Thursday, April 21, 2016 by Michelle Russell | PRACTICE TIPS

As we begin more lessons, it is most important to remember that progress is a process. This means that it may take a while for progress to show depending on what practice sessions are like at home. In the famously quoted work, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, it takes at least 10,000 hours to master any skill. According to the cited psychologists in Gladwell's work, data provided by a Psychological Review (Ericsson; Krampe; & Tesch-Romer 1993) produced the following conclusion: 

"The theoretical framework presented in this article explains expert performance as the end result of individuals' prolonged efforts to improve performance while negotiating motivational and external constraints. In most domains of expertise, individuals begin in their childhood a regimen of effortful activities (deliberate practice) designed to optimize improvement. Individual differences, even among elite performers, are closely related to assessed amounts of deliberate practice. Many characteristics once believed to reflect innate talent are actually the result of intense practice extended for a minimum of 10 years. Analysis of expert performance provides unique evidence on the potential and limits of extreme environmental adaptation and learning" (1993).

  This logic dictates that the more hours you spend practicing, the more effective your progress becomes.

Let's be realistic about this for a second. Getting into the school year, more of the following stressors start to demand attention investment:

• Job
• Family
• Relationships
• House Maintenance
• Bills
• Physical Health
• Mental Health
• Spiritual Health
• Other

    In some cases, depending on how one assigns priority to each stressor, more time invested may not realistically produce the result that you want. According to a recent study (Hambrick; Oswald; Altmann; Meinz; Gobet; &Campitelli 2014), psychologists discovered that "individual differences in accumulated amount of deliberate practice accounted for about one-third of the reliable variance in performance in chess and music, leaving the majority of the reliable variance unexplained and potentially explainable by other  factors" (2014). This refutes the original  1993 study by implying subjectivity to the effectiveness of  intense practice. It implies that other factors such as cognitive ability and personality may also have a role in the overall quality of the learning process.  In response, Ericsson (2014) defended his data stating that  the sample conducted by the recent study was too largely composed of people in the general population who demonstrated beginner level skills. He suggests that  if  the methodology of the experiment  included only  an examination of those who had  displayed expert level performance, the conclusion remains the same: to obtain expert level skills, there must be extensive deliberate practice.

    In my experience, both conclusions and approaches are true. In order  for there to be progress, there must be a process that takes into account the differences between each individual's skill level and learning style. However, the key to moving forward will always lie in how the student practices mindfulness of his or  her skills through deliberate practice.

So where do we start? How do we know exactly how long and how intensely to practice? What do we need to do when we practice?

• Map Out Your Schedule
  • From the beginning of your day  where you leave for work/school till when you come home, find at  least 30 minutes within your day everyday to set aside  for  practice. To give  yourself  an  incentive so you don't  forget  to  use  those  30  minutes, identify your biggest vice and  only  treat  yourself   RIGHT  AFTER  those 30 minutes  have been spent on practice.
• Set Realistic Weekly Goals
  • During each practice session, rate your own performance on a scale of 1-10. 1 being you have no idea what you are doing; 10 you have it memorized. Aim to get to at least an 8 for each week. 
  • If there is a section where you are struggling to move past, ASK FOR HELP.That's why we have teachers to help develop individual plans. This is where we take into account your individual differences. Everyone learns in their own style at their own pace.
• Listen to Other Musicians
  • Believe it or not, there are many live performances, audio, and video recordings of talented expert professionals who have developed their repertoire using some of the same pieces in their early study. By listening and watching others, you may observe something in their technique and expression that you may adapt into your own performance.
• Find a Third Party for Feedback
  • Be it a friend, family member, significant other, your pet....Have someone else listen and give you feedback on your performance. Things they can listen for can include details about clarity, dynamics, and overall showmanship.
• Make Time to REST
  • When deliberately practicing, a lot of times when one focuses on accomplishing weekly goals, practice sessions can become gradually longer depending on how long it takes for you to reach the "8" level of whatever you want to do. 
  • Do stretches, make time to breathe.
  • Give yourself a massage. 
  • SLEEP, EAT, DRINK--- Take care of all the bare necessities.

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