Violin Video Lesson: Violin Basics: So do you know how long you should practice?

So, do you know how long you should practice? Well, I guess the consensus would be 4 -6 hours per day. Here, let's have a look at Ms. Delay's sheet. You know what it shows? It shows the first hour basics.

Alright, second hour, passages from repertoire, scales, third hour, etudes or paganini, fourth hour, concerto, fifth hour, Bach or recital repertoire.

It should also be noted that she suggests doing only one, three and four on orchestral days and to rest ten minutes between each hour. Practice.

So, for Miss Delay, she's recommending five hours a day. Well, this is great for conservatory students as they have the dedicated time to do it. But what about those that are not in a conservatory or younger, perhaps in a regular school? What would be best for them? You know, they have homework and other things to deal with. Well, if you look at what Miss Delay says, it shows real balance and I think this is what really needs to be preserved.

But just, how do you do that without doing five hours a day? Well, having thought about it, the idea came up that perhaps it would be better to not think in terms of fixed times, but to use percentages, the percentage of available time. I mean, what if you looked at each of the five hours of practice as 20 % of your available time? So, that would put 20 % for basics, 20 % for scales or passages from the repertoire, etc.

If my calculations are right, this brings balance into the practice session regardless of the length of time. So, if you have two hours, it would mean 24 minutes for each section.

Or if it were three, then approximately 36 minutes per section.

I think that this makes it possible to keep the balance regardless to the amount of time available.

You know, what you might consider as well is instead of doing five sections, you could choose between the concerto or recital rep sections and reduce it to four sections. Or in extreme cases, reduce it to three sections.

Which sections you would omit would depend on your goals for the week, just like Miss Delay was talking about when she said that you should do only one, three and four on orchestral days.

So, that's what I think about how much time you need to practice. And you know what? If you aren't a fan of practicing but still want to play well at your concerts, this might just be the answer.

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