Practicing Slow, Slower, and Slower Yet

In any field, repetition is key to success. Whether you are like my room mate who does calculus and physics problems over and over again until, like he says, "It becomes muscle memory" or if you are like me, a musician, who practices passages over and over to become proficient, repetition is essential. When I practice I tend to get caught up in trying to play things really fast and most of the time quite sloppy. But recently I have been focused on quality instead of speed. As a Horn player, playing a note is less than half of the battle. Things such as the start of a note, the note itself, intonation of the note, the volume of the note, and also the end of the note. The list can go on and on about what to think about while playing ONE single note. So when practicing I practice slow. REALLY SLOW. I try to go into the practice session with a mentality much like I would have when entering a gym. I really could care less what others think of my performance in the practice room. You can not have an ego when practicing. Making yourself satisfied should be good enough. So, I practice slow. When I am done practicing slow, I go slower. Try it. I guarantee results.