Chunking Music for Practice

How can we chunk our music into smaller parts for practicing?

When encountering a new selection of music, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to figure out how to learn and practice it.

One way to make the learning and practicing process more manageable and productive, is to chunk it.

Chunking music is when you divide the music into smaller parts to practice independently of one another.

Interested in exploring how to chunk music for your own practice? Read on and practice with us.

Participate

Take a look at this free sheet music (staff notation) of the Weber Clarinet Concerto #1. (Feel free to download it!)

How would you chunk this music?

1. Download the music and show how you would chunk it into smaller parts
   
2. Try using annotations to digitally mark up the part into chunks. (Alex uses colors to indicate different chunks and then puts them up on the wall! )
   OR
3. Try printing out the music and using colored pencils, pens, markers, stickers or whatever else you want to mark up the music into chunks.
   OR
4. As you make decisions about the chunks, make sure to play the music to figure out if the chunks work for your practice.

Connect & Collaborate

1. Collaborate with friends or a music teacher to discuss how you would chunk the music
   
2. Collaborate with us by sharing your chunked music and the decisions you are making (See below)

Share

• Share an image of your chunked music via social media and add #LiquidWeber
  
• If you are not a minor, share a video of your chunked music and some of the decisions you made about why/how you chunked it as you did and add #LIquidWeber to your video (if you are a student speak with a parent/guardian and your teacher before sharing any videos).
  
• Share a link to your chunked music in the comment section below.
  
• Visit our #LiquidWeber social accounts: LiquidWeber on IG

Learn more

• Take a look at how Alex Laing approaches chunking the Weber Clarinet Concerto #1