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Replies
Scales, I never miss them ever,
My technical routine takes more than 15 minutes, so my default answer will be; the hard spots on tomorrow's concert.
Right now I'm only taking lessons but I'm involved in so many other things in my life that some times I only have 15 or 20 min. at a time to practice. I answered "something else" because I always start with scales and then move on to the piece I'm working on.
On days I have no time, I like doing a completely cold play-through of whatever it is I'm working on. The idea is that the weakest points will show themselves this way, and then I can mark them up and know exactly what I need to work on in the next "proper" practice. That's in a perfect world. In a less-than-perfect world I decide I will remember and often don't.
I can’t answer with one thing. I believe it is better to start with bowing, even the smallest amount, to ‘find your sound’ for the day. So I would do a couple of exercises , maybe from Fischer’s ‘Tone ‘. The most efficient warm up of the left hand for me is exercises in 5ths from Rodney Friends book. But apply that approach to the one string 2? Octave scale exercises from Sammons book. I would also play the Schradieck two pages fairly quickly. Then absolutely play Bach. Probably the c major allegro assai, stopping to repeat the complex bowing on open strings only before a final performance. That is a bit of everything in 15 minutes….
I voted "something else", because if I only had 15 minutes to practice, it would depend on what I need to work on the most urgently, whether that be solo music, ensemble stuff, technical work, etc.
I said orchestra music because I play in a community orchestra and when you join an orchestra you've made a commitment. I'm the CM and I really do need to know the parts.
My "15 minutes" can take longer, but I prioritize technique, which can be scale-type exercises done with different bowings and rhythms, and my own arpeggio exercises, which double back and forth, morphing into double stops, in my key of the day. At the moment I'm using a little book by Michael Gatward called "Practising the Violin" which is a condensed version of much of the technique I know and love.
If there's any more time, then I've starting reviewing/learning better Paganini #16, which is really more etude than caprice.
Other weeks, then of course, other priorities, like string quartet or Sonata repertoire.
I think it's about personal circumstances. I'd have to keep up my orchestral social life. No point in playing perfect scales without any context.
However, if you are suggesting 15 minutes of practice plus a few hours of "performance" (i.e. "bad" practice), that might change things. I could probably get away with "performing" my orchestral music and practising something else. Sorry, I responded to the poll without reading the full blurb.
Well, the blurb implies I'm only playing for 15 minutes, so my orchestral answer stays.
I'm glad it's going out of fashion for forumistas to cite thousands of etudes. As I've often said, in 7 or 8 years of piano playing I was only ever prescribed 2 or 3 etudes, and in a year with my current teacher I've only been given Kreutzer #2 so far. I count schradieck and sevcik (op.8) as exercises.
A Haydn quartet.
I’m having a couple of weeks like this !
In the 15-20 minute windows I have I’m fitting in about half on a random selection from Simon Fischer’s Warming Up , then either some upcoming orchestral excerpts or some concerto or unaccompanied Bach refreshment, depending on my mood.
If I’m lucky enough to have an extra 10 minutes I’ll skip the Simon Fischer in favour of a very focussed Galamian Acceleration scale in whichever key the concerto/Bach I’m refreshing is in.
Since I don't perform anymore, my playing is more about music that I like to play and preparing for lessons I provide.
With only 15 minutes I'll put Vocalese, or some of the Mazas duets on my stand. These give me pleasure and, at 77 with osteoarthritis, glaucoma, and no "grand plans" -- giving myself pleasure in playing is what it's all about.
When I have more time, I'll start a new-to-me duet (I play duets with my student) or start a totally new piece that I heard on the radio that sounded interesting. Also prepare for this week's upcoming lesson.
Yeah it's boring, but nice boring...
Carl Flesch scales and then either orchestra music or else a study.
I'm still a beginner so my answer is scales.
I'm a bit surprised and disappointed that so few respondents like to practise or just play through chamber (small ensemble) music when given a short window of opportunity. Actually I don't think I've ever had "just 15 minutes" at my disposal although I may choose to play only for that time, just for the musical kick.
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February 23, 2025 at 07:48 PM · Technical exercises. I do bow-arm warm-ups first, then Schradieck drills, vibrato exercises, shifts, double-stops. A start-up routine with these elements takes me about 20 minutes - I’m sure I could compress it to 15 easily. Once I’m warmed up this way, then I’m ready to review 3-octave scales.