Practicing Without Your Instrument
by Maxence Dauriat
As a musician, practicing is the heart of your playing. Some of you already know the saying Practice makes Perfect; personally, I prefer Practice makes Permanent, because it reminds you that you want to practice the music the way you will play it later on stage. Know that, for sure, you will play on stage the way you played in the practice room!
Now, what if you can't practice? What if you don't have access to your instrument or to a room? Let’s say you have a 15 min, or even a 5 min, break between classes, that's not enough to get to your instrument, right?
One could think that once you're a music major, you have all the time you want to practice ... and yet you really don't. Between classes, rehearsals or your personal life to deal with, all sorts of things can give you the feeling that you don't have the time or energy required to do well. In this article, I will try to give you different options to make progress even if you don't have access to a room or to an instrument!
Listen, Listen, Listen
The first, and maybe most obvious option, is to listen to the piece. When playing a solo, I do not recommend doing it before getting to the late stages of your practice: familiarize yourself with what the score says and craft your own idea first!! Also, make sure to listen to different recordings. Listening to only one recording will allow you to memorize (and copy) one unique interpretation, when you want to make a synthesis of different options and develop your take on the piece.
Nevertheless, it is true that when practicing for an orchestra rehearsal/concert, you need to listen to the piece in the early stages of practicing. Listen to different recordings, and remember to always check out at least one version of a "home" conductor/orchestra—French if the composer is French, Russian if the composer is Russian, etc. For older music (Mozart, Beethoven), check out works on period instruments (led by conductors such as Harnoncourt, Norrington).
Don't forget that for some of the 20th Century music, you can find the first recording of the piece, if not a recording of the premiere. Listen to the version of Maurice Ravel's Bolero by l’orchestre Lamoureux in 1930, and you will learn a lot about the phrasing. None of this means that you have to play like period or "home" recordings, but being informed is important!
Solfège!
Listening is one of the most important skills and qualities of the musician, but there is the "outside" ear and the "inner" ear. It is very important to develop the ability to hear the music in your head as precisely as possible!
Try for example to use solfège: Say the name of the notes or sing your part, always, however, with the correct phrasing, dynamics, and articulations. Whether you speak or sing your part, remember that the way you sing it is the way you will play it; if you sing it with no articulations and musical intention, what will come out when you grab your instrument will be exactly this flat interpretation. It is also true that if you can't play a passage, more often than not you will see that you can't sing it either! Start by singing, get to know what sound you want to make and then play it at the instrument.
And, if the music is too fast to be sung, then sing it at a slow tempo. The speed doesn't matter as long as you keep the right notes, rhythm, articulations, and dynamics.
Memorize
If you can read, sing, and internally hear your part very well, then the next step can be memorization, of the whole thing or of a specific passage. Check on yourself: Can you really remember the music, in detail? Can you remember every note of this very fast lick you have to play? Make sure to be able to spell out each note and rhythm, and that everything is very clear in your head. Remember, don't hesitate to take an extremely slow tempo for practice purposes. That is the memory of your brain: If it is solidified then another parameter you can focus on is the memory of your body.
Don’t forget that music is a physical activity, too! Can you picture each gesture you make when you play the piece? If you play piano, a wind or string instrument, do you exactly know your fingering? Try placing your hand on a table and reproducing the fingering in the right order and with the right rhythm. You can also look at the big picture and think about your whole body! Can you visualize at which moment of the piece/lick you engage your elbow, shoulder or back? Or make sure that the body parts you don't utilize are fully relaxed?
Once you know the piece very well, mentally and physically, you can try to maintain the focus in a run through, either of a specific passage, of a movement, or of the whole piece!
You will find that if you get distracted during the mental execution of the piece, you will get distracted at your instrument as well. Try to keep track of every parameter we mentioned before, and to not let your thoughts or your phone interfere. The visualization work only serves your playing if you give it as much focus as when you play.
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Personally, I tend to use these tools a lot in audition preparation. They really help me feel safer and more grounded in my knowledge of my program. If I use them throughout my practice, from the first time I read a piece to the concert, I also find that they help me save a lot of time! When I prepared for my Curtis audition, I lived in Paris and took the subway daily. Every time I would get on a subway, I would turn off my phone and mentally practice something from my program. Depending on how much time I had, I would choose an excerpt, a lick, a movement, or a whole piece! I am deeply convinced that it helped me win the audition.
I hope you found some resources in this article to get better at practicing without your instrument. Don't forget that mental practicing is the same thing as playing in a concert; you have to be fully focused and make music! If you don't, then the flaws of your mental practice will appear in your playing. Think also about the fact that if you can't be fully focused, then maybe it is time to take a break.
As you have seen, there is great musical importance in the mental preparation of a concert, and if you find that this work helps you, I encourage you to dig in on the side of the non-musical aspect: How can you solidify your presence, focus, breathing, and reacting to be ready and in the moment? There are many tools to discover on this side too!!
Maxence Dauriat is in this third year of Bachelor's degree at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He is currently studying with Don Liuzzi, Eric Millstein and Ji Su Jung, and has been heard with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, as a soloist and in chamber music (in percussion ensemble or with cello, viola, flute, etc.). He takes interest in all repertoires, from orchestral to solo, and creation in all its forms (interpretation, improvisation, arrangement, composition, etc.).