Practice makes perfect. A mantra that musicians know all too well. But the truth is that practice only means as much as we make it mean. And practicing perfect is a different story.
Make your practice sessions count by considering the following rituals to help make your practice time more efficient and meaningful.
Track your progress
Writing things down helps you remember what you need to do when you practice. Following your practice session, evaluate what needs improvement for the next session. That means if you’re missing a shift or playing a measure wrong, making a note of it will help you to learn the correct way to play much easier. You will avoid repeating the same mistakes over and over.
Jot down your goals
Before you practice, review last session’s practice log and outline specific goals for that session. From a hyper focus on intonation to flawless rhythm, these goals will help you focus on the areas that need the most work.
Eliminate distractions
Social media will still be there after you get done practicing. Your latest Facebook update or Twitter post can wait until you’ve put in an uninterrupted session. Toggling back and forth, slows you down, and decreases efficiency. Put all of your concentration and energy where it is needed most. And save the status update for later.
Play slow
It’s tempting to speed up the pace and rush to finish when practice time draws to a close. There is a better way. Playing slowly at first before increasing the speed lets you figure out all the little nuances you need to learn to make a piece work. And a great rule of thumb: never play faster than you can clap the rhythm. And if you can’t clap the rhythm, you shouldn’t be playing yet. Learn the rhythm first.
Do it again
Repetition is the key to learning. Your brain and your muscle memory work best when an action is done over and over. Set a timer and spend five minutes playing a designated part of a piece repeatedly until time runs out. It will amaze you how much you can learn and grasp through a simple repetitive exercise.