How to Practise!

How many of us find that another week has sped by and we (or our children) have practised maybe once, if at all! Does that really matter, and if so, what can we do about it?

Not surprisingly I think it does matter. Like so many skills, the adage "practice makes perfect" really applies here. For a skill to get past our short-term memory (which I read only holds information for about 30 minutes) and become firmly rooted in our brains and in our hand movements, it has to be repeated on many separate occasions, built up like a jigsaw. This means that 10 or 20 minutes per day always proves far, far more effective for learning than cramming in a longer practice session just once a week.

But knowing what's good for us doesn't always make it easier to do.  For actually completing that practice, some different tips might help.  Firstly, I believe it's critical to understand what motivates us to play - perhaps dreams of a music career, forming a band with friends, being able to compose, relaxing and escaping into sound, or boosting our self-esteem through a wonderful skill learned. Whatever the reason, keep hold of it in your mind. Take a little time to gaze out every so often, at the longer horizon of where you are heading with your music.  In the case of children, motivations could be aspirational; making the connection to the music of a favourite band or even the theme tune to a favourite TV show.  Or could be as simple as "won't your teacher be impressed next week to hear how well you have done?"

A more practical issue is to do with timing. How much, how often. A fantastic tip (gleaned from Oprah Winfrey of all places) is that to be sure of doing something, do it first thing in the morning. We all know how the day's good intentions can have collapsed into fatigue by dinner time.  So do it first and then it's out of the way, job done!  This is also a practical tip for children who have full and tiring days at school, often with homework to follow.  

How much? This is connected to realizing practice is not the same as a performance.  Imagine how sculptors work, they don't just whack a stone once with a hammer and watch something amazing appear, do they? They tap away patiently creating one area at a time, and it can be the same with music practice. 10 minutes spent chipping away at that one stubborn phrase or technique is worth more than an hour spent rattling through stuff we know off by heart.  However, we all have days where nothing seems to go right, and if you're at the stage of flinging the instrument across the room then just stop your practice session and walk away!  The world won't come to an end and I promise that on another day it won't seem half as tough.  I don't really know why this is, but it's true.

Finally as with any great partnership the pupil and the tutor both have a role to play. The student's part is to commit to doing the practice, but the tutor can support this commitment in many ways: by setting out achievable goals for the week ahead, helping to identify which areas to focus on, giving experienced advice on how best to tackle those tough patches, celebrating your every achievement, and of course offering lots of praise and encouragement along the way.