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The practice principle: how I practise

2026-08-28T08:52:00

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Musicians spend thousands of hours practising but the questions about how to do it most efficiently never go away. Four leading string players share their insights with David Kettle and reveal their individual, and sometimes surprising, approaches to practice

Perhaps a chore for youngsters, certainly a duty for students, and often a rare time for focus and reflection for professionals, practice plays a central role in every musician’s life. Yet for something so fundamental, it’s surprisingly easy to leave practice unquestioned, seldom stopping to consider what it’s for or how it should be done. Is it about technique or repertoire? Should it support health and well-being, or simply help players get to grips with their bulging portfolios of pieces? Or, indeed, all of the above at once?…

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