PracticeMind: The Complete Practice Model

Hans Jørgen Jensen · Oleksander Mycyk

May 2022 · Ovation Press, Ltd.

About this ebook

PracticeMind is a four-part pedagogical method book that will transform the way you practice and perform. With a primary focus on stringed instruments, PracticeMind guides you on your path toward string instrument mastery through the Complete Practice Model. Co-authors Hans Jørgen Jensen and Oleksander Mycyk have authored this book for all advanced string players and have filled it with research-backed practice techniques and methods that will dramatically improve your performance results. Each chapter contains either musical examples from the repertory or mental and instrumental exercises to incorporate into your own personalized planning and practice routine. The first section of the book, The Practice Mind, delves into topics related to the mental, motivational, and psychological aspects of learning. The metacognitive learning cycle is presented in The Plan, the second section of the book, and the chapters within are focused on topics such as goal setting and practice planning. The chapters in the Implement part explore the active part of practicing and the successful techniques that are applied in the practice sessions. The final section of the book, Evaluate, consists of chapters that are focused on evaluating all aspects of practice- and performance-related issues. This new release from Ovation Press is the definitive guide to developing your practice mind. Through the many music examples, practice exercises and beautiful full color illustrations PracticeMind will inspire and motivate your journey to superior technical mastery and greater freedom of artistic expression in the practice room, the stage and beyond.

Ratings and reviews

Awesome book !

About the author

Hans Jørgen Jensen, Professor of Cello at Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the 2010 Artist Teacher Award from the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), the Presidential Scholars Program Teacher Recognition Award from the US Departmentof Education, and the Danish Music Critics Award in Copenhagen, one of Denmark’s most prestigious awards. Professor Jensen has performed and taught master classes across the United States, as well as in Canada, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Israel, Japan, and South Korea. Many of his students are first prize winners in numerous national and international competitions, as well as members of major US orchestras and leading music schools. Professor Jensen is also a faculty member of the Glenn Gould School in Toronto, Canada, and the Meadowmount School of Music in Westport, New York. Jensen has published the following books: Fun in Thumb Position, The Galamian Scale System for Cello: Volume I and Volume II, CelloMind, and ViolinMind, the latter two books published by Ovation Press. Jensen studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Denmark with cellist Asger Lund Christiansen and at the Juilliard School with Leonard Rose and Channing Robbins. 

Canadian cellist Oleksander Mycyk enjoys a multifaceted career as a solo, chamber, and orchestral performer and teacher. He is completing a Doctorate in Musical Arts at Northwestern University Bienen School of Music with Hans Jørgen Jensen and was recently appointed as section cellist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He finished the Certificate in Performance program at Northwestern while a full-time member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra and regularly performs as a substitute cellist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra. Previously, Oleksander received a Bachelor of Music Performance degree at the University of Toronto studying with Simon Fryer and David Hetherington and a masters in Solo Performance at McGill University under the guidance of Matt Haimovitz. He has performed in master classes for cellists such as Lynn Harrell, János Starker, Laurence Lesser, and Aldo Parisot. As part of a collaborative duo, Oleksander was a top prize winner in the Canadian Music Competition and currently teaches applied cello at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago alongside his diverse performance schedule across North America.