Winter Practice Tips from Music Institute of Chicago Faculty

From cold temperatures to interrupted practice schedules, winter can impact both routines and instrument care. This guide features winter practice tips from Music Institute of Chicago faculty to help students stay motivated, consistent, and prepared throughout the season.

-Nick Collins | Tuba & Euphonium Faculty; MIC Concert Band Director; Chamber Winds Director  

• The time to take care of chapped lips is yesterday!
  • Cracked, chapped, burning lips are the enemy of a brass player and the signature cold dry wind of Chicago winter quickly steals the moisture out of our skin. It’s always best to be preventative about chapped lips so find a good, neutral lip balm and apply a thin layer regularly.
• Traveling and can’t take your instrument? Bring your mouthpiece.
  • The winter holidays are joyful but busy so it can be easy to go a few days (or even weeks) without playing your instrument. If you can’t travel with your instrument, bring your mouthpiece and buzz scales or some of your favorite tunes each day! If you’re feeling confident, perform for your friends and family on the mouthpiece! Mine get a kick out of it! Your chops will stay fresh and strong until you get back on the horn.
• If you do take a break from the instrument, don’t expect to pick up exactly where you left off.
  • Be patient and go slowly. Shorter, more frequent practice sessions working on slow lips slurs, scales, and simple tunes will get you back in shape in a much healthier and more efficient manner. Use this time to reset!

 - Brad Conroy | Guitar Department Chair, Guitar Faculty

• Stretch first
  • Do some light stretching before you practice to help warm up those cold hands, but it is important to incorporate this year-round to ensure the body's health from sitting in unnatural practice positions. 
• Warm up slowly
  • Always warm up very slowly with a chromatic scale or just blocking some chords
• Breathe & reset
  • Do not underestimate the power of closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths a few times during your practice session. This helps calm and clear the mind and powers you up to keep going.

- Phyllis Adams | Harp Faculty 

• Warm up slowly
  • Always begin your practice time with slow warm-up exercises to literally "warm up" your fingers.
• Try something new
  • For example, see if you can play one piece five times through without stopping.
• Set a new goal
  • Try playing one piece per week for your parents or siblings.

 - Jessica Hudson | Suzuki Cello Faculty

• Warm up your body first
  • With the cold weather, it's really important to stretch and properly warm-up before a practice session. I love using a resistance band to stretch my shoulders and do some light yoga. 
• Stay motivated with small goals
  • I stay motivated in the winter by having frequent performances/gigs. For my students, I have a sticker chart that they log their practice days with, and when that's completed, they can earn a handmade keychain.
• Protect your instrument
  • Our string instruments are so sensitive to the cold, dry weather. I use Boveda humidity packs because these are 100% safe for the instrument and there's no risk of any water dripping inside!

- Vannia Phillips | Violin and Viola Faculty (Suzuki)

• Avoid extreme temperature changes.
  • Do not leave your instrument in the car during summer or winter and avoid storing it near heating vents or radiators.
• Use a room humidifier.
  • Keep a humidifier running in the space where your instruments are stored.
• Keep a humidifier inside your case.
  • Even if you can’t control the room temperature or humidity, an in-case humidifier adds a crucial layer of protection. You can buy a commercially made humidifier for your case, but my luthier recommended making your own. See DIY methods below.
    • Method 1: Pill Bottle Humidifier
      • Container: Small plastic pill bottle with a snap-on lid.
      • Moisture Source: Kitchen sponge cut to size, or cotton balls.
      • Prepare:
        -Moisten the sponge with distilled water.
        -Wring it out until it’s just damp.
        -Add one tiny drop of bleach to discourage mold.
      • Assemble:
        -Poke holes in the lid or sides of the bottle.
        -Place the damp sponge inside and close the lid.
        -Place in Case:
        -Keep it away from direct contact with the instrument.
    • Method 2: Zip-Top Bag Humidifier
      • Moisture Source: Paper towel or small cloth dampened with distilled water and thoroughly wrung out.
      • Container: Small zip-top bag.
      • Vent: Poke several small holes in the bag.
      • Place in Case: Ensure it does not touch the instrument.
    • Important Tips!
      • Use distilled water.
        • This helps prevent mineral buildup and mold. Adding just one drop of bleach is optional but helpful.
      • Check frequently.
        • Inspect the sponge or towel every day or two. Re-moisten as needed—remember, a dry sponge actually absorbs moisture from the air!
      • Avoid standing water.
        • The sponge should be damp, never dripping. Water pooling in the case can cause serious damage.
           

- Maria Schwartz  | Flute Faculty

• Take care of your lips
  • Help your lips out by drinking more water throughout the day and using chap stick (lip stuff) after playing. It’s hard to feel good about sound on the flute with dry lips. I choose to put many layers of Burt’s Bees on my lips in the evening before sleep. 
• Spend more time warming up and doing warm ups!
  • Slow & steady - it’s colder out so muscles (face muscles especially) need a little more time and care to be responsive.
• Thoroughly clean your flute head joint inside and out.
  • A damp paper towel for the outside (on head joint only) and your typical cleaning cloth for the inside. This is especially important after concerts!

- Jennifer McCormick | Voice & Musikgarten Faculty

• Take care of yourself
  • Drink water to combat the low humidity.  Get enough sleep and eat healthy food to balance out all those holiday treats.  Take time to de-stress with a healthy source of dopamine, even if you can't stop the stressor right now.  Ever notice that when you don't get enough sleep, your voice is husky? That's due to inflammation that your body didn't get to process, since you didn't sleep. SLEEP!
• Warm up early in the day
  • Ideally after you have eaten (all that chewing is a muscle warmup!), and before you do much talking.  Set yourself up for a day of making your healthiest sound, whether speaking or singing!
• When recovering from illness, be kind to your voice 
  • Do lots of SOVP (Semi-Occluded Vocal Production) exercises. That's just a fancy term for not using too much air to make your sound, so you don't force too much air over swollen vocal folds.  Here's a great one: Get a paper straw, and hum through it at a comfortable pitch.  Aim your air and sound for the tip of the straw that is farthest away from you. This encourages your brain and body to focus on airflow, rather than sound production.  Your vocal folds will vibrate more freely = clearer sound! 🎉 Then, hum through the straw in small exercises that go Do-Re-Mi-Re-Do (1-2-3-2-1), moving up and down the scale.  Stay in a range you can comfortably sing with your recovering vocal folds.  If that goes well, you can do the same without the straw: hum, or use voiced consonants like V, Z, or "ng."

These are great tips for every speaking  voice, even if you're not a singer.  Especially if you have laryngitis, go ahead and give them a try!

- Timothy Mah | Piano Faculty

A cozy way to keep your fingers moving this season:

• Defrost before you play
  • Use a mug of hot cocoa to (carefully) warm up your hands before practicing
• Mindful Placement
  • Set the mug aside at a safe distance from your instrument
• The Reward
  • Set a short 10-minute practice goal (i.e. working on a scale, breaking down a particularly tricky technical passage, etc.), and after each successful repetition reward yourself with a sip of hot cocoa until it's finished!

At the Music Institute of Chicago, our faculty work closely with students to build healthy technique, strong routines, and long-term motivation.

From first-time players to seasoned performers, everyone is welcome. Get in touch to start your lessons with one of our experienced teachers today!

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