I have been trying this method and it does work. The trade off is it takes so much time. Time is such a valuable commodity that can’t be bought. Doing this also makes me feel like I have very limited natural ability because others can learn pieces of music so much faster than I can or they can just sight read right out of the gate and play perfectly whereas I have to spend the time doing this method of going through endless repetitions and slowing things down. That’s not fun but the end result of being able to play a beautiful piece of music perfectly is satisfying and fun.
Stick with it - the cool thing is that the more you do it the faster things go in the later stages of learning the piece AND you get better faster…. So it feels like you were going so slow and taking so much more time in the beginning… But just be patient, I promise it will be worth it and he will make up that time x 10 later. I also speak to the sight reading, perfectly myth a lot :-) nobody can magically sight read perfectly, it’s people that have taken the time to really slow down and study and learn all of the musical patterns… If you want some more info on this, I taught a free class, and I would be happy to pass along the link, just let me know.
Thank you for your expert advice of performing a piece 10 times accurately, something I never do as a beginner level adult pianist. I will incorporate your expert advice into my practice routines; Thank You!
You are very welcome! Thank you so much for taking the time to share that with me and for the super thanks, I truly appreciate it! If you liked the video you might get value out of the Facebook community as well! Lmk if you want the link. Either way, great to have you here!
Dear Ashlee, repeating ten times is a WONDERFUL way of eliminating the snags in a piece. I do practise slowly the small sections that snag, but I never repeated them systematically 10 times in a row, and leave alone, startting back to zero when not correctly done. Well I have been doing exactly that in the last few days, and the results are phenomenal…it’s giving me the incentive to work out all the little bits that cause mini problems in a piece….so exciting when suddenly you feel your brain has got it right and no effort is needed anymore tomplay it correctly. Thank you for this video, I am so happy to have come across your chanel!
This was so wonderful to read! I totally agree that the results can be phenomenal - and I am so glad that you were getting those results! Sounds like you are doing a fantastic job of practicing, strategizing, and putting in the work to really improve! Keep up the amazing work.
I enrolled in your Sight-Reading Digital Course this last Sunday. Looking forward to working with you! I just know that my goals will be achieved. Keep-up your good work Ashlee, it is very appreciated. @@AshleeYoungMusicStudio
Yes I did Ashlee, in fact I started yesterday and fully intend on practising every day. I started from the beginning as advised; some things are already acquired knowledge and easy for me, but some parts, will have to be worked on more intensively, as an example, I know the name of the intervals, but I don't always recognise them in a split second when bigger than 5ths. I am following your instructions to a «T», to make sure I cover everything and fully benefit from your course. Stay safe!@@AshleeYoungMusicStudio
Great tip. I was once too cocky to even consider small,slow pieces. I was learn all-at-once, beginning-to-end. Didn't work and I burrned out. Jump 40 years and the small, slow pieces method is working without burnout.
Hi Ashlee, this piece of advice makes so much sense. I love the car analogy too. I have implemented the slow down technique and even just picking out sections to work on. I've never actually made it a point to play something 10 times and you are right. I always wondered why I can play a piece one time with very little mistakes and other times I would play a piece as if I hardly touched it. I think the repetitions in combination of slowing down and focusing on sections is the way to go. I really appreciate your advice and I know these techniques will work for me. 😊
Thrilled to discover your channel! Embarking on a piano comeback after over two decades and documenting it on my own new "RetroKeyed" RUclips channel - your insightful practice technique tips couldn't have come at a better time. Huge thanks for this video! 🎹✨
Thanks for taking the time to say so! I’m glad you’re here! If you’re not already in the free Facebook community, sounds like you’d get a lot out of it! Lmk if you want the link!
Love this video. I’m the one who asked you a week ago if you teach online. I have 2 questions: I am preparing for a performance of Rach 3. In movement 1 cadenza there is a very fast passage alternating hands. I have employed the slow practice method and am definitely 98+% accurate. However, at tempo it’s about 80%. What is my approach to get 98% with tempo? Secondly, how fast is slow? Im accurate at 50%-60% of tempo and do extensive reps at this tempo. Should I practice at tempo until I reach 98% or gradually build up to tempo? Thank you. Keep up the great instruction you provide!
Oh I’m so sorry if I missed that! I don’t remember if I responded! I’d say the level of “slowness” depends on the accuracy, so you can always speed it up a little bit as long as you continue to keep the accuracy. In order to speed something up to 98% of the tempo I would recommend that you go up by two BPM’s as long as you can maintain the accuracy. You can always go back down to that really slow tempo go up to go up to go up to, and then go back down. If you keep repeating this, eventually, it will start to speed up. there are also other methods that I teach inside casual the confident piano player program that would help you in being able to speed things up. You’re welcome!
As a new player I also learned this from another channel "no wrong notes. play in smaller chunks," and I find it really does help. I play a small section 10+ times and find myself learning faster. Thanks!
I can't believe how much this has helped me. As an adult self learner I was really struggling to learn any piano piece. Thought I'd never learn anything. Then I tried breaking it down, slowing down as you suggest and enough repetition. It works! Thank you so so much.
I e been using your practice techniques for about a year. I'm an advanced student but I've always struggled when learning new music. I can promise everyone that these techniques really work because now, I'm picking things up alot faster and my sight reading has greatly improved. I think the key is to ALWAYS TAKE IT SLOW and in small increments.❤
This is so amazing! Thank you for sharing :-) I appreciate you writing this, and I am so happy to hear that you were having such success with practice techniques. They really do work, especially if you apply them over time!
This works. I say this from my experience. As an adult beginner, I practice before I go to work and before I go to bed. Well, not 10 times but almost. When I practice, I use full concentration to accurately execute the problem passages. Next morning when I practice, I instantly feel where to go on the keyboard, and that is 100% correct. One more thing I like to add here is the power of our subconscious playing. When I practice before going to sleep, I use even more dedication to play the correct notes. Then when you sleep, your subconscious helps you memorise and reinforce the moves. Well, at least that's me. Thanks Ashlee again for helping us in this rewarding journey of learning to play the piano.
Fantastic advice. Wish I applied this from the start - especially the SLOW DOWN part. You can really identify where you're making mistakes to see what you need to practice more. It is boring to go slow, but the progress you will make is amazing.
Very useful, thank you. I need to keep reminding myself to practice like this. I have trouble moving my fingers into position quick enough between chords with accuracy. I guess the same principle applies where I need to slow down?
The main points include slow practice & isolating problem sections. Practicing slow doesn't mean performing slow. Once we learned the right notes, the music needs to speed up to an ideal tempo. And slow practice allows us to use inefficient fingerings. When we speed up a piece, awkward fingerings would slow us down and cause hesitations. Gets annoying to play the right notes but with hesitations between phrases...
Great point about the fingering. It’s definitely important to work out what the best fingering will be for the speed at which it will be played (if the fingering isn’t already written into the music). What’s doable at slow speed might be close to impossible at high/higher speeds.
Hmmm depends on your level - should be a great question to post in the Facebook group. Let me know if you need the link to join. I actually just filmed a video on this topic, it should be out in a couple of weeks :-) it’s not so much about how many pieces you practice, it’s about the percentage of time you allocate to various things.
Thanks so much! If you scroll back to the beginning of my RUclips channel you can see some performances by me. I am in season of life with a little one running around where I am not prioritizing practicing for concert as much, but I look forward to getting back to it :-)
this shows that those who have gone on to higher levels of playing piano (and any other instrument) have put in the effort and time. Few people have the patience and discipline.
Yes you are right but as we know practice doesn’t make perfect but perfect practice makes perfect. :) What you are talking about knows as myelinization of nerves wich cause ten/hundred times faster nerve conduction velocity in the given nerve paths. Beside the process myelinization please check neuroplasticity in that line also. As I playing pieces exclusively from memory as you mentioned this takes a lot of time to learn but with time this helps also to feel the original inspiration sent to the composer from the source directly... Memorizing pieces develope the brain further and with time this will cause faster and faster learning speed as the brain works like a muscle. Training a given part of the brain constantly or repetitively will cause the development of the practised ability too.
Yea I agree! It’s simply that people must actually try to memorize and not rely on muscle memory alone as it’s unreliable for the situation you’re describing. Memorization can be wonderful in many ways!
Thanks Ashlee I am a guitarist that's hardly made much progress in 30 years of practicing the guitar until I read a research paper into how we learn and came across some information which scientifically validates the approach that you've naturally discovered and that has worked for you. The answer slow down and try not to practice your mistakes. Thanks posting this video.
I'd be really interested in reading that research paper. I've been playing the guitar for over 40 years and haven't reached the levels of playing that I would like. Thanks!
@@AshleeYoungMusicStudio The research study is referred to in a book called: Make It Stick. Which is a book written by a journalist and a couple of cognitive scientists who try to evidence how we learn using active recall, repetition, interleaving and so ..... paper's from research done are either mentioned or cited. Broadly speaking practise should be slow and deliberate to avoid practising your mistakes.
This stuff is really, really good. Thanks Ashlee! I was never taught how to practice and learn pieces. I just started at the beginning and powered through it. Horribly inefficient. Thank You for this new insight. I can't wait to get started. Just maybe an old dog can learn new tricks. :)
You are very welcome! I’m excited for you also! ABSOLUTELY- anyone at any age can make these changes! Are you already registered for the free class next week? If you like this video you’ll likely love the class!
I’m glad to hear it was helpful! Thanks for taking the time to let me know! The confidence roadmap is available inside my program, casual to confident piano player. It may not apply if you’re solely a bassist - but there’s more info here- www.ashleejyoung.com/pianomember
This is wonderful - thank you! I I’m sharing a free, step by step “learn to read music” curriculum on my RUclips channel in the hopes of making music literacy accessible to all.
I have been trying this method and it does work. The trade off is it takes so much time. Time is such a valuable commodity that can’t be bought. Doing this also makes me feel like I have very limited natural ability because others can learn pieces of music so much faster than I can or they can just sight read right out of the gate and play perfectly whereas I have to spend the time doing this method of going through endless repetitions and slowing things down. That’s not fun but the end result of being able to play a beautiful piece of music perfectly is satisfying and fun.
Stick with it - the cool thing is that the more you do it the faster things go in the later stages of learning the piece AND you get better faster…. So it feels like you were going so slow and taking so much more time in the beginning… But just be patient, I promise it will be worth it and he will make up that time x 10 later.
I also speak to the sight reading, perfectly myth a lot :-) nobody can magically sight read perfectly, it’s people that have taken the time to really slow down and study and learn all of the musical patterns… If you want some more info on this, I taught a free class, and I would be happy to pass along the link, just let me know.
Thank you for your expert advice of performing a piece 10 times accurately, something I never do as a beginner level adult pianist.
I will incorporate your expert advice into my practice routines; Thank You!
You are very welcome! Thank you so much for taking the time to share that with me and for the super thanks, I truly appreciate it! If you liked the video you might get value out of the Facebook community as well! Lmk if you want the link. Either way, great to have you here!
Dear Ashlee, repeating ten times is a WONDERFUL way of eliminating the snags in a piece. I do practise slowly the small sections that snag, but I never repeated them systematically 10 times in a row, and leave alone, startting back to zero when not correctly done. Well I have been doing exactly that in the last few days, and the results are phenomenal…it’s giving me the incentive to work out all the little bits that cause mini problems in a piece….so exciting when suddenly you feel your brain has got it right and no effort is needed anymore tomplay it correctly. Thank you for this video, I am so happy to have come across your chanel!
This was so wonderful to read! I totally agree that the results can be phenomenal - and I am so glad that you were getting those results! Sounds like you are doing a fantastic job of practicing, strategizing, and putting in the work to really improve! Keep up the amazing work.
I enrolled in your Sight-Reading Digital Course this last Sunday. Looking forward to working with you! I just know that my goals will be achieved. Keep-up your good work Ashlee, it is very appreciated. @@AshleeYoungMusicStudio
@@marie-josedupuis6319 I saw that! Have you had a chance to get started yet??? Can’t wait for you!
Yes I did Ashlee, in fact I started yesterday and fully intend on practising every day. I started from the beginning as advised; some things are already acquired knowledge and easy for me, but some parts, will have to be worked on more intensively, as an example, I know the name of the intervals, but I don't always recognise them in a split second when bigger than 5ths. I am following your instructions to a «T», to make sure I cover everything and fully benefit from your course. Stay safe!@@AshleeYoungMusicStudio
@@marie-josedupuis6319 you are AMAZING!!! Sounds great 🙌🏻
Great tip. I was once too cocky to even consider small,slow pieces. I was learn all-at-once, beginning-to-end. Didn't work and I burrned out. Jump 40 years and the small, slow pieces method is working without burnout.
Yes! Exactly! The only path to fast is slow 🐢
Yes! The only path to fast is slow 🐢
Great that you figured it out!
Hi Ashlee, this piece of advice makes so much sense. I love the car analogy too. I have implemented the slow down technique and even just picking out sections to work on. I've never actually made it a point to play something 10 times and you are right. I always wondered why I can play a piece one time with very little mistakes and other times I would play a piece as if I hardly touched it. I think the repetitions in combination of slowing down and focusing on sections is the way to go. I really appreciate your advice and I know these techniques will work for me. 😊
Yes yes yes!!! They totally will and then you’ll have to lmk how it feels once you get it 🙌🏻
Thank you for your advice. I was hoping that you might demonstrate it on difficult pieces. Your advice is for any musical instrument.
It’s a general technique that can be applied to anything!
❤ You are a WONDERFUL INSPIRING TEACHER !!!!
Thank you thank you!!!
Thrilled to discover your channel! Embarking on a piano comeback after over two decades and documenting it on my own new "RetroKeyed" RUclips channel - your insightful practice technique tips couldn't have come at a better time. Huge thanks for this video! 🎹✨
Thanks for taking the time to say so! I’m glad you’re here! If you’re not already in the free Facebook community, sounds like you’d get a lot out of it! Lmk if you want the link!
Love this video. I’m the one who asked you a week ago if you teach online. I have 2 questions: I am preparing for a performance of Rach 3. In movement 1 cadenza there is a very fast passage alternating hands. I have employed the slow practice method and am definitely 98+% accurate. However, at tempo it’s about 80%. What is my approach to get 98% with tempo? Secondly, how fast is slow? Im accurate at 50%-60% of tempo and do extensive reps at this tempo. Should I practice at tempo until I reach 98% or gradually build up to tempo? Thank you. Keep up the great instruction you provide!
Oh I’m so sorry if I missed that! I don’t remember if I responded! I’d say the level of “slowness” depends on the accuracy, so you can always speed it up a little bit as long as you continue to keep the accuracy. In order to speed something up to 98% of the tempo I would recommend that you go up by two BPM’s as long as you can maintain the accuracy. You can always go back down to that really slow tempo go up to go up to go up to, and then go back down. If you keep repeating this, eventually, it will start to speed up.
there are also other methods that I teach inside casual the confident piano player program that would help you in being able to speed things up.
You’re welcome!
As a new player I also learned this from another channel "no wrong notes. play in smaller chunks," and I find it really does help. I play a small section 10+ times and find myself learning faster. Thanks!
You’re welcome - glad you’re already on the right path!
I can't believe how much this has helped me. As an adult self learner I was really struggling to learn any piano piece. Thought I'd never learn anything. Then I tried breaking it down, slowing down as you suggest and enough repetition. It works! Thank you so so much.
Oh my gosh I’m so glad!! This is awesome to hear. Thanks for taking the time to let me know - makes my day!
Oh my goodness this is awesome! Thank you for taking the time to let me know - made my day!
I e been using your practice techniques for about a year. I'm an advanced student but I've always struggled when learning new music. I can promise everyone that these techniques really work because now, I'm picking things up alot faster and my sight reading has greatly improved. I think the key is to ALWAYS TAKE IT SLOW and in small increments.❤
This is so amazing! Thank you for sharing :-) I appreciate you writing this, and I am so happy to hear that you were having such success with practice techniques. They really do work, especially if you apply them over time!
This works. I say this from my experience. As an adult beginner, I practice before I go to work and before I go to bed. Well, not 10 times but almost. When I practice, I use full concentration to accurately execute the problem passages. Next morning when I practice, I instantly feel where to go on the keyboard, and that is 100% correct.
One more thing I like to add here is the power of our subconscious playing. When I practice before going to sleep, I use even more dedication to play the correct notes. Then when you sleep, your subconscious helps you memorise and reinforce the moves. Well, at least that's me.
Thanks Ashlee again for helping us in this rewarding journey of learning to play the piano.
You are very welcome and thanks for sharing! It’s great to hear first hand about your experience! I agree about playing before sleep ✅
Fantastic advice. Wish I applied this from the start - especially the SLOW DOWN part. You can really identify where you're making mistakes to see what you need to practice more.
It is boring to go slow, but the progress you will make is amazing.
You hit the nail on the head! 🙌🏻
Very useful, thank you. I need to keep reminding myself to practice like this. I have trouble moving my fingers into position quick enough between chords with accuracy. I guess the same principle applies where I need to slow down?
Yes exactly! And yes the post it method ✅ that will help you as well!
Great technique, thank you Ashlee.
You’re welcome! Glad to hear it!
This makes so much sense. Thanks.
You’re welcome!!
The main points include slow practice & isolating problem sections. Practicing slow doesn't mean performing slow. Once we learned the right notes, the music needs to speed up to an ideal tempo. And slow practice allows us to use inefficient fingerings. When we speed up a piece, awkward fingerings would slow us down and cause hesitations. Gets annoying to play the right notes but with hesitations between phrases...
Great point about the fingering. It’s definitely important to work out what the best fingering will be for the speed at which it will be played (if the fingering isn’t already written into the music). What’s doable at slow speed might be close to impossible at high/higher speeds.
👍🏻
This is helpful. I have one question. Should I practice single piece or a few pieces at a time.
Hmmm depends on your level - should be a great question to post in the Facebook group. Let me know if you need the link to join. I actually just filmed a video on this topic, it should be out in a couple of weeks :-) it’s not so much about how many pieces you practice, it’s about the percentage of time you allocate to various things.
@@AshleeYoungMusicStudio yes, could you please give me the FB link?
@@Melodia_P ok join here and post the question and you’ll get some great ideas!
facebook.com/groups/casualtoconfidentpianoplayer
Can't find the link, but please put me on your list for the Piano Lab in January. Thanks.
Done!
Why is it so common for an adult to blame ourselves... oh right, because we're responsible. Perfect-Practice makes perfect-performance.
Nice playing, sounds great
Im extremely impressed by your knowledge I and many others would probably love to see a concert performance by you
Thanks so much! If you scroll back to the beginning of my RUclips channel you can see some performances by me. I am in season of life with a little one running around where I am not prioritizing practicing for concert as much, but I look forward to getting back to it :-)
I couldn’t find the link you mentioned. Would you please add me to your list for the free Piano Lab course beginning in January 2024? Thanks Ashlee.
Oh yes here’s the link!
www.ashleejyoung.com/pianopracticelab
Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
this shows that those who have gone on to higher levels of playing piano (and any other instrument) have put in the effort and time. Few people have the patience and discipline.
Very true
Yes you are right but as we know practice doesn’t make perfect but perfect practice makes perfect. :)
What you are talking about knows as myelinization of nerves wich cause ten/hundred times faster nerve conduction velocity in the given nerve paths. Beside the process myelinization please check neuroplasticity in that line also. As I playing pieces exclusively from memory as you mentioned this takes a lot of time to learn but with time this helps also to feel the original inspiration sent to the composer from the source directly...
Memorizing pieces develope the brain further and with time this will cause faster and faster learning speed as the brain works like a muscle. Training a given part of the brain constantly or repetitively will cause the development of the practised ability too.
Yea I agree! It’s simply that people must actually try to memorize and not rely on muscle memory alone as it’s unreliable for the situation you’re describing. Memorization can be wonderful in many ways!
Yea I can't find the link too to join your free class. Send me a link pls.
THe sight reading one or piano practice lab?
Thanks Ashlee I am a guitarist that's hardly made much progress in 30 years of practicing the guitar until I read a research paper into how we learn and came across some information which scientifically validates the approach that you've naturally discovered and that has worked for you. The answer slow down and try not to practice your mistakes. Thanks posting this video.
You are very welcome! Awesome that you came across a research paper that validates!
I'd be really interested in reading that research paper. I've been playing the guitar for over 40 years and haven't reached the levels of playing that I would like. Thanks!
@@AshleeYoungMusicStudio The research study is referred to in a book called: Make It Stick. Which is a book written by a journalist and a couple of cognitive scientists who try to evidence how we learn using active recall, repetition, interleaving and so ..... paper's from research done are either mentioned or cited. Broadly speaking practise should be slow and deliberate to avoid practising your mistakes.
Great video! Thanks!
You’re welcome! Thanks for saying so!
This stuff is really, really good. Thanks Ashlee! I was never taught how to practice and learn pieces. I just started at the beginning and powered through it. Horribly inefficient. Thank You for this new insight. I can't wait to get started. Just maybe an old dog can learn new tricks. :)
You are very welcome! I’m excited for you also! ABSOLUTELY- anyone at any age can make these changes! Are you already registered for the free class next week? If you like this video you’ll likely love the class!
the secret is there is no secret practice practice practice
Wonderful, help post. I'm a bassist and these learning/practicing principles apply to all of it. question: where do you get that "confidence roadmap"?
I’m glad to hear it was helpful! Thanks for taking the time to let me know! The confidence roadmap is available inside my program, casual to confident piano player. It may not apply if you’re solely a bassist - but there’s more info here-
www.ashleejyoung.com/pianomember
Thanks Ashlee for these helpful tips.
You are very welcome!!
You are great. I just hope I can find your channel again.
I never get to work and realize that I don't remember driving there because im generally mumbling "OMG THIS TRAFFIC SUCKS!!!" the entire way there
😂😂😂
This is wonderful - thank you! I I’m sharing a free, step by step “learn to read music” curriculum on my RUclips channel in the hopes of making music literacy accessible to all.
Nice! Thanks!
To mnie całkowicie oczarowało! #januszbielecki
❤😊
🙌🏻
Not easy to me.
Please make a video to learn how to play 2x faster.😊
Just joking.
Your videos are just great. Thank you for posting.
Hahahaha I love it! And thanks for taking the time to say so!
Good insight!