When practicing a musical instrument, you may run into deal breakers that make you so frustrated you want to quit! Have you practiced slowly, and still can’t come close to playing a difficult phrase? What can you do to lift yourself out of this misery? There are several options. Take the quiz in our previous practice tip blog. In the Practice Tip 12 blog, we discussed practicing rhythm patterns. If you are still needing help, read on.

What can practice backwards mean? It is a great technique for conquering a difficult phrase. When practicing slowly isn’t helping you tackle a problem spot, try start with the last two notes. Can you play just the last two notes? Add one or two notes to practice just the last three or four notes. Play until you tackle this. Continue adding one or a few notes at a time. Sometimes this technique works well, and the frustration melts away. Be patient with yourself. Take breaks if necessary and always practice with a metronome.

If you are still having problems, see our next blog, Practice Tip 14.

Happy Practicing.

*Please note that many people mean something else when referring to practicing backwards. Starting from the end of the piece because it generally is the weakest from being practiced the least. We will discuss this in a future Practice Tip blog.