What my practice routine looks like.

The three main elements of clarinet playing are what I call the three T’s of clarinet playing. Tone, Tonguing and Technique.

As such I like to split my practice up into these same three areas.

Usually, I like to split my practice sessions into two or three sessions a day.

In the first session I practice tone and tonguing. You can do this using a variety of different exercises. I use a drone tone when practicing tone as this allows me to work on tuning at the same time.

The second session is the technique session. This is usually where I practice scales and any specific studies or exercises that target a specific area. I usually only focus on one set of scales, for example only Melodic minors in 3rds today. Then sometimes I follow the scales up with a particular study, for example something that focuses on left or right hand specifics.

The third session is usually where I practice pieces that I’m working on and any band pieces or chamber must for any performances that I have coming up. I start this session with in depth focus on any of the bits of the piece I’m having difficulty with and then play through a few times to consolidate everything.