Treatise - Chapter 2

"A Compendium
of Practice Methods and their Application to the Bassoon."

Introduction
General Considerations
Structuring the Practice Session
General Approaches to Practicing
Technique
Intonation
Tonguing
Summary and conclusions
Bibliography

from Bruce Hammel Doctoral Treatise, 1989, Florida State University

CHAPTER TWO

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Questions regarding the length, number, distribution, and time of day of the practice sessions will be examined in this chapter so that students may determine what conditions will provide the best learning situation. The answers to these questions will vary according to the individual, but some fundamental principles will be presented to serve as a starting place for experimentation.

How long

The dilemma of how long a bassoonist should practice depends on so many variables that no single answer will be satisfactory for everyone. However, a rephrasing of the question can be valuable for all students: how significant in the learning process is the total time spent practicing? A common misconception among students is that the number of hours practiced is the principal determining factor in their progress. Certainly increasing one's practice time may be beneficial, but only if the time is used properly:

There is simply no optimum practice time. In advising students on practice, the old but true admonition should be invoked: "It's not how long you practice; it's how you practice."

Quality of practice is, of course, far more important than quantity. Beyond reasonable and general guidelines, rigid adherence to a specific time schedule of minutes or hours should be avoided.

The above statements, by researchers in the field of music, are based on the results of their study of the psychology of music learning; renowned violinist, Fritz Kreisler reached the same conclusions from his own experience as a teacher and performer:

(Kreisler) regarded the accepted necessity of having to practice several hours a day as a type of self- hypnotism, which he felt was liable after a while to act like a drug and become an addiction. The worst thing one can do, according to him, is to lay the emphasis on the number of hours you practice. It is pointless, he said. Length of time means absolutely nothing whatsoever in terms of achievement.

Although Kreisler may have overstated the case a bit, the results of the limited research on the subject support the view that the amount of time spent practicing is not the sole or even the most significant factor that contributes to a student's musical progress. After observing the behavior of college music students in the practice room, Geringer and Kostka concluded that:

Although increasing the amount of practice time alone may not necessarily correspond with improved performance, attentiveness and structured practice appear to be important aspects of both improved practice and performance.

In an experiment testing the effect of model supportive practice with beginning brass instrumentalists, Zurcher found that:

. . . while the amount of time spent in practice may be significantly different between groups, the amount of practice may not be the determining factor in increased music achievement.

The results of a study on the effect of practice reports led Wagner to conclude that:

Although group 3 spent significantly more time practicing than either Groups 1 or 2, subjects within that group improved at a rate no faster than the others. It would seem then that the amount of time practiced is not the only determining factor in musical improvement.

The above findings support the basic premise of this treatise, which is that the total time spent practicing may be less significant than the relative efficiency of its application. Nevertheless, since the amount of practice is still a factor in the rate of improvement, a few basic guidelines for determining some minimum and maximum limits for a day's practicing would prove helpful. Clarinetist Larry Combs recommends that "the serious instrumentalist, whose playing is changing and developing, should devote two to four hours daily to thoughtful, organized work, in addition to the playing done in rehearsals and performances." Ted Dechter states that "an experienced player usually practices from one to three hours daily (or even more)." In his book on practicing the violin, Robert Gerle suggests that "there is no virtue in practising eight hours daily for its own sake: two or three hours of good practice is far better than six hours of bad practice." Although there are no significant experimental data in this area, an informal survey of numerous teachers of various instruments corroborates the above statements, suggesting that a range of from one to four hours of high quality practice is the generally accepted amount of recommended daily practicing for college music students.

Excessive practice, more than four hours per day, may enable a student to acquire greater technical facility but, according to some, this facility may be earned at too great a price. Emil Sauer wrote that:

Four hours daily, divided into two equal parts (in the morning and in the evening) is abundantly sufficient. Practising beyond this time is harmful. By mechanical finger-work nothing can be attained other than the risk of killing even what little spirit is left in us.

Fritz Kreisler believed "that practice in itself had a numbing effect on the brain, cutting down one's imaginative powers, and curbing the alertness of the mind by stimulating muscle power instead." Both statements imply that too much practicing will not only hamper the ability to concentrate but may also cause the student to sacrifice his artistic creativity for sheer technical proficiency. In addition, the ability of a bassoonist's embouchure to endure more than four hours of strenuous practice is questionable.

Massed vs. distributed practice

A variable that may have a more profound effect on the efficiency of the practice sessions than total time is that of distribution of the time:

whether the material is acquired more efficiently by continuous practice until learned or by splitting up the period of practice. The former method is referred to as massed practice, the latter as distributed.

Rubin-Rabson, in a series of experiments testing various methods of memorizing piano music, showed that her subjects remembered more by the distributed method than by the massed method. According to Lundin, Rubin-Rabson's report "agrees with most work done in other fields of learning, where the method of distributed practice is usually most effective." Miller and Peters agree with this assessment, stating that "complex continuous-action tasks, such as those used in musical performance, are best learned from distributed rather than concentrated practice". They add that "even for most professionals, the use of several shorter practice sessions rather than one long session is beneficial."

To fully explain why distributed practice is superior to massed practice would require a long discourse on how we learn and how our brain processes information. Therefore, to remain within the scope of this paper, discussion of the topic will be limited to a few brief observations that might be of some use to a student in improving the efficiency of his practice.

For the brain to process new information and accurately store it requires not only practice, but time:

Studies on spaced practice support the idea that the sheer amount of time spent in practicing a composition is less significant than the total amount of time that passes while the music is learned, for the understanding of the music grows during rest periods as well as during practice periods.

This may in part explain why it is so difficult to "cram" for a performance or lesson. For those periods when finding adequate amounts of time for practice is difficult, the bassoonist may find it profitable to allot at least a small amount of time to getting new material started. Over the course of time, some understanding may be gained even if future practice on the material is limited.

Langeheine adds that:

The information processing that takes place between short-term and long-term memories needs a period of time without interference. Pauses can, therefore, be regarded as "information-clinchers" and the most ideal method of retaining new material may be to sleep after learning it.

Although sleep may not always be a practical solution, pauses during a practice session may be helpful for the effective processing of new information. The problem of interference and some suggestions for diminishing its impact will be examined in greater detail in a subsequent chapter.

Another reason to distribute the practice sessions is to avoid the potential risks of massed practice:

Practice when one is physically fatigued is detrimental because it can cause embouchure problems and excessive muscular tension, both of which are counterproductive to good performance technique. Excessive mental fatigue can also lead to numerous errors, which is equally detrimental.

Moreover, "if performance during a practice period is caused to be inferior by 'massed' practice (without rest periods), the inferior practice will be learned and retained." Unlike athletes, for whom superior physical conditioning is achieved by pushing themselves to the limit, bassoon students should be very cautious as they become fatigued. To strengthen the embouchure and build endurance a certain amount of playing past the tired stage is required, but prolonged practice in this condition could certainly prove more harmful than beneficial.

Practical implications

Having determined that distributed practice is preferable, the student then must decide how long to make each practice session. In the absence of experimental data to provide guidelines, the suggestions of various artists and teachers will be submitted. Bassoonist Alan Goodman says that "generally speaking, it is much better to practice in shorter stretches of time, say 20 minutes to half an hour with breaks, than to tire the mind and body with longer blocks of practice time." Larry Combs' advice is:

For beginning players, or more experienced ones who have had a long absence from the instrument, shorter practice sessions (15-20 minutes at a time) repeated throughout the day are preferable to a single, longer practice session. You should also be aware of reaching points of diminishing return, and at that time take a break of sufficient length to revive mind and body.

Pianist Gyorgy Sandor says that "it seems that a short break after practicing twenty minutes is advisable." Jozsef Gát recognizes that it is impossible to prescribe for anyone a specific time limit for a practice session, but he does offer this opinion:

Individuals differ with regard to the length of the time they are able to practise with full concentration and without getting exhausted, and even the same pianist will change according to his momentary physical and psychic condition. The time during which we are able to concentrate without getting exhausted and suffering no detrimental consequences is generally 25-40 minutes. Thereafter it is absolutely necessary to rest for a shorter or longer period.

The previous statements would therefore suggest sustaining the practice session for 15-45 minutes while monitoring one's level of concentration to guard against playing while tired. Furthermore, advice from Miller and Peters that "longer rest periods are superior to shorter rest periods in perfecting psychomotor tasks" would indicate separating the practice sessions with significant rest periods.

Regardless of the implications of research or the advice of professionals, "ultimately each student must learn to determine how long he or she is able to practice and still achieve optimum results." Master violin teacher, Ivan Galamian adds that "it does not make sense to demand dogmatically that every student should practice a certain number of hours according to a certain rigid schedule. All that can be stated in a generalization is that individually the student has to find out by intelligent experimenting what is best for himself."

When

What hour(s) of the day one practices and the consistency of the daily schedule are further aspects that should be considered in developing productive practicing habits. Since researchers have not studied this aspect of practicing, the following advice from teachers and performers will be given. Combs, Dechter, and Watson Forbes all recommend early in the day for practice because the mind is fresh and alert, "before the work of the day has sapped the zest for improvement." On the other hand, Langeheine's suggestion that "the most ideal method of retaining new material may be to sleep after learning it" indicates that a practice session before bedtime might be highly beneficial. Allgood, Kohut, and Ramon Kireilis are flexible in their advice, suggesting that each student find the time(s) of day that are best for them, especially those "when the performer is alert and at his best."

Of equal or greater importance than the actual time of day may be the consistent adherence to a schedule. Miller and Peters state simply that "scheduled practice is essential in perfecting psychomotor skills." Kohut supports this view and also offers some practical suggestions for managing the practice schedule:

What is the best time of the day for practice? For many people morning is better than afternoon or evening, because they are more alert and thus able to concentrate better. But this generalization does not apply to everyone, of course. Some persons do their best work in the evening. Whatever time is selected, however, the important thing to keep in mind is consistency, not only in terms of daily practice but in establishing a definite time for practice so that it becomes a routine or habitual matter.

The college bassoonist should therefore consider setting up a schedule of daily practice times and adhering to it much like he would his class schedule.

Where

Students may have little choice in where they practice, but nevertheless should consider the following factors when selecting this location. The first basic criteria is that the practice room provide an environment where full concentration is possible: "a place where the student will not be disturbed by radio, television, conversation, street noise, other persons practicing, telephones, and other potential disturbances. The practice room should have good lighting and proper ventilation."

The student should also "consider the acoustics of the practice room carefully. Avoid an acoustically dead room or a large hard-floored room with a booming echo-chamber effect." Bassoonists that make their own reeds should be particularly careful in this regard because a reed that sounds terrific in the practice room may sound terrible in the concert hall. The greatest danger lies in practicing in too "live" a room which can make player's tone deceptively fuller than it really is. The student should experiment with different locations until he can approximate the acoustics of the concert hall where he will be playing or "whenever possible, practice in the place of the performance itself."

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Bruce Hammel
Music Department - VCU
922 Park Ave.
Richmond VA 23227
Phone: (804) 828-4018