Everyone has
the potential to be amazing...You have the ability inside of you to be as good
as you want to be on your instrument.
Like an acorn that grows into a huge tree...your talents can grow as big
as you want it...but you have to take care of it. You can't neglect your talent.
Are you
willing to do what it takes? It doesn't
take as much time as you think. It's
about practicing smart.
Most
students approach practicing like reading a book. They 'read' through a line of
music...struggle over some notes and rhythms, but eventually make it
through. They made it to the end, so
they think they are done. Practicing is
not about how far you get in a piece of music.
Practicing means repetition.
My kids have
gone to soccer practice. At soccer practice,
they don't just play the whole game.
They practice different aspects of the game. My kids learned to kick a ball in to the net
from a certain distance. They took turns
doing it many times. At soccer practice,
they don't just kick the ball one time and say they can do it. They practice until they can get it in the
net every
time.
When you
practice music, you are not just playing through a piece of music. You are practicing small sections...maybe
even just 2 notes...over and over until it is EASY. Until you can play those 2 notes perfectly
every single time.
It takes
discipline to practice the right way.
You have to make yourself stop and fix mistakes. You have to be diligent and spend time
playing something that might be hard over and over again until it is easy.
The secret
is SMALL CHUNKS. It doesn't take much
time to practice a very small chunk of music.
In fact, it is easy to practice small chunks and you can immediately see
improvement if you will play one small measure 10 times in a row. By the 10th time, it will be easier. And how long do you think it takes to
practice one measure 10 times? Not long.
What if I
told you that you have been writing the wrong way your whole life. You have been writing with the wrong hand and
now you need to switch. Try it. Doesn't it feel strange? It would take lots of time and practice and
energy to make it feel right again. That
is what happens when we practice our mistakes.
Little mistakes can become a habit is as little as one day. I have seen my own children during practice
play a wrong note a few times in a row, then struggle to fix it later. That is why it is essential to practice
slowly. Your practice repetitions need
to be perfect every time. Perfect notes, perfect rhythm, perfect
position, perfect bowing. It is possible
to be perfect on a small chunk of music.
It will take longer to fix performance issues in the future if you
practice mistakes. Do it right the first
time.
When you
need to practice a piece of music, first find one measure that is tricky. Play the notes in the measure and make sure
you can play them all, as slowly as you need in order for it to feel easy. Look at the rhythm and add the correct
rhythm. You may have to play the rhythm
on an open string a few times. Then add
the bowing. Play that one measure until
it is easy. Once you have turned all the
tricky measure into easy measures, you
can play the whole piece.
