10 All-State Practice Tips!

ClarinetMike says, "Genuine Excellent = Talent x Practice Time x Practice Quality. These tips will improve your practice quality."

ClarinetMike says, “Genuine Excellence = Talent x Practice Time x Practice Quality.”

Here are 10 general practice tips for preparing the All-State audition etudes (or any music). More All-State help coming soon from ClarinetMike!

Go Slow. Load correct information only! Go slow and learn the rhythm and notes correctly the first time and every time.
MORE Go Slow. Work on the etude by counting in eighth notes, i.e. twice as slow, where one eighth note gets one beat, one quarter note gets two counts, etc.
Ornaments First Time and Every Time! In preparing the etude, YOU MUST learn it the right way slowly every single time. DO NOT skip grace notes, trills, turns, etc. and think you will add those later. BAD IDEA! Your “muscle memory” will be messed up and you’ll be relearning those spots forever.
Performance Tone. Learn etude with a “performance tone,” not a “practice tone.” In fact, never use a “practice tone.” [This idea comes from Note Grouping video below.] A bad tone always sounds bad!
Note Grouping. Practice Note Grouping Concept for fast passages. It is described in this video HERE.
DYNAMICS! Dynamics, dynamics, dynamics every step of the way! Learn dynamics as you learn the rhythm and notes. Adding dynamics later does NOT work very well. Check out my ADD BOLD DYNAMICS! post.
Practice Routine. Work on basics and scales every day in an organized Practice Routine. Put special attention on tonguing every day – check out my “Betty” post. FYI, the professor who chose this year’s Texas all-state music specifically mentioned the importance of daily work on basics and scales in the state music clinic at TBA.
Sight-Reading. Do a little sight-reading every day to keep your playing fresh.
Metronome. The metronome is a valuable tool and should be used a lot, but wisely. Do not use it 100% of the time when you practice the etudes. Do not get “Metronome Addiction.” This is where a person can play an etude well only with a metronome. Common Sense is also a valuable tool.
Practice Rhy-No. Check out Rhy-No Practice, Feed The Rhy-No, The Fast Way, and other practice techniques from this blog – Click Here.

About ClarinetMike

American Clarinetist Michael Dean “ClarinetMike” performs and teaches internationally and across the USA to consistent praise and acclaim such as, “world-class clarinetist and pedagogue,” “consummate performer,” “inspirational,” “outstanding teacher,” “super,” “brilliant performer,” and “one of the best clinicians I have ever seen.” Dr. Michael Dean’s career is headlined by appearances at Carnegie Hall, ClarinetFest, NACWPI, Royal Northern College of Music, and Eastman School of Music, with recent recitals and master classes in Italy, Canada, Spain, Michigan, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, Louisiana, and Texas. He is currently planning an international recital and master class tour of Israel for spring 2025. He is on the faculty of the international Orfeo Music Festival in Vipiteno, Italy as Clarinet Artist Faculty in Residence. Michael Dean performed with the Paducah Symphony Orchestra for 11 years and has also performed with the Texas Chamber Music Project, Northeast Orchestra, Dallas Chamber Wind Ensemble, Southwest Symphony, Nevada Symphony, Abilene Philharmonic, Abilene Opera, Southeast Chamber Players, Red Mesa Trio, and Duo 35 with saxophonist Todd Oxford. As a clarinet performing and recording artist, he has commissioned, premiered, edited, toured with, and recorded new and lesser-known clarinet works. He is featured on 6 commercial CDs, including the soon-to-be-released Postcards from Silver Lake CD. He is also prominent on New Media, such as YouTube and Facebook. He has given more than 1000 master classes, clinics and performances at universities, colleges, conservatories, festivals, conferences, and high schools. His ClarinetMike Blog and ClarinetMike QuickTips are widely read on the internet and social media and viewed in more than 150 countries on 6 continents. His articles also appear in professional journals such as Southwestern Musician, WINDPLAYER, The Bandmasters’ Review, and NACWPI Journal. He is a past president and former National Board Officer of the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors (NACWPI). A committed teacher and noted pedagogue, Dr. Dean’s students enjoy successful careers as professional performers, educators, and administrators and are consistently accepted into prestigious university music schools. They consistently win awards and distinctions at competitions and festivals including solo & ensemble, all-region, all-state, and various concerto and other competitions. After a successful 20+ years of teaching the clarinet and music at the university level, he relocated to his native Texas due to family concerns. He is currently an active clarinet and woodwind performer, teacher, clinician, and consultant based in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. He is also currently studying digital assets and their application to music and music education. Dr. Michael Dean studied clarinet performance at Texas Tech University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Colorado at Boulder, and University of Texas at Arlington. His teachers include Robert Walzel, Philip Aaholm, Carol Jessup, Bob Ackerman, and Jesse Youngblood. He is a BG France Performing Artist and his professional website is clarinetmike.com. Mike and his family live in Hurst, Texas. His family’s Golden Retriever, Nimbus, is a relative of Andy.

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6 Responses to 10 All-State Practice Tips!

Gary Belshaw says:

September 16, 2016 at 4:01 pm

Nice work, Dr. Dean! Well said. I especially love: “Load correct information only.” And sight-reading: OMG. Just before I left home for the last time, I returned three separate stacks of music, each over a foot tall, to the music directors from whom I had borrowed them. I “borrowed” them, one at a time, over the course of 7 years, and read virtually every page in every score, usually at least three times, but often many more times.

- ClarinetMike says:
  
  September 16, 2016 at 4:05 pm
  
  thanks!
  
Binaya Rath says:

September 29, 2016 at 1:25 pm

Thank you. I’m happy to get the link to you.

- ClarinetMike says:
  
  September 29, 2016 at 3:38 pm
  
  thanks!
  
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