How to Practise the Bassoon

• Never go past your concentration point. It’s better to do half an hour of good, worthwhile practice, than an hour of practice when you’ve stopped concentrating.

•  50% of your practice should be technique. Scales and studies, thinking about the purpose of them, and still playing them musically.

• There are 3 areas to fix in a piece:

             Technique – the rhythm and notes

             Sound – intonation

             Character – think about what the piece is about, and what you are trying to say with it.

• If you don’t have much time to practise, write out a diary each week where you can see where you can fit in half an hour here and there.

• Spread out your technique: no one likes doing an hour of scales. Warm up with a scale of the day, then move on to a piece.

• Although practice makes perfect, don’t practise your mistakes. Think a passage through before you play it. Sing it. If you’re having problems with a particular passage, play it in different rhythms and articulations.

• Practice is pretty much impossible to do unless you’re motivated, so find something to motivate yourself. Listen to concerts to inspire you. Set yourself a goal and make sure you achieve it.