Method Of Practice

During rehearsals for our gig together in 2001, me and Julianne Regan devised this Method Of Practice which we would like to share with all rehearsing musicians.

Devised on 30th July 2001

Julianne Regan & annA rydeR’s Method Of Practice

1. Communicate by email at first saying which songs you want to sing

2. Send these songs by post

3. Also send lyrics/music by post/email

4. Arrange date/dates to practice

5. At practice find the following things:

cartoon_gourd_of_destiny a bowl type-thing (preferably a half gourd). This shall be known as The Gourd Of Destiny.
a long type rectangular stool (preferably a piano stool). This shall be known as The Piano Stool Of Success.
a smaller round stool (preferably a drumstool). This shall be known as The Drumstool Of Doubt.
a tambourine (you could use a plate/bowl and pretend it’s a tambourine). This shall be known as The Tambourine of Au Revoir.

a sofa/couch. This shall be known as The Couch Of Confidence.
an armchair. This shall be known as The Armchair Of Agreement.
some blank paper on which you must write all the titles of the songs you are practicing.
your instruments.
an egg timer (preferably a pretend fruit/vegetable one like a lemon for instance).

6. Place all the songs in The Gourd Of Destiny and whisk.

7. Player 1 takes a song out at random while the other person(s) hold The Gourd Of Destiny. The song is placed on an instrument such as the keyboard/piano while you practice it.

8. Once it is practiced to your satisfaction – this should take no longer than 55 mins – place it in the following locations according to it’s success:

on The Piano Stool Of Success if you are happy with it and it will work (most likely type are ones where you have said to each other ‘that’s lovely!’ quite a few times
on The Drumstool Of Doubt if you are not quite happy with it and not sure if it will work or not (maybe you have only said ‘lovely!’ once or only one of has said ‘lovely’ or someone said ‘lovely’ accidently
in The Tambourine Of Au Revoir if you weren’t happy with it and know it won’t work however much practice you do or if you don’t like it and you certainly haven’t mentioned the word ‘lovely’ in connection with this song

9. Player 2 now takes a song out of The Gourd Of Destiny and repeats the procedure. Make sure you stick to strict rotation of drawing out the songs otherwise everything will go wrong

10. Once all the possible songs have been drawn out, you will find many on The Piano Stool Of Success, a few on The Drumstool Of Doubt and 1 or 2 in The Tambourine Of Au Revoir. Now discuss the songs on The Drumstool of Doubt and what will be there fate. (If this is not the case – you probably aren’t very good so I’d forget all about it and go and try something else instead)

11. Make enough song titles for people to have a set plus something to arrange them on (like a tray or a clipboard) and sit on The Couch Of Confidence and The Armchair Of Agreement

12. Set the Lemon Timer to 3 minutes and put the songs in the rough order you think is right for performing

13. When timer goes off, stop and show each other what you got. Say why you arranged them and settle on a rough order. E.g. what’s in the 1st half and what’s in the 2nd half

14. Set timer to 4 mins and arrange songs in more detail paying attention to instruments used, keys, tunings, mood, speed and popularity

15. Show each other your completed set and decide on set to be performed through sensible and non-confrontational discussion

16. Do the gig and it is guaranteed to be a huge success

This is what we ended up with on the Piano Stool of Success: