How to Use Practice Logs: Part 2

Efficient problem-solving, in general terms, looks like this:

1) Identify- what exactly is the problem?

2) Isolate- narrow the focus to just one problem at a time

3) Experiment- find the best solution

4) Save- make sure the best solution happens from now on

Practicing is just like a problem-solving exercise: we find the tricky spots, figure out how to make them not-tricky, and then log the not-tricky version to memory. Here's a breakdown of the process we use in our lessons, and, hopefully, in practice sessions at home:

Identify Problem Spots:

It's a waste of limited time and energy to work on something that doesn't need work. If it comes easily, you don't need to practice it! Zoom in on smaller and smaller sections, and find exactly which measure is the tricky measure, or which two notes are the tricky notes. Be RIDICULOUSLY specific.

Why is it a Problem Spot?:

We can only knock down the tricky spots once we know WHY they're tricky. Otherwise, we're just mindlessly repeating the measure with no clear goal. As the teacher, it's my task to help identify those "whys" for the student, but soon, the student will be able to see the patterns, and will begin to identify them on their own.

The Whys include things like: rhythm (counting), fingerings, bowing/string crossing, articulation (slurs, staccato, etc.)

Sometimes, the spot will be tricky because of the intersection of two Whys, like rhythm AND fingering, or string-crossing AND slurs. The process is still the same: Isolate one Why, then the other, and try putting them together only once both are comfortable separately.

Build a Toolbox:

My job as the teacher is to come up with the tools to put into your toolbox. But my hope is that these tools will become familiar, and the student will become able, on their own, to identify the tools they need to use in the appropriate situation during practice sessions at home. The toolbox is populated by exercises that isolate only the problem-spot. If you've picked your "Why", now we need to use a tool that is designed just for that one purpose. We wouldn't use a screwdriver to hammer in a nail. Similarly, we don't need to use the bow, if we're having a rhythm problem.

Some examples of the tools in my toolbox are:

For Rhythm Problems: Ignore the notes, ignore the instrument

a) Write in the beats

b) “Ta” and “ti-ti” the rhythm

c) Shadow bow without instrument in hand

For Fingering Problems: Ignore the rhythm. Pretend all notes are quarter notes or half notes.

a) Say finger number out loud

b) Place fingers on instrument without making a sound

c) Pluck

For Articulation Problems: Ignore the notes. Focus on what your muscles need to do in order to achieve the proper articulation.

a) Drill articulation on an open note only

b) If possible, drill articulation without instrument in hand

Assess EACH Repetition:

Here's your new practice-mantra: NO MINDLESS REPS

Every time you've played the measure or the note, think: How was that? What will I change before repeating again?

Treat it like a science experiment-- keep all things constant, and change only one variable at a time, eg. the second beat in that measure was a little flat. I will slide my third finger up slightly, and check if that sounds better.

Save Often: 

Your brain remembers only what you repeat: If you do the measure wrong five times in a row, and right once... guess which one will stick.

Once you’ve found the perfect combo of variables to make the measure sound the way you want it to, you now have to guarantee that you’ll do it that same way every time. The only way to do that is by repetition. Ideally, 5-10 times in a row, exactly the way you want it to sound (If you get it 4 times right and one time wrong, start over).

Again: Assess EACH repetition. No mindless reps.


INPUT vs. OUTPUT

Your brain is like a computer: Uploading information to it and downloading information from it are two completely different processes. Trying to do both at once often leads to a computer crash. A practice session, similarly, is only productive when uploads and downloads are kept completely separate. Notice how, if you follow this worksheet, the sounds you’re making are not lovely and musical. You’re playing one note at a time, or bowing in the air, or counting out loud. This Input part of practicing shouldn't sound like anything. If it sounds like music, then you’re doing Output.

BUT: That’s not to say that Output has no place in a practice session, just that the two should be practiced separately. Your brain remembers only what you repeat: You still need to practice Output if you ever plan on performing. Set aside 5-10 minutes at the end of your practice session to practice switching to Output; It's important to learn (and practice!) how to turn off the self-critical voice, turn off the analytic voice, and just play.

So there you have it...

If we treat our practice sessions like any efficient problem-solving exercise, we're able to jam more information into our brains, and make sure it sticks. Even though it may seem like you're moving at a plodding pace, you'll soon see that, by focusing on only one problem at a time, you can absorb them faster. Practice sessions will feel more productive! Performing won't be as scary, because you'll feel more prepared! New music won't feel as intimidating!

...All because you focused on tackling the problem one bite at a time.

Hidden Agenda

Hello again, everyone!

Last month, I posted about the way I'd prefer my students to sequence their practice sessions (and the way I sequence my lessons). Today, I'd like to get even more specific than that. But first, I have to confess, I do have an agenda with all this:

Throughout my entire violin career, my teachers always expected me to practice, but never taught me how to practice. I thought I knew how to practice, because I was more or less successful, and because it seemed more respectable to spend 9 hours a day in your practice room. But every week, I'd show up to my lesson, and my teacher would say the same thing: Why didn't you practice this? By the time my senior recital rolled around, I was so nervous, and felt so unprepared, that I literally blocked out the entire recital. No, really. I remember walking up to the stage, and I remember walking away, but between those two, there's a great big blank.

Now, if I'd been practicing for so many hours of my day, why is it that I ended up so unprepared? The problem was that I had been practicing mindlessly. I had been spending my practice sessions on autopilot.

Many, many, many music students seem to think that, just by playing through their piece, or just by repeating a tricky phrase a couple times until it sounds right, their violin muscles will manage to absorb the right way, and discard the wrong way of its own volition. That kind of thinking will only get you stuck in your practice room for 9 hours a day, with nigh undetectable progress. Because of my experience, I'm on a mission--nay, a crusade!-- to teach students how to practice effectively, so they don't end up wasting precious time in the practice room. Tune in next time to see how we're achieving all that...


Until then, I'll leave you with this poem by Shel Silverstein:


Melinda Mae

Have you heard of tiny Melinda Mae, 
Who ate a monstrous whale? 
She thought she could, 
She said she would, 
So she started in right at the tail. 

And everyone said,'You're much too small,' 
But that didn't bother Melinda at all, 
She took little bites and she chewed very slow, 
Just like a little girl should... 

...and eighty-nine years later she ate that whale 
Because she said she would.