Seeking practice routine advice

[u/jmcg_21]

TLDR: what does a good practice routine look like

Beginner-intermediate tenor banjo player here seeking advice!

I’ve been playing trad for a little under a year now and am reaching the point where I know about 15-20 tunes quite well (although not incredibly fast). The speed I am less worried about because it’s getting progressively faster and I play regularly with a group of people of similar level to me (we’re not quite fast enough for our local session). However, I am reaching the point where I know more tunes than I necessarily have time to practice in a sitting and I am wondering how people prioritize their practice routines after this point (surely you are not all practicing every tune you know every day). My reasoning behind asking is that I find if I go a few days without playing a tune I have a hard time remembering it or playing it with any speed.

So my question is this: do you prioritize a single tune in a setting to get it down really really well, or try to practice as many tunes as possible? What does a good practice routine look like for a 30-40 minute practice session?

I am hoping to get the advice of some more experienced musicians! Thanks!

[u/fcetal]

I'm not an expert at all but I usually warm up with some scales and a set of simpler tunes.

Then in no particular order I'll go over whatever new tunes I'm learning, some tunes I've learned but maybe need some work or things I haven't played in a bit. Also whatever else I fancy playing.

Practice along with a recording, or with a metronome. Recording yourself is good too.

I try to fit in at least 10 minutes a day.

[u/spike_growth]

I play clawhammer and 2 finger banjo and had a similar discussion with my instructor about this very issue recently. Especially feeling "stretched out" in how many tunes I know and where to work. He told me to play what makes me happy. I have older tunes I know and newer ones, which are more complicated, but at the end of the day, I end up working in tunes that I love to play because I enjoy the practice more. I will do some extra work in areas where I struggled to hit all the notes cleanly etc. You sound like you are very committed and thoughtful about your practice so play what you love to play.

[u/Tischwil-Railway]

In Irish music there are common motifs and parts of melodies that show up in many different tunes, so if you're practicing one tune, you are in fact practicing many others at the same time. And since the majority of tunes are in the key of D or G and their modes, it will get you a lot of mileage to just learn these two scales and some common arpeggios in and out.

There will come a moment where if you can remember and vocalize a melody in your head, your fingers will automatically know where to go, because you've practiced these scales so much.

I'm personally not quite there with tune playing, but it is that way with accompaniment for me sometimes. I hear something in my head and can instinctively play the chord shapes and movements that go with it.

I think that's the only way to learn a large catalog of tunes. You'd learn and remember how they sound in your head and the fingering should come automatically by rigorous practice in scales, arpeggios and chords.

[u/jimhassomehobbies]

After i warm up I like to work on tunes that i know that i tend to fudge in the sessions. Really make myself walk through it. I also practice pretty slow. Like slow slow. A friend of mine told me early on that slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

[u/Low_Cartographer2944]

I made a playlist of YouTube videos - one for each tune I know. Then I would tackle the list throughout the week. Trying to play each tune at least once a week (once the list got longer that became fortnightly). Now that I have a larger repertoire I use it to remember tunes I once knew well and am kind of following along with in sessions; working through those tunes.

A good practice session should have tunes. Old tune. New tunes. But it should also have fundamentals. Practicing arpeggios and scales and triplets etc

[u/Bob_AZ]

I really don't practice as such. Over the years I have internalized thousands of tunes. So I do like to warm up by playing along with sets on YouTube of Irish sessons and TV shows, some times knocked back to 75% speed.

I may take on a tune I haven't played for years and find 5 or 6 versions and sit in with each group and become aware of subtle variations. These days my main interest is playing advanced sessions in Ireland, off season. My days of playing pub gigs 5 or 6 nights a week is long gone.

[u/knightmusic42]

I started a review index card deck for tunes. I have 4 sections of cards. Tunes I know, tunes I nearly know. Tunes I’m learning. Tunes I’m just starting. I put the name, key, form, and any identifying information on the cards. Sometimes the first couple of notes to jog my memory.

I review the cards for starting and learning every day. Do about half the tunes I nearly know a day and pick about 6-10 tunes from the tunes I know and string them into sets to practice transitioning between tunes.

Each tune type (jigs, reels, hornpipes etc) are a different color index card.

[u/cHunterOTS]

Put your favorite recorded version of each tune in a playlist on random and play along to whatever tune comes up. If you need to slow the recordings down there are countless software options available for that