I am excited about our new Christian Compositions blog! I have lots of topics and ideas spinning around in my head, and am trying to sort through them to see which ones will be practical and helpful for you.
I will be using the blog to post sales, events, and info about projects we’re working on. But I would also like to see it become a resource for those who are serving the Lord, in music, as well as other areas of ministry.
With that in mind, let me ask, what would you like to talk about? Any questions? I receive questions from time to time about composing, writing, piano playing, and other topics. I hope to answer some of those (as much as I am able), or link to resources that will help you to find the answers. What would you find helpful or interesting? I’d love to hear your feedback!
~Niki
Follow
One thing I would be interested in learning more about is practicing. When you practice, what is your routine? Do you go through scales and arpeggios, certain exercises, or what? I would like to progress, but without guidance its kind of hard to know what to do when I sit down to practice. Thanks for this blog!
Erica,
I may devote a post later to practicing, but to answer your question, my practice “routine” right now is not very routine! I typically practice music that I am preparing for church. However, as you’re learning, it is very important to practice a variety of things. Scales and arpeggios are wonderful and are a very important foundation, especially for hymn playing.. If you get some kind of course to follow, it will usually include an exercise book which would give you more guided direction.
One of my practice tips that I use myself and have always tried to encourage my students to use is to practice difficult passages by themselves. For example, if you are learning a new song, and can do most of it without trouble, but find there are one or two lines that you keep stumbling on, practice those lines alone several times (maybe 5 or 6), then try them again in the context of the whole song. This saves a lot of time and frustration, and makes your practice time more productive. Also, if you are a beginner (or are tackling an especially difficult piece), practice with your hands separately, and then put them together again.
There are a lot of ways to improve your practice, but overall the best tip I can give is just to practice consistently. Even if it’s only 15 or 20 minutes a day, you will find regular daily practices more beneficial than trying to sit down and do an hour or two a week in one sitting.