Knowing When to Move On: Key Indicators for Musicians in the Practice Room

by Mike Waddell

Date Posted: October 22, 2024

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clarinet female playing outdoors

How to Achieve Technical Mastery in the Practice Room

While listening to the best perform at the ICA ClarinetFest 2024 in Dublin, Ireland this summer, I was at once moved by the beauty of their playing and their technical mastery of all facets of playing. Looking sharp and poised on stage one can lose sight of the the sweat and toil that the performers endured.

I would like to address the individual components of technical mastery outside the private lesson experience. Certainly, a competent teacher addresses these. For this article, I am referring to the individual pursuit.

The Question

As a music education major, I wrote in an assignment that a certain passage in the band score should be worked on in a particular rehearsal until it it was perfected. The professor commented in the margin, “or at least gets better.” That simple statement stuck with me throughout my decades of teaching. Given the limitations of a student or in my own playing the question is always, how much better can it get now?

The better the musician, the less they are satisfied and more discriminating on each phrase. The top-tier musicians are not inclined to acknowledge their mastery. They are confident-yes-but with the humility to acknowledge room for improvement (even when they sound flawless to me). They approach the basics with gusto.

When Is It Good Enough to Move On?

The conundrum is this - whereas you know it can always get better, when is it good enough to move on to the next section or next piece?

The main setback I have noticed among musicians is that tendency to move on to a new passage, new piece, (even new a style or instrument) before a certain competence is achieved. This is the “cart before the horse” syndrome. Has the player self-critiqued the components of sound, pitch, articulation, dynamics, rhythmic accuracy, tempo, time-feel (a term used more in jazz but applied to all genres)?

"The main setback I have noticed among musicians is that tendency to move on to a new passage, new piece, (even new a style or instrument) before a certain competence is achieved." - Mike Waddell

3 Questions to Ask Yourself

Being self-critical, even vigilant in a healthy, constructive way, test yourself with the following:

1. Can you play it several times consecutively without faltering in any way?

2. Can you pass strict metronome/tuner tests?

3. Are you stylistically intact? How can you be more convincing?

This is all-important - if you miss the style, you’ve missed the mark.

Always Be Listening

In summation, think ABL - always be listening, to yourself obviously, but to greatness achieved by others, the stylistic approach and beyond. Attune your ear to overall greatness but keep your focus on excellence of the details. There is no real way to quantify when something we’re practicing is at the peak of our abilities. At best we can pursue the highest personal standards through critical listening and playing with the best musicians available.

Mike waddell bio

About Mike Waddell

Mike Waddell is a Wilmington, North Carolina native with degrees from the University of Michigan (M.M. ‘79, clarinet) and East Carolina University (B.M.E. ‘78).

Waddell is the recipient of two Jazz Composer Fellowships from the North Carolina Arts Council (‘94 & ‘99), as well as two Regional Project Artist Grants from the United Arts Council (‘98 & ‘04). His has released two jazz CD’s, “Defining Moments” (2001) and “Not From Concentrate” (‘95). Jazz Times reviewer Owen Cordle writes, “Defining Moments defines Mike Waddell as a complete artist, a triple threat as clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer. “Mr. Cordle chose this as one of his top ten jazz picks of 2001 in the Raleigh, N.C. News and Observer.

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