Practicing in short amounts daily is much more preferable than cramming. Developing instrumental technique is much like an exercise workout—teach your muscles by doing a little bit daily.
Set a regular time to practice.
Find a comfortable, well-lit, quiet place to practice. No TV!
Practice standing up, not sitting.
Use your metronome A LOT.
Take frequent breaks if you are more advanced and practicing more than 45 minutes per day. Sessions of playing longer than 45 minutes can cause muscular problems such as tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome if one does not rest frequently.
Use a mirror to visually check your technique.
Use a tape recorder to aurally check your playing.
When trying a new technique or correcting an incorrect technique, try practicing in the dark or with your eyes closed, and concentrate on how your muscles feel when doing the technique properly.
When trying to improve intonation, memorize your music and again, close your eyes or play in the dark. Restricting visual input, in my opinion, helps enhance aural ability, and makes one more sensitive and “attuned” to tuning.
Remember to keep muscles relaxed and loose. Relaxation and breathing exercises prior to the start of a practice session can be especially helpful.
LISTEN! If you are having trouble with a school orchestra piece, or a new solo work, buy a recording, or try to get one from the library. Even better, get multiple recordings of it so you can hear different interpretations. Then, listen to it a lot. Listen to it in the car, on your headphones while taking a walk, as background music while talking to a friend, during dinner, etc. Listen until you think your ears are going to fall off, and then listen some more.
Don’t forget that the ultimate goal is not to produce the notes you see on the page as you would type in words on a keyboard—the goal is to produce beautiful music. Never forget to listen to yourself and make music as you practice.
Also see:
http://www.geocities.com/cmsunday2002/practicetips.html
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