Can you practice too much?

rreffner

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I think yes. I practice multiple times daily and it seems the more I play, the more mistakes I make. Maybe I am becoming more aware of what I am playing. Becoming more critical? Other times I seem to suck more and more as I continue to play. Its hard to judge forward progress.

At times I will just put the uke away for awhile. Sometimes this helps, other times not.

Maybe it's because I can't read music, don't know and practice my scales, am tone deaf and have a terrible voice!

Anyway, I love my uke and will continue my journey. My dog, Lucy, does stay by my side when I practice. Maybe that is a good sign.
 
I think it's possible. If you keep practicing mistakes over and over, you're ingraining them. A rest from time to time is definitely a good idea.
 
I think it's possible. If you keep practicing mistakes over and over, you're ingraining them. A rest from time to time is definitely a good idea.

Yes, if you practice mistakes you will always make mistakes.:agree: Slow it down and pratice the basics SLOWLY!!!!!! Play very slow so you make no mistakes...yes this will be painful!! Eventually you will get better. It also helps to not play once in a while.
 
Practice/study for a while and then sleep right after. You'd be amazed how much you improve once you wake up.
 
Splitting up your practise into smaller segments helps. I prefer to practise in a couple of 30-45 minute sessions rather than in one big lump. Taking an hour break away from something can really help - or even sleeping on it like SSB said. It keeps it fresh and doesn't let frustration get the better of you.

The ukulele is so portable. I've pretty much always got it within reach - I can't imagine how many hours i've clocked up from picking it up for 10-15 minutes just to goof around with something silly. It all helps though.
 
I, too, considered myself tone deaf (or at least tone illiterate).

Play two notes and I cannot tell you which one is the higher note (unless we are talking more than an octave difference.)

But, being tone deaf hasn't ever prevented me from playing music. In fact, as I've played more and more, I'm happy to say that I'm getting better at distinguishing notes from each other.

Like the others have said- breaking up practice is good.

I also always record my practices (usually just sound, sometimes video). It gives me the chance to go back through and pinpoint where I went wrong- as I often can't tell when I play.

The fact that you can hear when you make a mistake is a good thing, I think.

Working on your technique is also helpful. I'll post some drills I do later on today... (been meaning to do that for a while...)

~Valerie
 
I, too, considered myself tone deaf (or at least tone illiterate).

Play two notes and I cannot tell you which one is the higher note (unless we are talking more than an octave difference.)

But, being tone deaf hasn't ever prevented me from playing music. In fact, as I've played more and more, I'm happy to say that I'm getting better at distinguishing notes from each other.

Like the others have said- breaking up practice is good.

I also always record my practices (usually just sound, sometimes video). It gives me the chance to go back through and pinpoint where I went wrong- as I often can't tell when I play.

The fact that you can hear when you make a mistake is a good thing, I think.

Working on your technique is also helpful. I'll post some drills I do later on today... (been meaning to do that for a while...)

~Valerie

I defiantly think you can over do it. Some of the best shows I've had is when I get to proverbial call 2 hours before I get there and we just go over 30 minutes before the show and just tare it up. Many times I get a CD a month in advance and practice the day lights out of it and totally bomb. Sometimes I just lay an instrument down for 2 or 3 weeks and come back and get it right the first time. I think the mind needs time to absorb. You are probably not tone death but lack the time it take to develop the ear to hear the changes in pitch.-Doug
 
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my answer is, yes.

everything in moderation.

you can do anything too much... and I have the glasses and hairy palms to prove it.
 
"My dog, Lucy, does stay by my side when I practise. Maybe that is a good sign."

It could be a BAD sign. Better take Lucy for a check-up, she might be deaf.:D

Seriously, I was told that several shorter periods of practice are more effective than one long session.

Ukantor.
 
Maybe it's because I can't read music, don't know and practice my scales, am tone deaf and have a terrible voice!

I think we have the same problem. :) Something to try when you get stuck is visualization. Put down the uke and just see yourself in your mind playing through an entire song. See your fingers forming the chords correctly and without hesitation. Then try playing later and see if it helps. I'm a strongly visual person, so this helps me, even if it sounds silly.
 
If you google "Repetitive Motion Injuries" you will see that yes, you can practice too much. If it hurts or starts to tingle/go numb STOP!
 
Stop practicing when you get frustrated, or your hands start bleeding.

Because it's hard to learn anything when you're frustrated
And it's hard to learn anything when you're in pain
 
One thing that has helped me immensely was learning to play along to a CD. I had to take up bass to learn that and get the ear working but it has moved me forward leaps and bounds. That is not to say bass is the answer but the teacher I had for bass taught me the art of hearing the tune and it carried over to all the other instruments.
 
I think yes. I practice multiple times daily and it seems the more I play, the more mistakes I make. Maybe I am becoming more aware of what I am playing. Becoming more critical? Other times I seem to suck more and more as I continue to play. Its hard to judge forward progress.

At times I will just put the uke away for awhile. Sometimes this helps, other times not.

Maybe it's because I can't read music, don't know and practice my scales, am tone deaf and have a terrible voice!

Anyway, I love my uke and will continue my journey. My dog, Lucy, does stay by my side when I practice. Maybe that is a good sign.
I reached that point after playing for about a month and then I stopped cold turkey because I was frustrated, and other life things got in the way. Now, a few months later (maybe more) I regret it. Now I'm back to 0 again. So my advice is as others, practice in little 30 min sessions, not big chucks unless for some reason that works for you. Just don't make my mistake of coming back too late because it suck to start all over again!
 
You have some good replies.

The first two, from Paul and from molokinirum are spot on, IMO.

Practising mistakes stores them in muscle memory the same as practising techniques. If you blow it again and again, then you need to slow down until you can play it right. Stay slow until you are error free: that's the time to increase the tempo a little. When you reach a tempo where the mistakes creep back in then stop and go back down a few BPM.

I also agree with John that several shorter periods of practice can be better than one long one.

If you set yourself a disciplined hour or 2 hour period of practice, then you can tire by the end of it and you find yourself watching the clock and yearning for that set period to be over. That is not the best way to be.

It is certainly possible to practice too much or too long. If you have lost interest, or you're repeating errors in passages that you were playing correctly earlier, or you're just not enjoying it... then you should take a rest.

And always finish by playing your favourite piece that you know you can do ok. That'll leave you feeling positive. Stopping after a frustrating period of unsuccessful practice isn't fun. Finish on a positive.
 
For the sake of your wrists, i would practice in shorter sessions. Do your stretches first. I found out the hard way.
 
Generally speaking, I think there's a point where you should just stop.

For me, if I'm going to practice a specific song that is not my own then I'll give it about an hour; two if I plan on performing that certain song. If it's a song of my own that I'm writing/composing, then I just give up when I don't feel that vibe anymore.
 
The most important things are :

Regular - i.e. daily practice.

and

Structured learning.


you really only needplay 20 mins a day ,but you need it every day.
 
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