Practice is a funny word in English, our doctors and lawyers are said to practice when they are actually performing. Yet musicians are practicing when honing their skills without an audience.
Taking the word only from the musical point of view there is yet a difference in the practice of practice, and this has been clear in the answers in this thread. Does one practice the technical skills or the music? Each is needed to make the music one hears. Does one listen to the "expert" on a CD and imitate his interpretation or does one read the music and get a sense of the music in one's head? I see no perfect solution, we are each different in our fingers and our ears. What works for one may not work for another. For myself I both practice music and technique. My harp is in front of my chair, and my lute is next to it (and my folk guitar within reach - and not far to go for the dulcimer and psalteries). My lute is my favorite (and I intend to become a "lutenist" of some sort by the time I'm 70, which leaves me a bit less than a year to go). I go through the Damiano exercises at the pace I can play them perfectly, then I play them, and the pieces he includes at a rythym that allows me to feel the piece. And the various pieces I've downloaded from the sites of this group, and the Ronn McFarlane Scot's Lute. I play the pieces I know up to pace, then I sight read a new piece and try to get the natural fingering. But in the middle of that I'll pull up the harp and play a piece I know, then sight read a piece (and less often the other instruments). If I get totally frustrated I'll grab the guitar and sing an old Irish ballad to myself, then put it down and pick up another instrument. I don't suggest this form of practice, but it works for me. Music is both in the "chops" and the mind. The finest fingers and technique in the world can make impressive sound, but not music if the musician can't hear it. A man with no fingers can make music on a theramin (or make a mess of it). The "I" in the HIP used on this list, as I understand it, means "informed". But my best guess is that that "informed" is yet a guess. I'm having a lot of fun with playing the Damiano exercises and pieces, and the McFalane ones, and the downloaded ones in different tempos and with changes of delays and emphasis. One of the nice things about lute notation is that it isn't set strictly note by note (unless one really makes it so). The divisions suggest, but don't define. One can picture the scene and play to it. Best, Jon To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
