More thoughts on the backwards practice

After my most recent session of practicing tunes backwards, I've come up with a few more thoughts as to why it's the way to go. First, it forces you to pay more attention to where you are in the tune, so it results in a more concentrated practice. Second, during a competition I find that I tend to concentrate on my fingers for the first part (so it's usually pretty good), then I listen more to the instrument and concentrate more on blowing steady and keeping it in tune. The more familiar my fingers are with the later parts, the better off I will be when I subconsciously turn my attention away from them.

I've also decided that I need to add an extra step to the list I posted last time, and that is to close the practice with five minutes or so of tunes that are just fun to play. If you're enjoying yourself while you play it's not practice; practice is where you play things over and over and concentrate on making yourself better, and it's supposed to be miserable. It's a treat to close a practice session with a reminder that this awful instrument is fun to play.

At least this is my approach to practice... up to you as to whether you agree or not.