# When do you Practise?



## Mz B Flute

Musicians are suppose to practise...from what I've heard at least four hours a day. 
I use to practise around that range, but I been slacking off and I'm ashamed of it. 
I need to get back into that kind of discipline but never seem to free time for it. 
I'm guessing most people split it up abit. 
Maybe 1hr 1/2 in the morning before work, 2 hours in the evening after work, and 1/2 before bed?

I'm trying to decide on a time schedual for it, but it's hard to get it going.

When do you practise?


----------



## david johnson

early morning maintenance warmup and scales on trumpet.


----------



## Mirror Image

I don't hardly practice anymore. I used to practice about 2 hours a day, but that was 10 years ago. I don't really feel the need to practice much anymore. For me it's more about mind over matter than anything. If you think you can't do something, then that's a mental block. If I can't do something like a technique I've been working on called "sweep picking" (I play guitar), then I continue to practice that one technique and isolate where the problem is and keep working on it until I get it right.


----------



## Krummhorn

Since my church, where I'm the organist, is a 28 mile round trip, practicing at the organ everyday is impracticable, so I work out daily on my piano at home, usually 1 or 2 hours most days. Since all the choirs that I accompany rehearse on one evening during the week, I will do my organ practicing on that day either 3-4 hours before or afterwards, depending on my schedule. 

When preparing for an organ concert, naturally I devote more time to practicing.


----------



## Steph08

Well to answer your question I normally practice every night I play the violin and guitar 
hoping someday that I will become really good at this.
I'm also finding some internet sites that can help me on practicing my talent.


----------



## Rasa

I practice 6 hours a day: two in the morning, and four in the afternoon. (or sometimes just 2 in the afternoon too  )


----------



## bdelykleon

As an amateur, I don't have to practise that much amount of time, I usually settle for 2, 1:30 hours a day. Usually in the morning, when it is cooler, but sometimes at early evening it is a good time to practice.


----------



## JonesGM

It helps a lot if you've got someone to play the music to. If no one is enjoying what you play, it can get kind of lame. Just your teacher giving their "placet" is (often) not enough. Most people are interested in your music once they've figured out that you actually can play (in contrast to the people who rape every piano in sight without anyone asking them to).


----------



## Lukecash12

Normally I get up, practice for an hour or two, listen to music till noon, and then practice for the rest of the day. I get in anywhere from 6-8 hours a day.


----------



## audiophilia

Was at least four hours a day for many years.

Now, if I get two, I'm a happy guy.


----------



## SalieriIsInnocent

I don't much anymore. I used to play for about 5 hours but now I would guess about 1 hour.


----------



## alvarohenrique

As much as possible. But I take one day a week for resting and not playing anything at all. 

I would remind that a lot of practice can be done without the instrument.


----------



## nickgray

Rarely. I stopped having this idea of being a top guitar player a long time ago, my current level of playing is enough for my needs and I see no reason for continuing practicing. On the other hand I'm fairly sure that some time in the future I will continue to practice, since I'm very interested in composing and recording (the technical aspects of it) and when I'll have the means to properly record the guitar (good sound card, monitors, etc.) it'll obviously require a higher level of technique.

Oh, I'm also toying with idea of getting a nice keyboard, with piano-like keys and all and learning how to play. I have an old Yamaha synth (or rather a GM player) with non-weighted keys which I simply can't stand, since I tried the real thing a couple of times and the difference is something like heaven and hell


----------



## SalieriIsInnocent

I don't practice very much but I am always making up music in my head.


----------



## Saturnus

I usually practice an hour in the morning, and another two during the day, but never after dinner. But often I'm also in some orchestral/chamber rehearsals for up to 4 hours. Reeds take about 2hours a day, and piano playing and singing get their hours too. It really differs from day to day.


----------



## Yoshi

I usualy practise piano 4 hours a day, althought school takes much of my time and when I have to study for it I might only practise 1 hour in some days. I recenty started to learn violin and I'll have to get some time in my schedule for it.


----------



## Ravellian

As someone working towards their bachelors in piano performance, I would say it varies depending on whether or not there is an upcoming competition/recital. When there is I usually go for about 3-4 hours on average per day (less on weekends). Any more than that and my hands start to ache and I can't concentrate any more. Of that time about 90% is spent on refining my current repertoire and 10% on pure technique (scales, hanon, etc).


----------



## CTakacs

I'm happy with 3-4 hours, and try to do 2 minimum. I've heard of top notch bass players who would practice for 3-4 hours a day (those in major orchestras). 

However, its about how you practice not how long. Practice makes permanent, not perfect.


----------



## tenor02

45ish min warm up in the morning just to get the juices flowing, hour with the ensemble in the afternoon, and usually around 2-3 hours in the evening on voice and usually around 1 hour a day for piano. sucks, being a singer i cant sing too long every day or i risk the chance of out-singing for the next day.


----------



## Guest

Even when I retired I still practised for 1 to 1 1/2 hrs, but I have stopped that now as I will not be playing again.


----------



## fedrick32

I practice just 1 hr. in the early morning.


----------



## Lyricsop

Mz B Flute said:


> Musicians are suppose to practise...from what I've heard at least four hours a day.
> I use to practise around that range, but I been slacking off and I'm ashamed of it.
> I need to get back into that kind of discipline but never seem to free time for it.
> I'm guessing most people split it up abit.
> Maybe 1hr 1/2 in the morning before work, 2 hours in the evening after work, and 1/2 before bed?
> 
> I'm trying to decide on a time schedual for it, but it's hard to get it going.
> 
> When do you practise?


Depending on your instrument, since mine is voice four hours of non-stop practice would destroy my instrument but with a flute or other instruments four hours of practice is a great idea and more if you can manage too. Your above posted schedule sounds like a great one to follow for a practice routine-good luck on your flute practicing


----------



## Lyricsop

tenor02 said:


> 45ish min warm up in the morning just to get the juices flowing, hour with the ensemble in the afternoon, and usually around 2-3 hours in the evening on voice and usually around 1 hour a day for piano. sucks, being a singer i cant sing too long every day or i risk the chance of out-singing for the next day.


I agree it can be no fun being a singer even with a classical background in vocal performance because it is very easy to rag out your voice and be so hoarse the next day that you can't sing.


----------



## Lyricsop

fedrick32 said:


> I practice just 1 hr. in the early morning.


I hope you aren't talking about singing early in the morning. If you are a singer give your voice time to wake up before you sing because it isn't good on the voice to sing so early in the morning.


----------



## Charon

Over the course of a week, I probably get about 2 hours of practice on guitar, and about 4 hours on violin. 

I might practice piano for 30 mins a week, which explains my lack of progress on that instrument.


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

4 hours a day is ideal. If I really tried, I could do it for my instrument (flute), but now I only do 3, sometimes less if I'm busy. When college auditions come up, I'll do 4.

I've played I think at every possible hour of the day, but mornings prove awful for me.  Evenings are the best.

But practice _every _day. Don't skip. You'll regret it.


----------



## Charon

Huilunsoittaja said:


> But practice _every _day. Don't skip. You'll regret it.


I know what you mean. I play violin (only for a couple years now) and it just hurts so much to miss a day. Unfortunately I usually only play 4 or 5 times a week, which means this happens all too often . I'm not a professional either, just a hobbyist.


----------



## Colourless

At night!

Although mainly whenever I feel like it (which can range from 16 hours non-stop to a sad little 30 mins a day...), I mostly practice at night once everyone's gone to sleep, for I tend to get inspiration when drowsiness hits me.


----------



## Ravellian

Just for kicks, I thought I'd share that in the two weeks prior to my senior college piano recital, I had very very little time to practice until the day before the event. (Indeed, for the couple of months leading up to the recital I was very busy and practiced probably an average of 5-6 hours a week). However, the day before and the day of I practiced for a total of about 10 hours, and the concert (during the night) went _very_ well, one of my best.

Not that I'm suggesting waiting until the last minute is typically a good idea... but it seems the best time to practice is right before you play, like the best time to study for an exam is in the few days prior to the test. For the record, I played the _Waldstein_ sonata and the 24 Chopin Preludes.


----------

