Its important to get the most out of your time and effort no matter what you are trying to accomplish,musically or otherwise.
You’ve probably stuff like heard this before but I’ll repeat it for you anyway…You’ve got to plan and then take action to on the plan to get results. So lets think about how we can apply that to become better musicians
Start by planning our work. Consider this:
A song,chord,scale, lick or whatever is only as hard as its hardest sequence of notes. Usually these come in the form of physically technical challenges. Sometimes they can be musical too such as timing or pitch related.
So start by knowing what your biggest challenges are in learning a new piece, Those are going to be those hardest sequences of notes. Also know what parts require little effort to learn. That’s making the plan.
Now lets apply effort to get results. Practice those hardest parts alone, away from the rest of the piece. That is the best use of your time. No sense putting time into something you can already do. Anything you can do already don’t spend a second on.
Once you have worked all of the parts to an equal level of performance put them all together.
That’s the big picture. Hopefully this tip will save you some practice time. Tune in for my next lesson, Practicing More Effectively Part 2, where we will refine this practice technique to take your practice to a whole new level.
-Bob
Great advice thank you!
You’re Welcome! Glad it helped
Great stuff man! To the point and very practical just the way I like it, efficient! Thank you! I kind of intuitively do this but it’s cool to be able to kind of visualize it so to speak.
You’re Welcome James! Glad it helped.
Thanks for that advice. I will implement that advice. Looking forward to your piece.
You got it Lloyd! Glad it helped
Sage advice, if one can adhere to the plan. I always start on the harder parts with good intentions and after 20-30 minutes get frustrated or tired of working on the same phrase and regress to something I like which is usually pre-1961 Surf, etc. However, after a week or so of repetition I finally get the what I wanted in the original 20-30 minutes….Just have to keep trying. All depends on one’s dedication on what they expect to accomplish.
Hi Tony,
So glad you liked the post and good to hear from you! It’s all about focus, appreciation and putting the pieces together. Any composition or song can be broken down into pieces, whether it is the motifs in and and form of a Chopin Prelude or Van Halen’s “Dance The Night Away”. It’s understanding how it all fits together that makes us all better musicians. That way we can appreciate EVERYTHING about the piece, not just the little things.
Great advice Bob, but often overlooked by most people.
We get enjoyment out of being able to do a piece of music
so we play it time and time again then forget to,
or delay the practice of the part that needs most of our attention.
Cheers
Tony