Three Things to Incorporate Into Your Practice Routine Right Now
The turning of the year is a great time to take a fresh look at your practice routine! Think about yours. What’s working? What needs revamping? What could you tweak to help yourself learn better?
If you need suggestions, I have a few! (OK, I have more than a few, but I’m going to restrain myself in the service of keeping this blog post to a length that is not insane.) If you want to supercharge your practice, try incorporating one or more of these things:
Breaks
Did you know that research suggests you learn better if you take breaks during your practice? Not the kind of break where you wander away to binge an entire season of Dr. Who, alas, but the kind where you deliberately carve out 15 seconds to stare out the window and do nothing? My friend and fellow science-of-practicing nut Molly Gebrian explains it here and I find it pretty convincing.
Instead of pushing yourself to take advantage of every single minute, try taking deliberate breaks during your practicing sessions. Not only will your learning improve; your mood will, too!
Drone Work
If someone put a knife to my throat and demanded I name the most underutilized practice strategy among recorder players, I’d probably say drone work.
Spending time playing with a drone (fixed pitch) is the single most useful tool I can think of to develop and hone your ability to play in tune with others. Playing in tune is one of the most difficult aspects of recorder playing, and watching the needle of a tuner, while mildly informative, does not actually develop your real-time tuning skills. Drone work, on the other hand, does.
Try to incorporate a small amount of drone work every day. Your ears, and your friends’ ears, will thank you!
Chaos
Chaos in your practice?! What?!
I’m using the most incendiary word I can. A less inflammatory way of saying this is variability. If your practice routine looks the same each and every day (same order, same tasks, same goals), you’re actually limiting your ability to improve.
In order to be able to apply a skill flexibly, in multiple contexts, you need to practice it more than one way. In fact, you need to practice in many different ways, applying it across many degrees and types of difference. This helps to strengthen what you’re practicing to the point that generalize it, or apply it in a variety of real-world circumstances.
If your routine has hardened into a rut, try introducing some variability. If you always start with scales, try ending with scales instead. If you always practice arpeggios starting from the lowest note, try starting from a note in the middle. If you always face the same way in your practice room, try turning around. These deliberate introductions of difference will help you learn more deeply and effectively.
Happy Practicing!
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