Your Part Matters! Making the Most of Practice Time at Home
I have written this blog post especially for members of the Stafford Music Centre where I work every week as a manager and a conductor. Hopefully the post will also be useful for anyone who plays in an ensemble. My aim is to help you make the most out of your own individual home practice in order to help the ensemble you're in make more progress.
In Staffordshire, UK, we have the Entrust Staffordshire Music Service who provide bespoke, high-quality, and inclusive music provision to meet the needs of classes, groups, and individual pupils in schools. I feel very lucky to work for this organisation and are proud of everything the service does.
The centre that I manage is just one of seven music centres across Staffordshire. In our centre we have ensembles for beginners through to advanced musicians and I co-conduct a 'pops' orchestra made up of some talented young musicians from the Stafford area.
We are always looking for new members, especially brass and woodwind players so please get in touch with me at mark.glover@entrust-music.co.uk if you are interested in finding out more.
We are preparing some challenging music for our next concert and I have been telling all the musicians to practice their parts at home a lot but this got me thinking. Does everyone understand how to practice properly at home?
This blog post will hopefully address that question through the following tips.
Tip 1 - Listen to the piece and follow your part
Where possible, find a recording of the piece you are learning and follow your part while listening to the music. This helps you get an overview of the music and will help you to know where in the music you are at any given time. This means you should stop getting lost in rehearsals and will be able to keep up much easier.
Tip 2 - Find the tricky bits and work on those first
Once you have started getting used to the music you need to learn to try and prioritise which bits need the most practice. If you have any sort of solo part then this should be learnt first. Even if it is only one bar or a small bit within the piece of music, make sure you are confident with that part.
Next, decide which parts are the trickiest in the piece of music and work on those slowly. Break things down into smaller chunks, make some pencil markings on your part to help you remember things and don't speed up your practice until you can play that bit perfectly. Keep repeating it and let your muscle memory settle in.
Tip 3 - Focus on key changes, tempo changes or transitions
Sometimes the difficult bits in pieces are the transitions. You could use a highlighter to mark any key changes in the piece so you never miss them. Practice running the bars containing the transition a few times so you are confident that you know what to expect.
Practice playing one section to the next with a metronome first so you know the different speeds you need to play and then practice making the tempo change yourself.
Tip 4 - Find time for short regular practice sessions
If you are the sort of student who leaves practice until the last minute, maybe you only practice the day before your next rehearsal, then you are not doing yourself, your band mates or your conductors any favours.
Always aim to practice on the day after your last rehearsal. Everything that was covered will be fresher in your mind meaning you can progress directly from the rehearsal. Then aim to do smaller sessions every day rather than one longer session once a week. Your brain needs repetition and time to allow your new skills and understanding to sink in.
Tip 5 - Do some performance practice
Performance practice is when you run through the piece of music, without stopping and imagine that you are in the concert giving the performance. No matter what mistakes you make, ignore them and try to perform as you will in the concert. Evaluate afterwards and decide which bits were less successful. You can then practice those bits separately and slowly as discussed in tip 2.
Tip 6 - Use a metronome
Time spent working on music without a metronome is generally time wasted in my opinion. If you are learning slow expressive music then maybe the metronome is less important but for most pieces of music that I conduct with bands, a major issue is that musicians do not play in time.
They slow down because they have poor basic rhythm skills and their eyes are so focussed on the notation, that they do not watch. If you use a metronome at home you will become far better at playing in time and more disciplined as a musician. Download an app for free, use this site or buy a cheap one.
Tip 7 - Create a good basic practice routine
Sometimes young musicians only practice the music they need to learn. This is fine of course but what if you could practice all the techniques that you will ever need every day so that when you need to learn a new piece, you already have all the tools to be able to be successful.
This is where a basic practice routine is essential. It only needs to be short, like a warm up, a chance for you to try and develop your technique bit by bit. Check out this post which gives more advice on this.
Tip 8 - Ask for help
Never be afraid to ask for help. Even outside of ensemble rehearsal time. If there is something that you are stuck with and you cannot find the answer, yes you could look online, ask chatgpt or you could contact your conductor directly.
I know for a fact if anyone did this to me I would help them straight away. Do it via the right channels, for example a work email or text message sent from a parent rather than just contacting someone blindly out of the blue in out of hours time.
Another option is to ask your instrumental teacher for help with your ensemble music. Again, I cannot imagine any teacher who would not give up some of their planned lesson time to assist you.
I am now going to add a few bonus tips, which are directly helpful for you during your ensemble rehearsal.
Bonus Tip 1 - Watch the conductor
Start watching the conductor more. Look for all the subtle gestures that a good conductor will give you. Maybe the size of the beat, cues for soloists, tempo changes etc. Let being in time with the conductor's beat become more important than the notes themselves. Wrong notes can easily be fixed but if you don't watch, you will just get better at not watching.
Bonus Tip 2 - Count your rests and listen
Musicians need to know what happens while they are not playing. Make sure you count rests carefully, recognise important entries and listen more to understand the musical context. This is especially important when a part has long rests or an instrument enters after several bars. While other musicians are being rehearsed, don't just day dream, follow your part.
Bonus Tip 3 - Bring a pencil and use it a lot
Never write on music with a pen. Bring a pencil to every rehearsal and mark everything that you are told by the conductor. Maybe a passage needs playing louder or maybe you keep playing too slowly at one point. Mark your music so that you never make the same mistake twice.
Final Thoughts
Effective home practice is about much more than simply playing through your music from beginning to end. It's about being organised, identifying the areas you find difficult, setting yourself achievable goals and working towards them little by little.
Remember that quality is just as important as quantity. A short, focused practice session can be far more beneficial than spending an hour playing through your music without really thinking about what you're doing. Listen carefully, use the tools available to you and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
Most importantly, remember why you're practising. When you play in an ensemble, you're part of a team. The more confident and prepared you are with your own part, the more you can concentrate on listening to others, watching your conductor and making music together.
As a conductor, there's nothing better than hearing an ensemble come together and seeing musicians grow in confidence as they tackle challenging music. That progress starts with the work each musician puts in at home.
So, next time you pick up your instrument, don't just ask yourself, "Have I practised today?" Ask yourself, "What have I improved today, and how will that help my ensemble?"
Happy practising!
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Thanks for reading! ❤
Mark Glover
24/10/26
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