Welcome to our forum. A Message To Our New and Prospective Members . Check out our Forum Rules. Lets keep this forum an enjoyable place to visit.

AAA
Avatar
Please consider registering
guest
sp_LogInOut Log Insp_Registration Register
Register | Lost password?
Advanced Search
Forum Scope




Match



Forum Options



Minimum search word length is 3 characters - maximum search word length is 84 characters
sp_Feed Topic RSSsp_TopicIcon
How often do you have to practice?
Topic Rating: 0 Topic Rating: 0 Topic Rating: 0 Topic Rating: 0 Topic Rating: 0 Topic Rating: 0 (0 votes) 
Avatar
Niklas

Member
Members
November 6, 2019 - 12:39 pm
Member Since: August 1, 2019
Forum Posts: 37
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Hello everybody,

I admit that there allready is a lot of information to find about my question. I did some research and found many different opinions about this matter so that I am even more confused than before.

The reason why I am wondering how often you have to practice is the following: For the next few months I am living in a dormitory for 4 days per week. That makes practice quite difficult because I get back in the evening and have no opportunity to practise earlier. The walls of the dormitory are so thin that you can allmost hear your neighbour talk so I allready got myself an Artino Practice Mute. But still I found that I have no joy in practicing here. I am constantly afraid that one may knock at my door because I am too noisy and in general I dont like to play with a mute because I feel it kind of "kills" the sound. Currently I am forcing myself to practice every evening but as allready described I have no fun in doing so while I am in the dormitory.

Fortunatly I can travel back home every friday, saturday and sunday. At these three days I have alot of fun practicing with my violin because I dont have to bother myself with angry neighbors or the practice mute.

I am wondering now what I should do: Should I continue to practice in the dormitory? Or would it be enough for a beginner (I am playing for some months now) if I just practice on friday, saturday and sunday when Im at home? That would make three practice days per week and I am afraid that might not be enough.

Avatar
wtw
Members

Regulars
November 6, 2019 - 1:58 pm
Member Since: November 10, 2018
Forum Posts: 353
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

I'd say, practice on the 3 days you're at home.

"Being enough" depends on what you're aiming for, in any case. That's not a question I ever asked myself. If you want to improve and have a good time doing so, and you get only frustration when you play in the dormitory, why force yourself ?
(if I tried that I know I'd just ending dropping the instrument altogether)

What are your goals, if you have any ? (short-term or long-term)

Playing with a mute is useful at the very beginning but I agree that it's much better to practice without it, if you can.

Avatar
x Coach

Advanced member
Members
November 6, 2019 - 10:28 pm
Member Since: November 22, 2018
Forum Posts: 70
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

I would use the mute and at least practice your scales or maybe one song for 15 minutes those 4 days of the week. A little practice time a day can go a long way.

Avatar
Niklas

Member
Members
November 7, 2019 - 12:46 pm
Member Since: August 1, 2019
Forum Posts: 37
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

@wtw

My current short-term goals are:

1. improving my tone (a goal which I found is hard to work on if you have a mute on the violin, because the mute reduces the "feedback" you get from the violin)

2. Improving my rhythm

My intonation is allready quite good because I work constantly at it (for example I am playing scales while I am using an app called intonia which shows you whether your playing in tune).

My longtime-goal is to be able to play in an amateur orchestra but I think it will be a long way until I am good enough for that.

It is a little bit confusing. On the one hand I fear that it could be not enough to practice only the three days for the next few months. On the other hand I also fear that forcing myself to practice in the dormitory may 1. sooner or later annoy me that much that it reduces the fun I have with the violin and 2. may even worsen my technique because as allready said when I am playing here I am very tensed and just trying to get practice done which may lead to bad habits (for example I am doing very light and very short bowstrokes when I am practicing here because I try to be as silent as possible).

Avatar
Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
November 7, 2019 - 2:43 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16546

As wtw wrote, depends on your goals. The goals that you set are great but it's a questions about how quickly you achieve them and to what degree. :)

Definitely get a thicker mute than the Artino. The heavy metal mutes are the most silent of all.

https://fiddlershop.com/produc.....ctice-mute

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

Forum Timezone: America/New_York
Most Users Ever Online: 696
Currently Online:
Guest(s) 83
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Members Birthdays
sp_BirthdayIcon
Today ibtonystark
Upcoming Fiddlerman, Dax, Epiphany, Grunyon, Lullyfan, DD, TonicScale, Bismarck, Violince, Doc Miller, Gjinja, Mariana, JillyR, callum bryne, ELCBK
Top Posters:
ELCBK: 8950
ABitRusty: 4353
Mad_Wed: 2849
Gordon Shumway: 2815
Barry: 2690
Fiddlestix: 2647
stringy: 2451
Oliver: 2439
DanielB: 2379
Mark: 2277
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 3
Members: 31757
Moderators: 0
Admins: 8
Forum Stats:
Groups: 16
Forums: 84
Topics: 10890
Posts: 138478
Newest Members:
mikehalloween SP, JesusGreen SPAMMER, dumpstop1 SP, rat BND, philthefiddler, oceanjay, sdcaller, sanderson11 SP, Petr Kopulety, Miadae30
Administrators: Fiddlerman: 16546, KindaScratchy: 1760, coolpinkone: 4180, BillyG: 3746, JoakimSimplePress: 0, MrsFiddlerman: 2, Jimmie Bjorling: 0, Mouse: 6214