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Advancing Technique Some pieces of certain technical challenges may be studied by less advanced players just for touching base for future achievement. Learning just a portion of a challenging piece will encourage you to move forward to the next part. Over time you will be able go through harder parts and step to next level of achievement. In some places the lowest and highest notes of your instrument range don’t need to be immediately attacked. Fundamentally it’s more important to dedicate time to learning proper technique for getting passages nicely and without rushing, than to run for a quick fix. Practice difficult passages slowly. Finding your individual way for achieving better tone, clean articulation and evenness of registers requires accuracy and patience. Playing melodious pieces placed on WindsMusic.com will help to raise your performing potential in an easier way if practiced with focused attention to tone and technique. To overcome technical difficulties naturally, without feeling like you are “fighting with imperfection” is a very achievable goal. Practicing more quality pieces, along with etudes and scale work will help you grow technical and artistic skills and will propel you to the mastery of performing. Here are some simple recommendations: Approach tempo definitions flexibly. For example, advanced players may experiment with a “faster” Allegro - quarter value (q.n.) =120-136 beats, while other players may be comfortable with a slower allegro q.n.=104-116. It’s important to have an idea in what tempo you are more comfortable to practice at the moment you begin a piece of music. Always prefer flexibility and concentrate on easiness going through challenging passages. Avoid falling to “mechanical perfection”, when melody and artistry is sacrificed for bravado of speed. In some “hard spots”, where you may experience difficulty with lower or higher part of register, quick “leaps”, challenging articulation etc, we recommend that you intentionally slow down and allow those “spots” to go smoothly. Play difficult passages as slowly as necessary in order to play them correctly. It’s better to have confidence at a moderate tempo than to run fast and play with “reserved fear”. With patience, you will gain confidence and consistency of tempo.