My middle school and high school students have one thing in common when it comes to practicing—they are impatient. Sometimes I wonder if part of that is the speed they play their video games. Regardless, we spend lots of time going over the best ways to practice.

The most common mistake all of them make is playing a piece from beginning to end over and over and over again. They understand this doesn’t allow them to learn correct notes, fingering, or bowing. They know they are practicing mistakes that are incredibly difficult to go back and fix. They get that it doesn’t help them learn the piece to a place where they can begin to make music. Every single one of them sees it as lazy. Still, they continue to come in week after week having wasted their valuable practice time this way.

Dividing pieces into phrases is what I recommend. I tell students I would rather have them learn one phrase thoroughly than an entire piece poorly. By learning phrases, breaking it down to learn notes and fingering, bowing and then music creates a great understanding about what is going on. I don’t exactly know why students want to jump ahead before mastering the first phase. The technical aspects generally repeat, so learning one phrase means you have also learned more of the piece. There are no shortcuts when you get down to it. Learning how to practice correctly is one of the most important parts of playing an instrument. What students lack in patience I make up for.