Why the progress in the practice room seems to disappear overnight
This is a fantastic article on Bulletproof Musician written by clarinetist Dr. Christine Carter. In it, she talks about what we have been doing for practicing and why it isn't working. (this in and of itself is nothing new) What is life-changing is that she then goes on to explain something called Random Practice which is all about practicing the same stuff in the same amount of time, but randomly so that our brain stays active and alert through the whole thing.
WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD THIS BEFORE?!
It is so simple. And it gives me such hope.
I'm not sure it will take the monotony out of certain practice elements (*cough scales cough* although I do love my lower octave 9-note segments, don't ask me why), and I know it will take an adjustment period to retrain my practice sessions, but just reading this article excited me so much I wanted to take my bassoon out and start practicing right away (but I have contained myself, given that it is 1:15am...).
Has anyone used this new practice technique? What are your thoughts on it? Does it work? What are the pros and cons?
GIVE ME KNOWLEDGE! :-)
Hobey-ho.
i'm really going to have to try this, I'm not sure if i'm just lazy, but i would (and will) do just about anything for a more productive practice session!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think I'm just lazy. I screw myself over before I even get started. I am an excellent sight-reader, which is both a blessing and a curse, because I feel little need to practice on my own when by the time the group has had several rehearsals, I'm ready for the concert without putting in any extra time. But I also realize that I'm still only doing about 90% with that method, and I want to challenge myself to get the other 10% through pure dedication and elbow grease!
Deleteright!!! sometimes it feels sooo much easier to fake it, but i'm positive it doesn't feel as good as when a performances goes well on a high-effort night. so i suppose that will just have to be motivation enough!
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