Some New (And Some Old) Practice Techniques

From recent lessons I've taught, I've come across a couple new practice techniques. Try these ideas for a more successful and efficient practice session!

1. Break it down: I've talked about this before, but I've noticed that I've been saying it a lot more, and with more specificity. Very rarely should you play your entire piece over and over from beginning to end. Do this as a warm-up, but immediately get to the excerpts you need to learn and isolate them. This works particularly well if you don't have a lot of practice time. Setting aside even just 5 minutes a day to work on a few measures will usually help you learn and remember material better than binge practicing for one or two days.

2. Play broken chords/arpeggios as block chords: If there's a passage that's giving you a lot of trouble, especially in dealing with tempo and/or fingering, you can build muscle memory better by playing these sections in block chords. Take Bach's Prelude in C Major from The WTC Volume I. You can observe how the right hand plays arpeggios. If you're having difficulty with any measure try playing these arpeggios as a chord.

3. Vary the rhythm of your excerpt: For excerpts that are fast or require difficult fingering you can also change the rhythm to help, again, with muscle memory. If the passage contains straight 16th notes, try swinging the rhythm or vice-versa. Putting the musical information in varied forms will help your brain understand the material faster and more efficiently.

4. Don't binge practice: Unless you are really in tune with your learning abilities, it's rarely advised to practice a lot just for a day or two. Consistency is the key to learning, and it's no different with music! Give yourself a set amount of time every week. As stated before, even just 5-10 minutes a day, everyday, will make a big difference!