Central Band: How to Practice Effectively Over the 4-Day Weekend

1. Warm-up slowing.  Use your warm-up packet and take each excerpt at a steady, cautious tempo paying attention to breath and airspeed (winds) or consistency of technique and stick height (percussion).  This is the single most important step.  Approaching the instrument cold will cause you to be come fatigued and discouraged early.
2. Listen to the piece you are practicing with your part in front of you.  Count beats ("Yaleo" and "SSB") or eighth notes ("She's Not There" and "Smooth") with the recording.
3. Sizzle or sing along while fingering your part as you listen to the recording.
4. Go away from the recording.  Winds: Perform rhythms on a neutral syllable ("doo"), beat numbers (1&,2&,etc), or sizzle.  Percussion: Focus just on the rhythm (take out rim shots, etc).  Long notes will often be more challenging than you think.  Put slashes over the bar to show how many beats are in each note.
5. Then, attempt to play through the piece on your own, focusing on rhythm and air usage/stick strokes.
6. On further runs of the piece, attempt to achieve a wide spectrum of dynamics (let the fortes be full and the pianos soft, yet supported) and articulations (using the syllables that were discussed in band this past Thursday)
7. When difficulty occurs go back to an earlier step that takes you away from the instrument and focus on the element with which you are struggling.