Tag: practicing

Practice by taking a break!

I am fascinated by how the brain learns. I recently read an article in Scientific American that explained a simple concept but one that I know works. They referenced how a pianist practices a piece of music. Then detailed that if you work on a passage for a short while and then rest your brain by doing something completely different, the brain will continue to work on the concepts.

This is an interesting way to view how you practice for both voice and piano. Long practice hours are not as efficient as short bursts of repetitive practice, resting the brain then returning.

After working on a piece for a short while and then going to put on a load of laundry, I find that I am silently singing the passages over and over in my brain. The studies they referenced show that the brain actually works on the passages 25 times faster than in actual practice.

Wow – the phrase “less is more” really comes into play here.  The next time you practice, sing or play a few passages over and over working for accuracy of rhythms, notes, intonation, phrasing, dynamics, etc. Take  a short amount of music at a time (chunking) the phrases.(See “The Art of Practicing” blog that I posted earlier. https://lauriebethfrick.com/?p=424  Then go do something else for a few minutes. Come back later and repeat. When you return for the next practice session, you should find that the music is easier and more accurate than during the previous session.  Practice might “make perfect” but “taking a short break” in the middle of practice sessions increases and speeds up learning.

Reference article: Scientific American July 7, 2021

https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/your-brain-does-something-amazing-between-bouts-of-intense-learning/

Laurie Beth Frick

The Art of Practicing

The Art of Practicing

“Practice Makes Perfect” & “Practice, Practice, Practice.” We have all heard variations on these expressions.   Practicing takes time, effort and patience. 

So how do you practice a piece to get the most out of the session in the least amount of time and also see progress?

It took me years to really understand this process.  My husband is in the technology field. There is an expression that asks, “How do you eat an elephant?” Answer: “One bite at a time!”  This is such a great analogy for practicing.  I call this process “chunking it” as that is how I approach a piece.

After sight reading through the selection, I go back and take small sections. I work for notes, rhythms articulations, phrasing, etc. I might work on a two-measure phrase for 10 minutes. However, at the end of that time, I know those two measures backwards and forwards. I know it in my fingers, in my head and in my heart and soul.

Now putting that difficult passage into the rest of the piece takes time and work. However, if you play through the mistakes and not stop to correct them immediately, it takes so much more time to undo the damage. Learning it correctly the first time saves hours and hours of what I call “backwards practice.”

Definition of: Backwards Practice: learning a passage “incorrectly” and then having to “unlearn it.” Such a time waster!  The connections in your brain have been wired incorrectly and now have to be rewired! That takes so much more time and effort.  Imagine if you did that while building a house. You would be wiring incorrectly and then having to tear everything out and then redo it! Thank goodness you can not set your brain on fire while practicing incorrectly. However, it still would be frustrating, time consuming and not fun!

So the next time you start a new piece, take it in very small sections and learn it correctly. Trust me, you will learn it in 1/10th of the time and enjoy the process so much more.  So, I will “practice what I preach” and “chunk” my next performance piece. I post a new piece on YouTube every Friday so I had better get to work!

Laurie Beth Frick – YouTube  (click for hyperlink)