Études are a regular feature in most instrumentalists’ development. Are they used correctly? Why do we practise them? Planning étude practice and reflecting on its purpose and execution became a project for Students 1 and 3.

The students were usually given two weekly études as homework – one slow and one fast. The teacher gave them some advice on how to practise them, and why. Subsequently it emerged that the students usually started by playing through the étude and would often get stuck and struggle to move on. The teacher therefore switched the timings around. Instead of “spending 5 minutes of a lesson looking at the étude and then moving on to something else” as they had done in the past, they now spent almost the entire lesson exploring the étude on the occasions one had been assigned. They went through the études to identify any challenges and establish the usefulness of practising them. They tried out different practice techniques for different passages and discussed which benefits could be had from passages that were not technically challenging. The students had to work out how they wanted to practise and were asked the following week how they got on.

One important objective for the teacher was to make the students take a more conscious approach to the études, to exploit them as the specific exercises they are, e.g. in order to master a scale in a particular key, and not just see the problems in playing them. This also meant accepting that they will not always able to reach the goals they have set themselves and that their playing is perhaps not as metronomic or fast as it should be, instead thinking of the practice as part of their long-term development.

At the teacher’s request, both students made notes on what the learning objective of each étude was, about time use and what they found difficult and had to work more on, and on how they solved problems.

Both students stated that they learnt to approach and take advantage of the études with more focus than before. Where they were previously more concerned about playing through the étude and making as few mistakes as possible, they were now more anxious to understand the objective or meaning of the étude and to work on that. The students said they found going through the étude with the teacher very useful and that it helped them structure their practice better. They found that they mastered difficult sections quicker and picked up on more detail (such as dynamics and phrasing) earlier than before. They also felt that their practising was generally different and better than before with more structure and method.

They have not continued to take notes, but from what they are saying it appears that they have adopted a more planned and systematic approach to both études and repertoire.

One observation made by the teacher about going through the études together was that it was better to “spend more time on that than have to listen to their perhaps not getting it right”. It was also important to be as specific as possible when going through the études with the students. “Things often interweave, and sometimes it can be good to restrict your focus to specific aspects of the playing. It could be helpful to be specific about what each student should focus on when practising the étude depending on how advanced the student is. Sound, technique, articulation, intonation, body/breathing etc.”