How to make a practice plan

 When practicing it can sometimes be helpful to have a practice plan. Here I give my ideas how to make a good practice plan.

Write it down

When you make a practice plan it is best to write it down. When you write it down you will remember your plan a lot better, but when writing down you will also think more clearly about what you need to plan. I can recommend having a small notebook or calendar to write down in.

 

Plan as far ahead as possible

If you know you will play a concert 3 months from now, write it into your practice plan. This way you will have a clear picture of all the upcoming things you need to prepare for. When you can see you need to prepare for a concert you can plan how much time you have to prepare and when you need to start. If you have several concerts coming up it is a good idea to start early and plan precisely what you will practice when. This way you will have a system in your practice plan and you will not end up having less time than you thought.

 

Plan each practice session

When you have made a plan of everything you need to prepare for, you can plan each day and each practice session. You can write down exactly which piece you will practice and what you will focus on in this particular practice session. In your practice plan you can also write down your evaluation of every practice session so you will be able to go back to your previous sessions and see what you worked on and your thoughts on how it went. When you write down your plan of practice you will have a system and you will feel more in secure that you will be able to prepare for everything you need. You will also be able to determine if you have too many things planned for the next period of time and possibly you need to not accept more concerts. When you write down your plan and thoughts every day you will think more deeply about your practice and you will practice better and more efficiently.

 

Example of a plan for a practice session

Piece to practice: Mozart oboe concerto

Focus: 1. Movement introduction: staccato, trills, intonation

Evaluation: (here you can write what methods you used for practicing your focus areas and how it worked for you. Did the staccato get more even? Did the trills get faster? Did you improve intonation in the first high c? When you write down these thoughts you force yourself to think and practice consciously.)