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How to Make your Musical Practice More Effective and
Efficient
The quality of your practice is much
more important than the quantity. The old saying "practice
makes perfect" is only true if the practice itself
is perfect. Here are 7 tips to help make your practice
more effective and efficient.
Practice motions slowly
The muscular memory of our bodies allows
us to physically carry out patterns of motion with little
or no conscious involvement. Examples of muscular memory
include walking, riding a bicycle, typing, and of course
playing a musical instrument.
In order to develop this memory, the
muscles require training in the form of repeated conscious
guidance from the mind. First the mind must learn the
pattern. Then the mind must "teach" the pattern
to the muscles.
The mind initially must control all
the motions of the muscles. The more controlled and
precise the motions, the more quickly the muscles will
develop muscle memory.
Slow practice also allows the mind to
teach "antagonistic muscles" to relax. Antagonistic
muscles are those that move in opposite directions.
By relaxing antagonistic muscles you can reduce tension
and facilitate faster and easier performance and avoid
potential injury.
Practice in small cells
A "practice cell" is simply
a finite series of motions. Musical cells can correspond
to anything from a few notes to an entire work. When
practicing, it is important to practice small cells
of just a few notes. Practicing small cells limits the
amount of information the muscles have to learn at one
time. It also facilitates the mind's focus and concentration.
Link the end of one cell to the beginning
of the next
To help the muscles develop a sense
of continuum throughout the piece of music, the last
motion in a cell should be the first motion of the following
cell.
Practice each cell in bursts
Once the muscles have learned a pattern,
they will be capable of executing it without conscious
control. Initiate the pattern through a conscious command
and allow the muscles to execute it in a burst.
Don't practice mistakes
For every repetition required to learn
a pattern of motion, it takes 7 times the number of
repetitions to change the pattern. If in the course
of your practice you make an error, stop. Review in
your mind the pattern. And further reduce the speed
of your motions.
Pause between repetitions
When dealing with repetitive activities,
the mind is better able to focus when the repetitions
are broken up by short pauses. After two or three repetitions,
pause for about 30 seconds to regain focus.
Take frequent breaks and don't "over-practice"
B.F. Skinner and other experts have
found that the mind's ability to learn drops significantly
after prolonged intense concentration. Research shows
that studying too long (i.e. more than four hours) can
deplete chemicals in the brain necessary for learning.
Therefore, it is best to take frequent breaks (a 5 minute
break about every 20-25 minutes) and practice no more
than 4 hours consecutively.
By applying these techniques, you can
dramatically improve the quality of your practice. You'll
be able to use your time more efficiently and increase
the effectiveness of your practice.
1howto.com
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