I do none of that, but can see the value particularly if your time is tight.

Mostly I just play tunes to keep them fresh in my memory, no timer involved.

I can say for 3 years in. I journaled the first year. Then and now I do about 30-45 mins a day.
Give or take.

My methods will go.

TUNE the first minute!!

2-5 mins with long bows. tip to tip. Now I incorporate double stops but at first it was single strings then single fingered notes. Nice and slow. Testing my intonation.

Depending on the song or songs I'm going after, I run those scales in that key, top to bottom, slow and then eventually faster.

Then I spend time on a particular tune that I know the notes for. I move on once I can play it around at least 2 times. Usually it's not at speed. This is usually the last 15 minutes of my routine. When I get stuck at a part, I try to stay right there and fix it. Where before if I was unfamiliar with the tune, I'd start all the way back at the beginning.

I also stopped adding tunes until I get the first 40 down 

I don't do any part more than 5 minutes.

5 warm

5 scales

5 min per song

Nope. Just play tunes - slow at first, and lately I've made a point of going over and over any bits that I stumble on - I've been trying to 'master' all those tunes that I half know. I'll throw in Variations On an Arpeggio when I'm going to play something in a different key. Once in a long while I'll play a scale, if I notice my intonation is off.

I start my fiddling day with long, slow bow strokes to loosen up my bow hand, wrist, arm and, not to mention, get myself to generate some good tone. I then slowly go through an assortment of first position scales to get my left hand loose so it can intonate notes with a measure of accuracy. Then it's a round of Soldier's Joy to get my mind & hands properly coordinating with each other. I fine tune the position of my shoulder rest. With this, I'm finally ready to have some fun.

Ok, I start with scales played with a cello drone playing . I work first second third and fourth position is both single tones and double stops. I finish up a given key with a fiddle tune in that key then move on to another key. I usually do three or four keys. This usually takes fifteen or twenty minutes. Then I hit up my daily workout list , which is seven different lists for days of the week. Some of those tunes are old friends some are still in the works. Lastly I work into any new tunes or songs. This keeps me busy for an hour to an hour and a half. Play on friends. R/

I start each day with arpeggios or scales. Played slow with either a drone sound or with the TE tuner analysis tool. I do this for no less than 20 minutes but can be up to 45 minutes on weekends. I then work on a new tune or two. This is ussually 40 minutes. In the evenings I'll work on tunes with backing rhythm for about an hour, I alternate between backup techniques and soloing/improvisation. This is my typical day of practice. I try to alternate tunes from pretty waltzs to fast instrumentals. May also focus on more difficult keys, playing tunes in E.

I won't say it is a waste of time - because anything is better than nothing. But I'm like some of the others - I think my time is better spent playing tunes and paying close attention to my "execution" for the purpose of hearing what needs improvement. I'll spend some time with that and move on.  In my mind it accomplishes the same result in the end. Plus... I'm learning to play those tunes better.

But everyone has their own ideas about what they need to do to improve. Nothing wrong with that.

I pick up my tenor fiddle every spare opportunity. I usually just noodle around for a few minutes concentrating on pulling tone out of it as well as keeping the intonation in the right place. Then I usually start playing a slow air until I feel it getting a little stale. Then I run through a jig focusing on steadiness and bounce. Back to the slow air for a bit, then work on a hornpipe and a couple of reels. After that I just enjoy whatever comes along until I’m out of time. For a bonus I’ll pick up the regular fiddle and start all over. I’ve entered both into the national competition this year which is giving me motivation to work on them so for this I need to perform 4 tunes and of course have a recall tune up my sleeve. So The Coolin (slow air), The Lilting Fisherman (jig), The Groves (hornpipe),The Yellow Tinker & Farewell To Ireland (reels). Powerful tunes so I probably won’t get very far but it certainly is making me a better player.

Every time i go to the studio, i create a directory/folder with a date. This year, so far, there's 40 folders. Each session on averages lasts at least 3 hours. So, to date, that's 120hrs. On track for a 3600hr. year. That's pretty slack for me.

Area? When one is playing songs and tunes, one is using the whole thing to make the music. 

Scheduling practice time and tracking parts of it is a method that some players use. Others work with different methods. I think it’s often more to do with the personality of the player.

I think a lot of people who are trying to roughly schedule their practice time for efficiency often think more in terms of percentages. For a given amount of available time, one might spend a certain amount on scales, another amount on polishing familiar tunes, and another amount on learning new material (just as an example).

The goals can be quite different for different players and personalities. Some may be focused on maintenance of technique, others more on preparing tunes for a performance, still others on expanding repertoire.

I think practice time looks a lot different for beginners than it does for seasoned players. In the beginning, getting a tune to sound right (ie like the source material), pitch accuracy, smoothness all will yield to any number of the practice regimens above. More seasoned players , say 5-10+ years, can concentrate more on expression and finesse or creating a personal style. In terms of practice structure ie 5 min for this, 10 min for that- that was never my style. Back when I started ( '71) it was learn that tune, learn that tune. And scales, scales, scales.

quote:

---

Originally posted by wrench13

.............getting a tune to sound right (ie like the source material),

---

That has always been my goal in learning a tune. It's not that I play the exact notes as the source, but what I play blends in with it whether I'm learning the tune on fiddle or banjo. A friend of mine called it the "sense of the tune". Listening and blending has always been my top priority when playing with other musicians.

My practice consists mostly of just playing tunes. If you think about it tunes have all the components of scales, bowing, etc. so I figure I'm improving my scales and bowing quite a bit that way.

I mostly play tunes as well. I’ve always thought most of the necessary technique is contained within the tunes.

With the fiddle, I’ve never done much playing of scales, arpeggios, etc. - I think primarily because I play in so few keys.

I don’t track time/minutes, but I kind of have a habit…

Morning in garage (about 20 min) - playing tunes I know, mixing up and testing various sets and making mental note of sets I liked

Afternoon at computer: Learning new tunes with audio tracks, sometimes with help from online sheet music, listening to stuff (time varies a lot depending on how busy work is)