Limited practice time

Edited: September 15, 2025, 6:33 PM · Numerous qualified people on this site (Lydia, Buri, Laurie, Susanna, others) have testified as to their own routines when short of time. I'd search that a little if you want to review some of their past remarks.

It's about choices and working with a purpose. If three-octave scales have never really moved the needle for you, then for heaven's sake don't spend a third of your 30 minutes on them. You want things that will really work your hands and develop your ear. If you have a competition coming up then you might have to consider if you can jettison anything else that is putting so much demand on your time. Finally, you probably want to consider some of the "exercises" that people do WITHOUT their violins, like thinking through a difficult passage while you are riding the subway to your $450,000-per-year lawyer job in Midtown.

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Edited: September 15, 2025, 7:20 PM · CKL,
I only wish I could go for 60-90 minutes a day. I do good to get in 30. My 74 year old back and hands won’t take much more than that.
Just as any other task, we have to prioritize. What’s most important to you? Are you using up time scrolling on a cellphone, or playing video games? Is there any wiggle room in your schedule?
There’s a YouTube video about wasting time practicing g. The poster recommended doing the most out of your practice by doing it in little increments. Quality is more important than quantity.
And don’t forget to save some time for fun, for playing VS practicing.
And Paul’s advice of doing hand exercises without the violin or bow is a good idea. I do this every day. They can be done while riding the subway, or driving in a car. (Just keep your eyes on the road)

September 15, 2025, 10:51 PM · I usually practice 60-90 minutes per day but I have had to go shorter; when I do, I will typically focus on some aspect of technique that I'm having trouble with (shifting, pizzicato, etc.), and also run through a short technique exercise like Sevcik, then spend the rest of the time working whatever piece is giving me fits at the moment. Just what seems to work for me, your mileage may vary :)

September 16, 2025, 2:33 AM · Greetings,
I can’t quite get a handle on your situation here. You are talking about orchestral excerpts and concerto for competition and at the same time only 30 minutes practice. I can imagine getting into this kind of situation at a music institute because they can be -extremely unreasonable- (read stupid) about crushing students with things other than the instrument itself. If you are much younger then you should be prioritizing practicing anyway since 30 minutes just won’t give you adequate development with the best will in the world. Perhaps you could clarify a little?
The obvious point is that you have to prioritize and prioritize to a competition one assumes that is the concerto. Thus pretty much everything else should go put the window depending on the state the concerto is currently in. If you are planning and evaluating and it’s not working well that probably means you are not being consistent and precise enough in setting goals and reviewing them rather than than a failure of method. If you do have to do technical stuff then scales in thirds are probably your best bet although i use 5ths. Practicing passages in 5ths is an unbelievable boost to efficiency that is sort of coming into vogue after the publication of Rodney Friends book on the subject. It is always a good idea to keep the bow under control even when in performance prep mode so quickly snacks of Kreutzer no 2 are helpful. I would practice trills everyday if you can. But I think one of the most crucial things is integrating your practice,. if you are doing a scale then it must reflect the bowings, rhythms and colors you want in the concerto. If your technical work and music and seamlessly integrated at this point you will waste an inordinate amount f time.
Cheers,
Buri

September 16, 2025, 3:02 AM · You gotta figure out what your bang-for-your-buck etudes and exercises are. A little Schradieck is always a friend, and a little goes a long way. If I'm playing heavy, Kreutzer 11 has so many ways to work to bring lightness. I really like Kreutzer 15, since you can work both trills and relaxed vibrato at the same time, so that has been something I've been focused on lately.

If I have very little time, and pieces to work on, I might have to sacrifice working on etudes or scales and find what needs most work in the pieces, which hopefully is good for my broader technique as well.

You have to build your own system of triage based on what is lagging in your technique on any given day, and you have to be really judicious to not "overpractice" any given thing so that you can really make good use of that narrow sliver of time.

September 16, 2025, 6:06 AM · It might be better to work out why there is such a vast disparity between your aims and your resources.

September 16, 2025, 7:59 AM · probably, just focus on the concert then, but use your knowledge of scales and etudes that you used to practice and "build them in" into the concert passages you need to practice.