The wrong way? Jumping in hot and heavy in 3-4 hour marathon sessions at fast speed. The end result will be sort of what happened to me when I started swimming again for exercise after laying off for several months and did about 20 laps. After that session, I couldn't go back and exercise. The end result was a pulled ligament in my knee. (Yes, even swimming can hurt when done to excess.) If you haven't been a consistent player for a while, there is no crime in starting slowly. The main word is consistent. If you can find 10 minutes a day, if nothing else, go through all your scales, slowly at first, then gradually upping the speed. It keeps your fingers going, and you can concentrate on breathing, form, and finger dexterity. But in those 10 minutes, shut the rest of the world out and concentrate on what you're doing. Jan Gippo told me in one of my lessons to lock the door, turn the TV on for the kids, turn off the phone, and let the world go away during these sessions. Practice in front of a mirror, check your hand position, check your abdomen for proper breathing...all the fine details that will eventually become a habit when your practice becomes a habit.
Another Jan tip: break the practice sessions down. They're much more manageable that way, as well as more motivating. Spend about 20 minutes to a half hour in session one working on technique, such as Taffanel and Gaubert. Use that dreaded metronome and hike your tempo up a notch or two every day. These exercises are probably the least motivating, but yet, you would be amazed, if you just let yourself, how much these patterns carry over into your other literature and help conquer those. After 30 minutes of total concentration on these, take a nice long break and join the real world. In your next session, maybe 30-45 minutes, work on etudes. Why etudes? Because I said so. No, seriously, etudes are good for sightreading skills, working on expression,and learning to tackle key changes and accidentals. After another nice long break, tackle your solo material and ensemble material. Another practice tidbit: no matter how many mistakes you make, force yourself to go entirely through a piece (or at least one movement) the first time. You need to learn the continuity and form of the piece. Then, break it down.
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