Refining a Piece of Music

1. Try playing in front of people as a practice performance, this will show up any problem areas that may need polishing off. 2. Record yourself playing the piece and listen back, consider the different areas that need improving e.g. any technique, dynamics, phrasing, bowing. 3. Remember that you should be trying to play it to the best of your abilities at what ever stage of development you are at, so don't worry about it being 'perfect'. Also accept when playing in front of an audience you will be nervous and make mistakes! 4. Always play from memory, it really brings you closer to the music. 5. Try and tell a story when playing, visualize how the music could be expressing an emotion, place, memory etc. To get closer to a comfortable sound I like to practice without vibrato. Slowly and in tempo. This is to find and correct some very common bad habits: 1. Bad bow devision 2. Vibrato used for correcting intonation, wich leads to not-music-relatedvibrato AND bad intonation 3. Unconscious contact point and a lack of dynamic range in the sound coming from the right arm When I practice something not solo, I study and play the parts apart from mine at the piano. I take my time with the notes because I am very bad at the piano, but I try to play every note to get the harmonies in the ear. This can show you where the actually exciting points in the music are. I suggest you take your emphasis off of 'mistakes' and put it on expressing the piece to the fullest. Think about ways you might make something sweeter or

quieter, and then just the opposite, think about ways to make some parts grander or more confident. Then finally, I think play it for people in as many relaxed situations as you can find, friends or family or even better, and finally, your school or coffee house, so that you don't feel like you are performing it for the first time.