Practise Smarter, Not Harder!

By Tyler Song

When I transferred to McGill University during my undergraduate degree, one of the things I loved was the ensemble rehearsal schedules: We regularly had weeks off between concert cycles, allowing us to have some breathing room between rehearsals and also to properly prepare for them!

Being the excitable undergrad I was, once I realized I had no ensemble rehearsals for weeks at a time, I started practising… a LOT. I was so thrilled that I had the time to practise at least 4-5 hours every day consistently. My support, tone and technique seemed to be all improving tremendously. What could go wrong??

Then one morning, I woke up with burning pain running through both my forearms. Not good.

I saw a physiotherapist as fast as I could, who told me I was right on the verge of a serious overuse injury. I spent the next week resting, only practising what I absolutely had to, and re-evaluating how to practise.

"How much do you practise?" is a question we've all heard extensively, with the answers varying wildly. In the case of clarinet playing, we don’t have the luxurious endurance of string players or pianists. So instead of “how much”, let’s focus on the “how”!

Pomodoro Technique

One of the practise techniques that saved me from repeating my injury was Pomodoro Technique. Yes, pomodoro means tomato in Italian! It was named after a tomato shaped kitchen timer its developer Francesco Cirillo had as a student. There are many variations to this, and it may look familiar to you if you’ve ever done interval training at the gym! It breaks up our practise time into work intervals (called pomodoros) and rest intervals. A practise session looks something like this for me:

 The main advantage to this style of practise, in my opinion, is the way it condenses your productivity. I’ve known many musicians(not just clarinetists) that spend countless hours in the practise rooms, yet never feel like they get anything done. Pomodoro practise encourages a high level of focus, while allowing your brain and body to rest when it’s needed. During your rest, try not to immediately go to your phone. Walk around, grab some water, stretch! Experiment with the timing too! You could practise for 45 and rest for 15, or practise for 20 and rest for 3.

I do the above practise session a couple times a day, for a total of around 120 minutes of pure playing time. That may not sound like much at all, but my personal experience is that I have been able to accomplish just as much, if not MORE, than I was before.

Happy Practising!