| I would like to chime in on this a bit, so I hope you don't mind Tony.
Whenever encountering the rough stuff, take it down the gradient scale to something you CAN do and work your way up to it, adding one thing at a time. This reinforces good habits while working on challenging things. For example....
Someone might say, "I can't play that sustained C above the staff when I get to the end of this four measure phrase". Ok....so, what do you do? If it is a bunch of sixteenth notes ending on a sustained C, the first thing you would do is take the fourth measure, change the sixteenths to quarters (pick the first note of each group and sustain it) and play them with a nice solid sound, singing and ringing, and make sure they are slotted correctly, etc. So, you would play four quarters and then the sustained C. When that sounds EXCELLENT, you can then change the quarters to eighths - play that last measure using eighths, making sure there are no anticipatory tendencies on any of the notes leading to the C - make sure all notes are comfortable and singing and centered. When that sounds EXCELLENT and feels secure, play the last measure as written - all sixteenths - and end on the sustained C. Again, when this sounds EXCELLENT and feels secure, add the last two measures, then the last three and then finally the entire phrase. Working through challenges this way keeps one 'up' emotionally because you are reinforcing what you can do well while finding what might be causing the challenge in the first place. During this hypothetical practice session, the player might have found that they were playing high on the pitch in the entire last measure or last group of sixteenths in anticipation of the "high" C. That could easily cause "the problem".
This is just one example of how to tackle challenges when they come our way or simply to improve on something we cannot do well. There are several ways this hypothetical problem could have been solved. It depends on the individual mostly. The important thing is to leave the ego at the door, break a problem into cells of what you can do and work your way up. The same can be said for range. If you want to increase it, simply play scales to what is comfortable and solid and each week go up a half step. When put into this kind of perspective, it doesn't feel nearly as daunting and is much more rewarding. |