5 Ways to Slow Practice More Effectively - Piano Learning Tips
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
- In this video, I share some insights on how to apply slow practice to learning piano music more effectively, although much of the advice applies not only to learning other instruments but to any kind of learning in general.
00:40 What is slow practice? Problems with slow practicing incorrectly
1:30 Practice makes permanent (based on neuroscience)
4:14 Tip no. 1a: Work in detail
7:25 Tip no. 1b: Prepare alternative interpretations of passages
8:25 Tip no. 2: Use the same motions at slow/fast tempo
10:32 Tip no. 3: Work in short segments
12:10 Tip no. 4: Take micro-breaks
13:15 Tip no. 5: Check passages at tempo in short bursts
15:51 Concluding thoughts: When slow practice is useful, preparing repertoire to different levels, different musical goals, etc.
Books mentioned in this video:
Great Pianists on Piano Playing (James Francis Cooke)
The Art of Piano Playing (Heinrich Neuhaus)
![[Limbus Company - PV] Chapter.7 - Oblivion](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VUpkXPkvoxU/mqdefault.jpg)
00:40 What is slow practice? Problems with slow practicing incorrectly
1:30 Practice makes permanent (based on neuroscience)
4:14 Tip no. 1a: Work in detail
7:25 Tip no. 1b: Prepare alternative interpretations of passages
8:25 Tip no. 2: Use the same motions at slow/fast tempo
10:32 Tip no. 3: Work in short segments
12:10 Tip no. 4: Take micro-breaks
13:15 Tip no. 5: Check passages at tempo in short bursts
15:51 Concluding thoughts: When slow practice is useful, preparing repertoire to different levels, different musical goals, etc.
There are a lot of good points. My takeaway from this video is 'Practice makes permanent'. This is a very insightful message, yet relistic. Don't be too greedy or be fixated on the whole thing when it comes to practicing. I think detail is very important as I could polish more in depth. More videos please! Thanks :)
That's so true! It's really hard to do in practice, but whenever we can discipline ourselves to just focus on a little chunk at a time, it always pays off in the long run :)
Very helpful Tips! Particularly No.2 is something I never even considered but it makes so much sense. Though I play a different instrument, I think I can apply all these things to my own practice.
Keep up the good videos! ☺
Thank you, Tim! I'm so glad you got something useful from this video! It all certainly applies to the guitar as well :)
Great advice that I needed to hear. Lots that I never considered about how to practice! I tend to try too much at once without breaking it down. Then I get more frustrated. Thank you!
Thank you for watching and leaving a comment, Debbie! I often struggle with trying to practice too much at once as well, but becoming more aware of how the brain works has definitely helped me use my practice time more effectively. I hope the advice in the video will be helpful to you!
Excellent tips. Thank you. How do we undo what the brain has made permanent with a mistake in our practice?
That's a great question! As far as I know, no mistake is ever really permanent in the brain thanks to neuroplasticity, which gives our brain the capacity to form new neural connections and learn new things at any age. I think the best way to undo an incorrect neural connection is by forming an even stronger correct one and reinforcing that signal in our brain until it forgets about the old, mistaken one. This requires being very attentive to the difficult spot in the music that's giving us trouble and taking extra care not to make a mistake. I would recommend studying the passage from different perspectives (like looking at the harmonies or intervals more closely, analyzing the types of motions used, etc. - more on that in another video) so that you understand why you were making a mistake before and then are able to avoid doing so in the future through greater awareness of the troublesome passage.
Thanks for your answer. It will be helpful in how I go back and approach those "trouble spots" in pieces I have played and performed. Good to know about the brains neuroplasticity. Best to avoid having to undo later by proper slow practice in the beginning.
@@dianegolding3791 That's right - it might feel slower than we're used to at first, but the more detailed we practice now, the more time and work it will save us in the long run. Best of luck with your practicing!
this kinda opened my third eye if you know what I mean
Same here lol!
That's fantastic! I felt the same way when I first started learning about the neuroscience behind practicing - it's mind-blowing stuff!
@@Mathieu_Poirier_Piano So my practice session today was about 1000% more effective than before. These points are life changing (Use the same motions at slow/fast tempo, Work in short segments (I really forced myself to only do 2 measures at a time), Check passages at tempo in short bursts). And since Practice makes permanent I tried really hard not to fool around. I feel incredibly lucky to have found your content, a million thanks!
@@peterkovacs9951 You just made my day with your comment, Peter! I'm absolutely thrilled to hear that these tips were so helpful to you! I'm very grateful to the scientists and researchers who keep discovering all these amazing things about how the brain works and sharing their findings with us - it truly is life-changing stuff. In case you're interested, I'm also planning a video on how to transfer what we practice to our long-term memory so that we can recall it accurately during performances, etc., so stay tuned for that. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and let me know which tips you found especially effective!
This is vitally important information--thank you for sharing it! Especially fascinating--and sobering!--to know that the brain automatically "cycles through" 10 or 15 times or more whatever you have just done at the piano (or any other instrument). So if your practice isn't mindful, you wind up with "Garbage in, garbage out." How often have I just played through a passage a bunch of times too quickly and with mistakes, with the "idea" (if I could be said to have been thinking at the time--I wasn't) being that I'd somehow "get it eventually." So I might have 5 mistaken takes of a given passage but then get it right the 6th time. And then quit, thinking, "Okay, now I've got it!" Nope. Since I'd basically just been practicing the mistaken rendering over and over. And that means, given what you are saying in your video, that my brain has then repeated the mistake-riddled rendering countless times. This sobering and somewhat shocking news about what the brain does will hopefully help amateur and professional musicians to gain extra motivation to make sure to slow down and pay careful attention! And also to work with smaller chunks of music. Very interesting and informative, Mathieu--thank you!
I wish this stuff were taught to all students in schools, including everyone studying an instrument! It's so important to know and can make such a big difference in how we learn. Our brain is only trying to help and be efficient - it doesn't "know any better." It's up to us to decide what information we feed it when practicing!
@@Mathieu_Poirier_Piano It certainly is vitally important information, and it's something I never heard before. It is "funny" to walk through the halls of a music conservatory and listen in as students go about their practicing. So often just playing some difficult passage over and over again at too fast a tempo, thereby making the same mistake(s) over and over and thus solidifying the mistakes in memory. I did that myself countless times over the years, no doubt. It's not always easy to slow down when you are an impatient person and/or are eager to just play the piece and skip practicing. But what you related provides the motivation to be more deliberate!
19:15 Yep, to this day I can't stop thinking about the freaking neurons, they have to eat good😂
I'm so glad that idea stuck with you, Peter! I hope it's had a positive impact on your practicing!
Hi, i don't speak english very well. I'm asking a question, what does "practice makes permanent" means exactly ?
Good question! It means that whatever information we feed to our brain, the brain repeats that information for us in order to make it permanent. So when we practice something, it's important to be aware that whatever we do at the piano, our brain is going to make that permanent (and that includes our mistakes).
I'm playing by ear, can't note and there is almost no notes in our music. The difficult part for me is remembering the melody, I have to play and practicing a lot to put it in my brain 😂
Every musical tradition and style certainly poses its own unique challenges. I hope something in the video might be helpful to you nonetheless - perhaps the idea of working on small chunks of music at a time and practicing in detail.