Is there a difference for we musicians in playing our instruments as there is in practicing them? Is playing the same as practicing? Is practicing the same as playing? Aren't they the same thing? As musicians, we must work at our craft in order to not only maintain our level of proficiency, but also to improve. I am of the belief that practicing an instrument is quite drastically different from playing an instrument. Too often, a student of mine will spend a long time with their instrument over a long period of time and not grow musically. Another student will spend the same amount of time and increase their skill much more than the former student. Why is that? Certainly, there are techniques used when working on your instrument to produce results and of course, the individual talent each given person has effects the outcome. But for arguments sake, let's call everyone equal and just focus on playing vs.practicing. Is there a difference between rehearsing a concert band and performing a concert? I feel these two concepts are one and the same. I would like to outline my thoughts on this important matter.

Practicing is the only way to improve significantly. When you spend time alone with your instrument, you are able to focus on technique, musicality, and personal development as a musician. It is the time we have to work with a metronome going over difficult scale exercises or rudiments. It is very easy to play our instruments and think that we are practicing. Is there a difference between practicing and playing? This is a question I frequently ask my students. I believe there is.

OK, so there I am, in my practice room, playing all these great licks and grooves - fast, with finesse, impressing everyone outside my practice room door with all these great things I can play. I spend an hour or more in my room playing all this material that I have mastered, maybe even playing it a bit faster than yesterday - WOW, I'm good! I come out of my practice chamber, sweating, towel draped over my shoulder, water bottle in hand, ready to take a short break from my masterful playing before heading back in to play something else I already know. The nice thing is, everyone who has heard me "practicing" is really impressed and thinks the world of me…gosh, what greater thing is there?! But is this really making the best use of my time? Isn't all I am doing just reinforcing what I have already learned, what I already know? Will I be able to grow as rapidly as a musician, or grow at all if I just continue to play the things I already know how to play?

My viewpoint is this: Playing my instrument is just that, playing. It means I am playing what I already know how to play, reiterating the same musical statements over and over. Sure, I am getting better at playing those beats and licks, but am I getting better? Practicing is working on material that I cannot yet play, or have difficulty playing, or need to increase my tempo or fluidity with. Practicing means that I am taking the time to slowly learn the material before me; it means that I recognize that there are things I cannot yet play and in order to play them, I need to dissect them by practicing them slowly, paying attention to details such as dynamics, phrasing, hand position, correct notes, sticking, etc. Outside my practice room door, it may not sound like a great flurry of notes showcasing this hot performer playing fluently all over the marimba or drumset, with ease and perfection, but that's ok. Inside my practice room, I am learning more music, learning to be a better musician, and taking the time for details.

I have a motto: The slower you practice, the faster you learn.

I truly believe this in many senses. If I practice slowly, I have more time for my mallets to play the correct notes, I have more time to see the phrasing and dynamic markings in my music, I have time to count difficult rhythmic passages, I have more time to check and adjust my tunings on timpani. And by practicing slowly, I am not making needless mistakes. When I practice too fast, I make many mistakes. Then I try it again - same mistake. Try a third time, same mistake. You get the picture. I am reinforcing the mistakes because I am simply going too fast. When I slow down, I make less mistakes, which means I learn my music faster, so, the slower you practice, the faster you learn.

It is very easy to get in a rut of playing the same material over and over. It boosts your ego, helps your confidence and sounds good to anyone listening. It is also true that we should keep up our repertoire and not let any of the solos we have learned to slip. So in this sense, it is a good idea to play over the material you already know, just so that you can maintain it in your repertoire. But do not spend all of your time doing this. You simply won't grow as a musician.

I know many people who spend lots of time playing the same things over and over, plying along to CD's on their drumset, playing the same timpani solo year after year without learning anything new. Other people are passing them by as they continue to practice. The people who practice are the ones who become better musicians, are the ones who get hired for gigs and recordings. We must continue to hone our skills and learn new material and techniques. There are always new ideas in our heads musically, but we will never achieve the next level unless we practice.

There are many ways to practice and there have been many wonderful articles written on the subject. My purpose here is to encourage you to not just play, but also practice! And remember, as the great Peter Erskine has said, practice is playing.