Practice: number of total hours or number of days per week?
- Thread starter open_mind
- Start date
It depends upon each individual. I do not believe that there is a hard and fast rule that would apply to everyone. Are you a competitor, hobbyist, or social dancer? Are you professional or amateur? Are you a full time dancer or part time dancer? How many fields of dance do you currently participate? These are merely some of the many questions that must be answered first.
Personally, I prefer many shorter practices versus fewer longer practices. But some people's schedules may or may not allow for such things.
Personally, I prefer many shorter practices versus fewer longer practices. But some people's schedules may or may not allow for such things.
Generally speaking, for any field of study, more frequent sessions are better. There is always some degradation of skill over time, even if it's only very slight, so the less time between sessions, the better. Also, the longer an individual session, the more likely it is you will get tired and sloppy, so that you are not really practicing properly. As said though, it all depends on your circumstances.
Mengu
Forum Master
Also depends on what you feel you can accomplish in the time slot you give yourself. While I feel 45 minutes (or even less) is sufficient for solo practice, I would typically want 1 hour or more if practicing with a partner.
But generally agree with davedove, the fewer days between practices the better. And that goes for learning most anything.
But generally agree with davedove, the fewer days between practices the better. And that goes for learning most anything.
open_mind
Active Member
open_mind
Active Member
I should have clarified: I am a competitive pro/am dancer and I am trying to get more solo practice into my schedule. I take 2 private lessons a week, but practicing by myself has not been a part of my routine on a regular basis. I started doing so once a week at the studio and already see positive results, but need to find time to do more!
I have wooden floors at home and even though it's far from being a dance studio, there is definitely a lot that I can do there. Even a very small amount of practice daily makes a big difference. If you can get into the studio and do a longer session, terrific. If you cannot, find even 10-15 minutes of material you can practice at your home and it will likely help.
open_mind
Active Member
I have wooden floors too in some parts of the house, but I am terrified dancing in shoes on them being afraid to leave scratches, so I dance in socks, which is not the same obviously. Yes I have heel protectors, but do they really help with scratches? Besides, my instructor doesn’t believe in practicing at home, he says I need to practice at the studio to adsorb the vibe
I see his point, but yes, I practice certain stuff at home all the time. I dance Standard so I need lots of space to complete the whole routine without stopping.
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I've never scratched my floor with my suede soled shoes. In fact, the issue is that if I practice in one place too much, it becomes noticeably slicker. The floors have a water-based polyurethane finish on them. If I move my furniture a bit, I have a reasonable long straight line, but no, nothing like a full routine. Part of one wall, and I have to alter angles!
davedove is correct: generally speaking, more frequent, shorter lessons or practice are better learning for anything. There have been many studies on learning, and it's actually beneficial to experience a little, but not too much, forgetting between lessons. There is a limit where this breaks down, but 45 minutes isn't short enough to be near the point where short gets to be too short. (Twenty minutes could be.)
Having said that, you need to take into account practical reality which is that it's much easier for most people to schedule 2 long lessons rather than 4 short ones. Also, all other things being equal, more practice is better than less practice, so as a practical reality you might need longer sessions.
If you do need to have long lessons or sessions, you can try to mix things up. For example, work one dance 20 minutes, then switch to another and so on. Or identify several things you want to work on and slate a chunk of time for each, then move on to the other thing. (Notice: School is actually designed this way. Kids take several subjects. They are in a particular class a certain amount of time, then move to another class with a different subject.)
Having said that, you need to take into account practical reality which is that it's much easier for most people to schedule 2 long lessons rather than 4 short ones. Also, all other things being equal, more practice is better than less practice, so as a practical reality you might need longer sessions.
If you do need to have long lessons or sessions, you can try to mix things up. For example, work one dance 20 minutes, then switch to another and so on. Or identify several things you want to work on and slate a chunk of time for each, then move on to the other thing. (Notice: School is actually designed this way. Kids take several subjects. They are in a particular class a certain amount of time, then move to another class with a different subject.)