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Performances act as targets around which musicians can base their practice schedule. Performing to an external examiner in February or March is the main target in your National 5 performance work.

Work back from this date and realistically plan what you have to achieve by then. Mark these dates in your practice log book.

Weekly targets

To be ready for the final exam, set weekly target for both instruments. Discuss your targets with your teacher and be realistic about what you can achieve each week.

One target might be to learn all the notes from the first eight bars of one of your pieces of music. The next week you may add to this by learning the rhythms that go with these notes and so on.

Practising with accompaniment

Most National 5 performances require an accompaniment. Plan time to rehearse with an accompanist - this will allow you to find out what the accompaniment sounds like - this can help with tuning, timing and the overall performance.

At first you may not be able to play at the correct tempo with your accompanist. Much like practicing pieces individually, break the piece into smaller chunks so you can build up playing accurately with the accompanist.

Try to arrange times when you can play the pieces you are learning in front of other people. These may be friends, family, a teacher or at a public event or concert. This will help you focus your practicing. It can also make you less nervous about performing in front of other people.