Get Better At Music By Practicing Less
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- Опубликовано: 31 май 2024
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Don't practice mistakes! Learn first and then practice. And make sure to make time to practice new things. Remember, if you can play it slowly, you can play it quickly. Or, you can probably learn to play it quickly anyway.
00:00 - Controversial statements
00:37 - The First Way: Learn first, then practice
03:48 - Practice and learning are not interchangeable
07:10 - The Second Way: Make time to learn new things
10:21 - How to structure your practice time
14:53 - Storytime
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"Practice makes perfect." is a myth. "Practice makes permanent." is the real truth. If you repeat the exercise incorrectly again and again, you'll remember the wrong thing permanently.
Totally agree ! I went thru the Arban using a poor embrouchure and technique totally ingrained bad bad bad habits all that keenness and dedication completely wasted. I am at an age now where I don’t really have the time to correct that bad practice had to learn a different instrument
That’s not true and makes you take an overly cautious approach to practice. Do you not have trust in yourself to get the gist of something then fine tune the details? Sometimes it is better to learn a shoddy version quickly and then refine rather than learn slowly but perfectly. You’re only stuck playing a certain way if you rely purely on unconscious muscle memory while you perform
That is exactly what my teacher tells me! Very wise words
@Tony Kirk @BRUNO
Sounds like you’re self aware about your process and that’s the key. Many people aren’t.
@@BradHarrison I also like this strategy because it gets you thinking about the big picture much sooner and helps you understand it feels like to give the whole performance
Not to mention, if you are fatigued or sore or anything hurts, just skip the practice. Do ear training or study a great recording or study some music theory. Taking some recovery days will do more for your long term improvement than practicing through pain because you feel you need to hit a number of hours.
Agreed! Rest can be important. Similarly, a great tip I got as a jazzer is if you want to practice but don’t want to practice(you know that feeling), you can always transcribe/lift solos. So useful for ear training and vocabulary.
I listen to recordings of my performances when my voice is tired. I have better pitch when I do this.
Be careful with no pain no gain. A bit of burn or discomfort can indicate that you’re doing hard work and building strength, but actual pain can indicate that you’re doing damage. Listen to your body. If you do damage, you’ll lose all kinds of time recovering during which you can’t make any progress. Cheers!
Theories a waste of time tbh me and my band have put out two albums already and we have no knowledge of theory I get if you wanna get a better consensus on what you’re making it’s good to know but like it’s very unnecessary even if you wanna make technical music you don’t need that much to do it, another point that I practice guitar every single day and don’t plan to stop my fingers never get sore or feel bad and Honestly I keep surprising myself on how much better I’m always getting
@@Bloorgusgoorge I lost years to an overtraining injury, that’s why I’m saying it, but everyones built different. As for not needing theory, you seem to know what you’re talking about, but it’s been my experience that more knowledge broadens your horizons and deepens your experience of music, gives you more options to work with. You can certainly get away without it, but you probably also miss out on your full potential.
as an illustrator (that want to learn music as a hobby) i totally agree with this, in learning to draw for example, people tend to jump rightaway to "practices" without even acknowleging the fundamentals like basic shape, lines, proportion, technique, etc.
no matter what kind style of drawing you want make, this is the most important thing to learn before practicing.
Especially basic SHAPES, most beginner tend to underestimate the magic of understanding and learning basic shapes.
as a result they are confused why they improved so little over a long time, i've been there and most of us been there,
i feel like this video not only applies to music learning, but to most of other skills
great video, really inspired me to think how i'm gonna approach my learning of music
Excellent! So glad you enjoyed! It’s true. Simple things that are done well and well understood are so powerful. When teaching improvisation, I like to demonstrate how great just two notes can be when played with good time, good sound, and confidence. Start clear and simple and build from there.
Maybe you'd be a pretty great teacher since I still want to start drawing again
GOD I've been telling everyone that
they focus a lot on just details and stuff, ignoring the fact that they need to understand lines and shapes, something that seems incredibly intuitive and simple
i hope you consider playing the recorder (blockfluit)❤
@@SakugaAsu Everything you need to learn art is online, look up tutorials, study anatomy, do figure drawings, study proportions ect
As an improvisational guitarist, I really appreciate what you're saying. I tell my students, "Do NOT play it any faster than you can play it perfectly. Speed WILL happen. You can't do anything over and over and NOT get faster... without even trying to get faster." Also, when I work on a song, I work on knowing the Instrument more than the song. I try to play it as many times as I can without playing it the same way twice. To me, that's the fun of making music. Thanks for this video. It's made me think.
Agreed with you. I also heard that practising walking will not take you to running...
@@_h.k.5. Very True. Maybe you will enjoy this. I hope so. ruclips.net/video/RxgV6Lp1gTI/видео.html
Probably shouldn’t start with running though. Especially if you keep tripping and falling every time you try. Get that walking situation under control first.
@@BradHarrison yes. Kids first learn to walk then to run
Breaking a tempo barrier that a student hasn’t met or passed before won’t just happen no matter how slow and methodically it’s repeated.
Thanks man, would be great to have it 10 years ago when dropping out
Oh no! Come back and play!
You can always start again
This rings very true. That being said, some people, including me, have a bit of the opposite problem. We get bored really fast so we always look for new things, new scales, new songs, new genres and never really focus on or consolidate a thing. It makes for versatility but doesn't help build-up clean technique or good habits. So in that case, the advice to focus more on practice and routines does make sense.
Totally! The grind is essential. Balance is important. All the best!
When you know how to play 10 seconds of 100 different songs but you can't play anything from start to finish. The ADHD challenge.
Oh that's totally me man. Glad I'm not alone with that!
Ahaha, totally can relate to that^^ As a dancer, i started making real progress once I acknowledged that fact and, instead of trying to compensate that, i went on improvising full mode. The result is that i never know before i start to move what i will do, but once i do, it surprisingly leads to very interesting results. Still not that good, but i feel i'm getting somewhere :)
little addition: since one of the strenghts of an ADHD brain is to connect the dots, the idea is to feed it with as many dots as possible and then let it unconsciously try connections. Combined with a serious physical training to have a solid basis, i'm getting more and more convinced it can lead to great results once mastered. You have a liquid way of thinking? So let's become water itself^^
Thank you so much for this vid. Ive been struggling recently with getting the most use out of my practice sessions since I realized ive been practicing completely wrong and wasting time for 8 YEARS
Glad you enjoyed! We can all use a reminder of the basics from time to time. Good luck!
Same for me for 7 years… thankfully im not the only one “)
13 years to join the competition.
0:37 1. Practice vs learning - they're not the same
7:10 2. Learn new things - don't just repeat what you know.
10:21 3. practice session structure
- warmup
- techniques
- project
- review
14:03
4'33 is definitely one of my favorites songs on guitar. It's great to build finger dexterity. Also a pretty chill tune.
To be fair, if you noodle around in a complex practice way, you can count that as part of 4’33 and thus you can get valuable practice while not violating the premise of 4’33.
It's great in any instrument actually, my favourite to play, such a wonderful tune!
"Hey look at me I can play 4'33, I'm so cool"
We get it, you're good at guitar
Lmao.
@@amj.composer Oh, you can bet I am. Specially at playing 4'33.
When I switched to shifting at least 50% of my practice sessions to learning I easily overcame my plateau. Being inspired by new artists and songs and theory ideas definitely helps.
Excellent! Inspiration is huge for making you want to dig in and get work done.
What is shifting?
They’re just talking about how they plan their practice sessions and how they sped their time.
@@BradHarrison Yes, thank you :)
as a high school violist, this rings incredibly true. i've seen so many kids in my orchestra crash and burn because they start multi-hour long practice sessions on music that they don't fully know and then show up to rehearsal, confident in what they've done, only to realize that they were practicing the piece in the wrong way. soooo many music teachers, at least the ones i've had, have told kids to "practice" but not that they need to be familiar with their music first or even HOW to practice in the first place. i'm gonna try to get my music teacher to show this in class, thank you for making this video :•)
Yes, "practice" must be defined for each occasion. It's never just mindless repetition. Repetition, at times, but not mindless.
God! I have been struggling and feeling bad about how my practice session is not productive. Felt like i was running in the same place but this legit showed me the way. Thank you so much for this video. It was the most needed one. 🥺❤
Excellent! Glad you enjoyed and thanks for the feedback!
Feel the same
With drumming, "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast." I found this statement to be true.
I'm a 49 year old woman learning how to play the cello. I'm coming up on my one year anniversary. This video explains exactly why I have made so much progress in a year. The part where you say that learning is a process not unlike solving a puzzle that unlocks a New Journey every day encapsulates my Philosophy on learning anything. I really appreciate you reiterating the idea of learning steps and applying them rather than practicing mistakes. I think as an adult learning a complicated instrument late in life we approach it with the idea of being perfect. I've always allowed myself to learn and process like a child so it's fun and it's an adventure. This video is really great and I have shared it with other adult cello Learners as well.
Amazing! Great that you’re learning an instrument as an adult. Thanks for sharing your experience. All the best!
Excellent video. Most people don't know how to practice properly. They forget to learn and end up in loops!
I've learnt so many piano pieces and songs overtime by watching tutorials but i never bothered to understand the theory behind all of it , although i can play the pieces that i love but only relying on my muscle memory, so if i don't replay it in a long time i end up forgetting it , now that i've noticed this i started to read and watch videos about theory , and to be honest it surely takes some time to fully understand the concepts , and i don't really know how to practice them later , but I'm taking my sweet time watching videos here and there , and trying to memorize new infos , and it is making a little difference
Excellent! Theory can be tough and boring but it’s just a language and lens fo better understand and compartmentalize concepts. I find it really useful. Of course, just playing for fun and learning tunes is awesome too. All the best!
@@BradHarrison thanks to your videos and to all youtubers who are sharing their knowledge about music , people like me who are interested in learning about it get to understand what's happening in our favorite songs 😊
I´d like to tell you that forgetting pieces it happens to all musicians. Yuja wang even said once she has the songs in her muscle memory that´s why she does not forget them. And she knows by heart a lot. So I think there are more factors. I forget my songs too, but If I come back to them I remember them very fast. I still haven´t found a system to keep them in my mind all the time.
Maintenance is key. I’ve forgotten so much repertoire I once had memorized because it just fades away over time if you don’t keep it fresh.
This has absolutely worked for me on guitar, since I was self taught the first things I wanted to do were learn all the different techniques for picking, tapping, etc. It's been super helpful at allowing me to play more complicated pieces only 2 years into learning.
“Practice make permanent “ is the REAL TRUTH...👏
I tried this with my hand writing and it works!! Try it out folks! Write slower at work.
Its not just a music lesson, its a life changing video...
Love this distinction so much, I have definitely been guilty of jumping right into things and wasting time only to have to go back and learn the fundamentals.
This is the first new concept I’ve heard since starting to ‘practice’ on uTube over 3 yrs ago
warmup is so crucial! it's often the barrier that people allow to prevent themselves from realizing their latent talents; someone with a potentially beautiful singing voice may attempt to sing a little and take the unsatisfactory result of their initial attempt as evidence of their inability, when even an established singer may sound rough at first without first warming up.
Absolutely! Knowing what “warm” feels like is an important thing for musicians to know. I think many people just aren’t aware of what that feels like and, as you said, play and struggle and not know why.
this is something I wanted to know my whole life since it applies to everything I do or did! in school, we simply used to practice things blindly and when mistakes did happen my brain was always like: "what? but I thought that was the truth". so I made a lot of mistakes and was never a good student because we learned to practice and never to learn.
It’s true. Sometimes we tell people what to practice and how much to practice but don’t cover *how* to practice. Also, young people don’t always want to hear it. They may not be ready. I remember being very resistant in my youth to some things I take as undisputed truth now.
Learning an instrument is not what it used to be, and I'm glad you can explain in a easy and fun way how to approach to it. Thank you so much for that
● Practice is the act of polishing and refining, reinforcing good habits, and maintaining skills and abilities of things you can already do.
● Learning is the process of acquiring skills, knowledge, understanding in the first place.
→There's a real danger to conflating the two terms because it seems that some musicians kinda skip the learning phase and move straight to the practice phase.
● Learn first, then practice!
● You can't really practice something until you've learned it.
-
● The saying "Practice makes perfect!" isn't really correct.
● If you practice a mistake you can learn it really really well: Practice makes permanent.
● Perfect practice makes perfect!
~
Super useful video, man!
I love how 4’33” is part of the list of songs that scroll by :)
This is really great, Brad. The distinction between Practice and Learning is a really big one and something for everyone to keep in mind.
Thanks for your hard work!
This is why teacher is so important for guiding students so they can improve more effictively. As a self taught beginner guitar player, i'm really struggling to find a guide so i can improve instead of practice the same thing over and over again.
Justin Guitar's website might help you out with that one, at least it did to me
I might just have found the best music channel on RUclips. Thank you.
"Happiness is derived from growth" ~ Words to live by for sure.
It’s great to hear the delineation between practice and learning. Most of my students have sat on a couple scales and chords for years and much of our work is in learning the context of what they are and how they fit together. This was also a great reminder to keep lifting heavy things myself, thanks!
I really dig this approach, specially when tackling stuff we're lacking at. Thanks so much for making this video!
When I was studying for a playing a prima vista piano exam with a few minutes to prepare, I found that the best way was to read the score first and find the difficult bits and practice those briefly. Then I could play the rest without any practicing.
The cow and the potato was it for me 😆
Bravo … great visual to get the point across
At first I thought "alright let's see what's this no practice BS" but you made excellent points. Here, my subscription !
Excellent! My favorite comments are the ones that go on rants but clearly didn’t watch the video. Glad you enjoyed!
@@BradHarrison Damn, maybe I should've made a rant
This was super helpful! I've been feeling lost recently at trying to learn to play guitar, and feeling like you're not making any progress gets frustrating. This gave me some much needed motivation!
I just started playing the flute and new to music in general and this video is so helpful Thank You
5:51 my sixth grade teacher taugh me this, and when I first heard it I though it was dumb because it didn't rhyme, but something I'd still think about and come to accept because the former point you've made
Suchhhhh a good video!! I’ve started teaching myself (no teacher anymore!😢) and this reminded me the importance of LEARNING first, step by step, the fundamentals before jumping in to ‘polish and refine’.
So gooddd😊
(honesty going to appy this to so nany other aspects of my life too!)
!
I really needed that 2nd point, I used to challenge myself a lot and look at things as problems to be conquered, now I'm just staying in my comfort zone. Great videos as always Brad!
That Eye of Sauron really got me.
Should change the title: Get Better At EVERYTHING By Practicing Less.
Great video!
Our martial arts teacher always said
" Its better to have not practiced a move than practicing it the wrong way"
Oof. Harsh truth. At the beginning, you have to be bold and find out what works and doesn’t. Allow yourself to make mistakes. But try to get past that stage quickly. I think this quote applies well to anyone with more than a couple years of experience though.
Totally agree this! I'm not a instrumentalist but I'm a magician. And I've seen so many people practicing a lot and doesn't improve much. Most of them practice without thinking about what they are doing so they get numb about their mistakes and they don't realize that they are making mistake.
Yes! Magic is a great example. Procedure and technique would apply to sleight of hand and probably lots of other stuff too. Cards and coins and dexterity too. It’s been a while since I dabbled but my cups and balls, linking rings, and hot rod chops were pretty decent back in the day. ;-)
Damn. This is the definition of high quality content. Somebody who knows his topic extremely well, explains extremely well, animates extremely well and is not afraid of telling probably many of his viewers what they always do wrong. Kudos!
So glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the kind words!
Brilliant! Thanks Brad. I never looked at my music sessions in your light. Very wise.
14:00 playing John Cage's 433 at the end of a practice session is a valuable pass time and not at all a waste of 4 minutes😂
It can be helpful to center yourself and reflect on your work that day.
Haha, honestly being able to perfectly, silently count exactly 4 minutes and 33 seconds in one's head might actually be a valuable thing to practice. Sounds pretty difficult, even with a metronome
Clear, concise information with good analogies to your different points. Great video!
Sometimes you find a diamond on RUclips that cuts through a fair bit of bs. Thanks!
As a Guitar player many years ago I had to learn that Learning - Practice - Performance are all different things to come full circle! Thanks for the great explanation.
Your allegorys used in this video are AWESOME. Really made me look at preactice and learning from a different perspective. Thank you, excellent video!
Excellent! So glad it landed for you. All the best!
I loved everything about this, very valuable information and great analogies. Never stop what you're doing and thank you
This video was applicable to so many things, not just music! Phenomenal job dude
This is really awesome to finally have some guidance on this journey about spending it more effectively. I recognized almost all of these problems that you were talking about. 😅
Amazing. I’m glad I found this video as early as I did during my musical journey. I used the advice in the video and had so much progress! Anybody who watches this video will NOT be the same musician they once were
As someone who has completed all of cuphead s ranks i can confirm at first i was a victim to the analogy of video games. But when i took myself back a little bit and learned the patterns and what i was doing wrong I significantly improved. Glad i can apply it to my music, and thanks for putting together this video to help visualize it.
Brad Harrison is a legend.⭐ That's all I can say.
Really looking forward to the interesting content.
Realy awesome content. The dance example clicked for me, I noticied I tend to spend more time practicing than learning. Hope I can hone my skills with this new approach.
Thanks a lot!
I love this, a really wise perspective and a healthy reminder for a lot of us!
This is fantastic Brad, thank you for making this - sharing with all my students!
I always need to be reminded of these principles. Thank you.
Thank you so much for this wise advice - as a baby musician, i definitely needed to hear it. And also thank you for the engaging graphics. I have adhd and this is an engaging video that kept me very focused and interested while learning very important stuff. Have a nice day!
As a teacher, I can see applying this knowledge to various disciplines can greatly help achieve better results
Excellent! I agree. A lot if this stuff is transferable.
Hi Brad, your videos are great! The tips and lessons are very well taught and I love the humor and personality put into your videos. Great job and thanks for the videos!
In Arnis training, the saying is "Focus first on form. Speed and Power will come with practice.".
Your formatting and narration are so perfect. Been loving your videos
Thanks! Glad to hear it!
I can not start to explain how helpful this channel is. I started playing a month ago and I just started watching this channel and I've been learning so much from these videos. thanks so much for making it easy to understand for everyone because I am a bit slow in the head but I understand everything you're saying 🙏
Thanks for the kind words! So glad you’re enjoying!
The best advice on musical skills I have ever heard. I have been playing piano and keyboard for 31 years. My wrong versions of the same areas are stronger then the right ones of the same areas as I practiced them wrong than right. I see many musicians who are not willing even to admit their mistakes
This is a freaking amazing video and deserves soooooo many more views!!! As a new musician I do not have a lot of at home practice parameters so this is so helpful for me and any other new players! Thank you so much
This cleared so much my mind, I study in a brazilian mpb/jazz conservatory, I play with an artist and we have around 15 gigs a month, and I also teach music to some kids in my town, everytime I sit to study I practice a lot, but I feel like it doesn't get better... It's clear now to me that I'm not learning, just repeating pre-learned movements in the fretboard, I need to learn before practicing... Thanks a lot!
Thank you for another fantastic video that really resonates. I’ve just watched this after watching your Play 3000 times faster in 10 mins. I don’t think there’s anyone else out there that puts so many points together that make so much sense. You’re brilliant and have a new subscriber.
Thanks for the kind words! Much appreciated!
This made me notice a lot of things, and not only about music
I love your videos as a beginner. Very informative and helpful, and the comic relief is on point and in perfect dosage.
What a wonderful video! Came across this through the suggested videos page and I really appreciate how you applied the lesson to other things outside of music (gym, cooking, running). It helps a viewer like me understand and reinforce the lesson through other mediums. Great work!
Learn new thing, practice new thing, rinse and repeat everyday. Such a great lesson!
This entire video is my way of life
It's my motto, my perspective, and my mindset
really well made, love the instruction
Not a musician but so much of what was said is universal. Great video!
Finally someone who knows how to present information in a clear logical way. I love Brad´s videos!
really good video. i appreciate just how comprehensive and analytical this video was. It really made me wash away some anxieties which were keeping me from picking up my guitar.
Thanks a lot for your excellent performance and the reminder of confronting new tecnics. Many regards, chris
...magnificent speech, dear friend Brand... ...sometimes one forgets the importance of learning... ...and the challenge is that, for a later practicing session... thank so much for it!!!
👏👏👏👏🎶🎵🥇🎵🎶👏👏👏👏
This helped me a lot actually, I was learning a song and thought "I learned the intro but I should first practice the intro more and try to play the intro faster before moving on"
Now, today I am gonna try and learn the next part of the song 👍
This is an absolute eye opener. Thank you very much
Hi, Brad! Thank you for the great information/tutorial! You are very good at it! Thanks for sharing your wonderful knowledge! Peace and joy, Charles
It‘s what my teacher preaches over and over again. He made me promise to learn and practise only three lines of a piece a day and started to give me scales as homework. It‘s weird to only play my three lines and it takes a much shorter time but at the end of the day it is indeed the faster way to learn. A tip from me to learn new things: play with others, that way you won‘t get stuck.
One of the most helpful videos I've seen. It all makes sense and I thank you for it!
Excellent to hear! Glad you enjoyed!
100% accurate from somebody with experience, plus your video came just in time to remind me why am I not making any progress anymore, when I first started I followed the technique of learning before practicing + slow and accurate before speeding up and I went from somebody with zero skills and knowledge (tone deaf/never touched a guitar in my life) to a vocalist/guitarist/lyricist but it's been a while since the progress stopped and I have just realized that I have been playing and writing randomly with no plan, I stopped the learning and stuck to the practicing because of the excitement of sounding remotely good, but like you said even if I play well now, there is a 95% chance I'll get it wrong next time, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!!!!
I rate this video highly. Learn then practice what has been learnt to as close to perfection as possible. Thanks for this.
Fun and informative! Thought provoking. Thank you!
I give you like because you have done so well in giving out such clear illustrations. Totally agree that "don't practice mistakes." All the best to everyone who loves practicing your favorite instrument and learn to be better than Yesterday.
Thank you! Cheers!
Thank you so much for this video! I’m a musician that came back to music after a hiatus and this is a great reminder to be less hard on myself.
Daily Goals and Repetition is the Key ❤️❤️💯
I love love love the analogies! Anyone can understand it better.
Thanks for good stuff! I feel like developing good habits is frequently neglected in educational process, even though it's so important. Teachers give you homework and that's it, nobody explains how to spend your time wisely, how to work in a healthy way and stay positive, how not to procrastinate. I ended up developing many unhealthy habits which are hard to deal with. Your video is very helpful!
That video was so helpful! Thank you!
Very right! Thank you for this extremely clear pleasantly explained piece of instruction