I can't tell you if you are practicing enough, because I think you probably have the answer to that stored deep down in places you don't talk about at parties (Jack Nicholson - "A Few Good Men") . For what it's worth, I found out that in a conservatory college, the really successful kids practiced on average about 2 to 4 hours a day. That might seem like a lot to you, and in High School, that's pretty much undo-able. So lets say you have a half hour to an hour to work with, you are going to need to make the most of it, right?
If you split it up into...
1) Long tones for 5-10 minutes (pick a scale and hold the notes as long as you can while still making them sound round and full and unwavering). That way you get a scale down, and your sound worked out in one foul swoop. Or is it a fowl swoop? Do I care?
2) Next, really practice something that is giving you trouble reading wise - slow it down if you have to, and if I know you like you know you, you probably do. Work out the fingerings, the rhythms and the articulations for about 15 - 20 minutes. Don't play the parts you already know, play the hard parts.
3) Then try to write out, or just figure out, on your instrument, some familiar tune you already know by ear for about 10 -20 minutes, or take a lick and work it out in every key. This will develop your ears and help you play in weird keys without too much difficulty.
4) Lastly, let loose and play something - either a piece of written literature, or improvise with an Aebersold if that's what you are working on, for the remainder of the time. The goal for this part of your practice session is just to clear your mind and let your subconscious take over your fingers and playing. Yeah, it's like you are a Zen master instrumentalist or something. Don't think! Do!
That's one plan, but you can make your own. Just try and get some reading, some listening/ear training, and some focused work in there. Then you'll be groovy, and not just look groovy. Berklee's motto : Esse Quam Videri - meaning "To be, rather than to seem to be."
Time went by fast didn't it? ...So as you ponder how much time you are putting in, and how you are going to split it up, you should check out this video. It is of blind pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii (born September 13, 1988). It's fair to say he practices the full amount.
If you split it up into...
1) Long tones for 5-10 minutes (pick a scale and hold the notes as long as you can while still making them sound round and full and unwavering). That way you get a scale down, and your sound worked out in one foul swoop. Or is it a fowl swoop? Do I care?
2) Next, really practice something that is giving you trouble reading wise - slow it down if you have to, and if I know you like you know you, you probably do. Work out the fingerings, the rhythms and the articulations for about 15 - 20 minutes. Don't play the parts you already know, play the hard parts.
3) Then try to write out, or just figure out, on your instrument, some familiar tune you already know by ear for about 10 -20 minutes, or take a lick and work it out in every key. This will develop your ears and help you play in weird keys without too much difficulty.
4) Lastly, let loose and play something - either a piece of written literature, or improvise with an Aebersold if that's what you are working on, for the remainder of the time. The goal for this part of your practice session is just to clear your mind and let your subconscious take over your fingers and playing. Yeah, it's like you are a Zen master instrumentalist or something. Don't think! Do!
That's one plan, but you can make your own. Just try and get some reading, some listening/ear training, and some focused work in there. Then you'll be groovy, and not just look groovy. Berklee's motto : Esse Quam Videri - meaning "To be, rather than to seem to be."
Time went by fast didn't it? ...So as you ponder how much time you are putting in, and how you are going to split it up, you should check out this video. It is of blind pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii (born September 13, 1988). It's fair to say he practices the full amount.
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Keep it clean, Buster Brown!