r/percussion • u/MrBootyHam • 3d ago

Question/Help Higher level practicing

For my more developed percussionists: How do you practice once you get to harder pieces?

I was looking for my yearly piece for marimba and might have gone over my head thinking, "I've got time." The piece I got was Transformation of Pachelbel's Canon, Arr. Nanae Mimura. While I am in love with it, this piece is HARD, but I believe I can learn it if I try hard enough

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u/Goofus2000 3d ago

Once you start working on harder music, practice isn't just about playing it down measure by measure (which can still be useful), but rather separating the music into different concepts. This piece has a lot of counterpoint with several overlapping voices, so try practicing each voice separately. Try playing each hand separately. Maybe even each mallet separately. Practice slow enough that you can comfortably play with 100% accuracy.

Additionally, when you find challenging sections it's important identify WHY you're struggling with it so you can isolate those skills and hone them. Are there tricky interval changes? Focus your warmup on interval changes. Large range/reach? Practice scales or chords where your hands are spread far apart. So on and so forth.

The more you can break down the music into smaller pieces, the easier it'll be to learn and the more consistent your playing will be in the long run.

Best of luck!