OrchestraTeacher.net

GYSO Camerata

For members of the GYSO Camerata!

Dear Students,

I am very proud to be your conductor and I look forward to working with you!  I promise that we will have a great time in rehearsal and that you will learn a lot. As with anything that is good, “what you put in is what you get out,” so please practice your parts as much as you can! The time you put in at home will help us be able to work on making music, rather than simply pounding notes.

Please sign up for my REMIND.COM text messages.  I will send practice tips, reminders, and other helpful information just for you. All you need to do is send the message @GYSOCAM to the number (614) 452-4843.

Have fun and good luck!

– Mr. Laux 🙂

Mr. Laux’s Basic Practice Tips:

1. Practice slowly.  This will give your brain more time to process information.

2. Use these sequential practice steps

  • say letter names in rhythm
  • say finger numbers in rhythm
  • pizzicato
  • shadow bow
  • arco  (If there is a tough bowing or lots of slurs, practice without them and add the bowing in gradually.)

3. Practice in small sections (a note at a time, then 1, 2, 4, 6, or 8 measures at a time)

4. Practice in groups. Make it a social event!  What could be more fun than practicing with a friend?

5. Find a regular place to practice, free from distractions.

6. Warm up with scales, paying close attention to your sound, posture, and bow hold.

7. Write on your home practice organizer daily.

Laux’s Advanced Practice Tips:

1. Warm up your practice session with sight reading.

2. Use a mirror to examine your posture and bowing while practicing.

3. Record parts of you practice sessions.  Listen back to that you can really hear what you did well and what needs to be improved.

4. Use a metronome to help you count and keep a steady beat.

5. Match pitches with a tuner.  Use a drone pitch (sustained note) and tune each note against the drone.

5. Try practicing in 5 or 10 minute increments and you’ll be surprised how much you can get done and how fast the time goes!  Then leave your instrument in a handy place all day so when you have a spare 5-10 minutes you can practice instantly and not have to get the instrument ready.  Those minutes will add up!

6. Play by ear! Put on a CD or you iPod and try to play along with some songs you listen to regularly. This will open up the ears and free up the necessity for sheet music.

7. When practicing fast, sequential eighth note patterns, try some of these techniques:

  • Using dotted rhythms (dotted eighth, sixteenth; sixteenth, dotted eighth; two (or three) sixteenth, eighth, etc.)
  • Slow motion
  • Add-a-note (play two notes back to back, then play the 3rd note, then go back, add the 4th notes, etc.  Keep repeating, adding a note each time.)
  • Retrograde (play the passage backwards)
  • pizz.
  • Remove bowings (slurs, etc.)
  • Look for patterns (analyze to find sequences, scales, arpeggios)

One More Tip!

It takes a lot of time to take your instrument and bow out of the case and it can sometimes become a reason that you don’t practice.  Keeping your instrument out of its case (assuming it is safe from pets or little siblings) for the day is not bad for the instrument.  If it’s sitting there looking at you, it may entice you to pick it up and practice.