A common mistake I see amongst my students at all ages and skill levels is they’re great at “starting” their practice but not so great at “finishing” their practice. This might seem like a really obvious and even a straight-forward concept, but it’s hugely overlooked by lots of students and it can have a real detrimental effect on your outlook to playing.
I always encourage (ie. force) my students to warm-up (this not only gets the fingers warmed-up ready to play but also gets the brain ready to tackle whatever it is it’s going to try and achieve that day) as well as warm-down after playing. This is, I feel, vital not so much from a playing or musical point of view but a psychological one. Many students prepare to practice, play for a little while, the phone rings or whatever, and then off they go, practice is over. This is dangerous on a number of levels: not every time you sit down and play are you going to nail everything, in fact something you might have killed at yesterday might not come together the next day and vice versa. Walking away from your practice without finishing is like walking out of a movie 15 minutes before the end: there’s no resolution, no completion of the story – you’re just left hanging with a nagging sense of doubt and you’re either feeling angst or anger, frustration, whatever. But whatever it is it won’t be positive. By finishing your practice with a warm-down exercise (maybe the same one you warmed-up with), rounds out your practice, it essentially “completes” your session. If you had a great session, fantastic, warm-down, finish your practice and walk away feeling like you’ve achieved. If you’re not getting it that particular day, don’t get frustrated and walk away. Why? Those feelings linger, mostly in the subconcious. Are you going to want to pick up your guitar tomorrow? Maybe? Hmm, maybe not? By finishing your practice you cut what you were working on loose. Just say to yourself, “Oh well, I’m not getting it today, I’ll just play a couple of quick little exercises or scales that I’m really familiar with and get back to it later”.
The brain is monstrously powerful tool that works for and against you (whether you like it or not), train it like you how you train your fingers to play a scale – through repetition and routine. But most importantly teach it to think positively, constructively and productively. Not only will you play better in the short term, you’ll feel a greater sense of achievement at the end of each week.
5 Comments
Nice post. Thanks for posting. Practice is indeed important in most of the things that we do. In acquiring a new skill or getting used to a quite difficult and complicated task or activity, we all need to spend some quality time to perfect and master each area to make it as good as it should be. In the case of our students in music, we have to motivate them to start practicing and to keep on doing so until such time that they master and achieve their goals. Continue to share your thoughts and ideas on those innovative and creative music teaching resources available online. Thanks again and more power. Happy Holidays!
Ummm… I’m a teacher and I never like using the word practice nor do I encourage my students to ‘PRACTICE’ . for this reason:
Do you ‘practice’ half an hour a day to learn how to speak ? no.
Do you ‘practce’ half an hour a day to learn how to eat???? no.
Do you ‘practice’ half an hour a day to learn how to type on a keyboard?? no.
NO. You simply get better at it because it’s what you WANT and LOVE to do.
In my opinion .. by making kids PRACTICE music.. you are turning music it into something that it shouldn’t be.. it shouldn’t be a task.. it should be a lifestyle… and if you have to create practice routines for your kids so they will play enough.. then I think you’re doing it wrong.
my students get GOOD. FAST. and they play for enjoyment only. because first and foremost I teach them how to enjoy the instrument and then help them get to where they want to go.
ps. I think it is teaching techniques like those… that encourage kids to put the instrument down after they stop getting lessons. Just like they do when they finish high school… they will forget it all, and all you are left with is their money… and them telling their friends “I used to play a bit”
grrr…
Thanks for your post Ruben. I hear what your saying. My experience is that regiment suits some kids and not others.
Ideally every teacher will have the natural ability to inspire (and every kid will have the attention span or ability to be drawn to music and relax over it), though sometimes it takes a period of perseverance in young kids to work all of that out.
In honesty I hear what you’re saying and I believe your philosophy is an “ideal” one. It’s similar to the way I learnt music myself and many of the teachers through this site adopt similar methods.
It’s important for parents to acknowledge all of this and make decisions on what they think is best for their children when looking for a music teacher.
I feel Ruben’s comment is a fair one too but I have to point out that even in an ideal sense it is not so ideal.
Most teachers have probably come to take over from another teacher and found an odd students has problems which are going to be a nightmare in the future. A nightmare because that child will start struggling as the music gets more difficult and their technique will take years to fix.
That teacher then has to sort through this because they have been just playing away again and again in a bad fashion enjoying it. Music is work aswell. It requires your mind and your body and balancing the two, compromising here and there whilst maintaining this under pressure.
I think it has to be a blend of both and I really credit this article because I definately as an individual can benefit from this concept. Finishing practicing when things just aren’t working can be so detrimental to us psychological and this ‘winding down’ appears to be a new solution for me! Thanks!