What Good Piano Practice Actually LOOKS LIKE
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful video, David Lane, a music educator, challenges the misconception that effective practice should be smooth and steady. He illustrates the actual process with a graph, emphasizing two distinct stages: the initial 'Learning Phase' characterized by slow, deliberate effort, and the subsequent 'Practice Phase' where familiarity and subconscious mastery take over, leading to rapid progress. Lane advises patience and segmented practice for optimal learning, debunking the myth of instant proficiency and encouraging enjoyment of the learning process.
Takeaways
- 🎼 Practice Progress: The script explains that progress in learning music is not a smooth, steady line but rather occurs in two distinct stages.
- 📈 Learning Phase: The first stage involves a learning phase where the focus is on accuracy and consistency over speed, which can be slow and exhausting but is crucial for building a strong foundation.
- 🔄 The 'Click': There is a point in practice, referred to as 'the click,' where everything starts to come together, and the process becomes less tedious.
- 🔑 Practice Stage: The second stage is the practice stage, where the subconscious begins to take over, and the music becomes more familiar, leading to faster and smoother progress.
- 🚀 Subconscious Power: The subconscious mind plays a significant role in the second half of practice, allowing for the automation of familiar tasks and making them feel easier.
- 🚦 Common Mistakes: Two common mistakes are identified: mistaking the 'click' for the end of necessary practice and rushing through the first stage, leading to clumsy and error-prone playing.
- ⏱️ Time Distribution: The two stages of practice are not necessarily equal in time spent, with more time often spent in the first half.
- 📚 Incremental Learning: Breaking down the learning process into smaller segments, such as measures or phrases, can make the entire process feel more manageable and quicker.
- 💡 Realistic Expectations: The script sets realistic expectations for the learning process, emphasizing that even advanced musicians will experience the same two-stage process when learning new music.
- 🔍 Individual Variation: The time spent in each stage can vary from piece to piece, indicating that each learning experience is unique.
- 🌟 Continuous Learning: The script suggests that as musicians advance, they will be able to learn some pieces more quickly, but the fundamental process of learning remains the same.
Q & A
What does David Lane suggest is the first stage of effective practice for pianists?
-The first stage is the Learning phase, where pianists engage their senses of sight, hearing, and touch, focusing on difficult passages, correct fingering, and smooth transitions.
How does David Lane describe the visual representation of progress during the Learning phase?
-The Learning phase is represented by a graph with barely noticeable progress, where the x-axis shows time spent practicing and the y-axis shows progress, resulting in a slow and seemingly unproductive incline.
What is the term David Lane uses for the point where everything starts to feel like it's coming together during practice?
-David Lane refers to this point as 'the click,' where the practice transitions from being tedious to becoming more cohesive and easier.
What is the second stage of practice according to David Lane, and how does it differ from the first stage?
-The second stage is the Practice stage, where the focus shifts to using what has been learned. It is more enjoyable and involves mindful repetition, increasing tempo, and allowing the subconscious to take over, making the practice faster and smoother.
Why does David Lane suggest that the idea of smooth and steady progress might be a myth for some musicians?
-He suggests it's a myth because if the music being learned is significantly more difficult than the musician's sight-reading level, the expected smooth and steady progress will not occur, and practice will initially seem much slower.
What common mistakes do students make during the practice process, according to David Lane?
-Two common mistakes are mistaking the 'click' at the end of the first half of practice for the end of all necessary practice, and rushing through the first stage to get to the second, resulting in confident but clumsy and error-filled playing.
How does David Lane recommend breaking down the practice process to make it more manageable?
-He suggests applying the practice process to smaller sections of music, such as eight measures, four measures, or even one or two measures at a time, which can lead to a quicker mastery of the entire piece.
What is the significance of the 'click' in the practice process, as explained by David Lane?
-The 'click' signifies the transition from the Learning phase to the Practice phase, where the musician starts to internalize the music and it becomes more familiar, leading to a more rapid and enjoyable practice experience.
How does David Lane define the term 'practice' in the context of learning a new piece of music?
-He defines 'practice' as the stage after the initial learning phase, where the musician uses what they have learned, with the term being related to 'practical,' which means applying knowledge in a familiar context.
What role does the subconscious play in the second half of the practice process, as described by David Lane?
-In the second half, the subconscious begins to take over, handling what is familiar and routine, allowing the musician to play more effortlessly and with less conscious thought, making the practice smoother and faster.
Why does David Lane emphasize the importance of patience and enjoying the process during practice?
-He emphasizes patience and enjoyment because the process of learning and mastering a piece of music involves both challenging and tedious stages, and maintaining a positive attitude throughout is crucial for effective learning and progress.
Outlines
🎼 The Reality of Musical Practice Progress
David Lane introduces the concept of effective practice for pianists and composers, challenging the notion that progress should be smooth and steady. He uses a graph analogy with time spent practicing on the X-axis and progress on the Y-axis. He explains that the initial phase of learning a piece of music, which he calls the 'Learning phase,' is slow and requires careful attention to detail, often feeling tedious. This phase is characterized by incremental progress that may seem barely noticeable. The second phase, referred to as 'the click,' is where everything starts to come together, and practice becomes easier and more enjoyable as the subconscious mind takes over familiar tasks. Lane emphasizes the importance of foundational work in the first half of practice to ensure a smooth transition to the second half, where progress accelerates towards mastery.
🚴♂️ The Subconscious Role in Learning and Practice
In the second paragraph, David Lane expands on the role of the subconscious in the learning process, particularly in the second half of practice. He compares learning to riding a bicycle, where initial conscious effort eventually gives way to subconscious habits. Lane explains that the subconscious handles familiar tasks, making them appear and feel easy. He discusses common mistakes made by students, such as mistaking the 'click' for the end of necessary practice or rushing through the first stage, leading to clumsy and error-ridden performance. He also touches on the flexibility of applying the practice graph to smaller sections of music for more manageable progress and emphasizes that the time spent in each stage of the graph can vary. Lane concludes by addressing the question of when one might bypass the tedious first half of learning, stating that it is inevitable as long as the music being learned presents a challenge, but the more advanced a musician becomes, the quicker they can learn pieces that are close to their sight-reading ability.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Practice
💡Progress
💡Learning Phase
💡Click
💡Subconscious
💡Sight Reading Level
💡Mistakes
💡Foundational Work
💡Mindful Repetition
💡Graph
💡Patience
Highlights
Good practice in music learning may not be as smooth and steady as commonly perceived.
David Lane offers techniques and strategies for pianists and composers to improve their craft.
A visual representation of effective practice involves a graph with time on the X-axis and progress on the Y-axis.
The initial stage of learning involves placing the 'present reality' dot at the bottom left of the graph, signifying no prior knowledge of the music.
The 'point of satisfaction' or the eventual goal is marked at the upper right of the graph, representing mastery.
The misconception of a linear progression in learning is debunked; effective practice is not always smooth.
The first stage of practice, the 'Learning phase', involves intensive engagement of senses and careful drilling of difficult passages.
The 'Learning phase' can be slow and exhausting, requiring significant attention and patience.
The 'click' is the pivotal moment when the learning starts to come together, transitioning from tedious to familiar.
The second stage, the 'Practice stage', is where the subconscious begins to take over, making practice more enjoyable and efficient.
The subconscious mind handles familiar tasks, making them appear and feel easy, unlike the conscious mind that manages new and unexpected tasks.
Common mistakes include mistaking the 'click' for the end of necessary practice and rushing through the first stage.
Breaking down the learning process into smaller sections can expedite the journey from mystery to mastery.
The two stages of practice are not necessarily equal in time spent, with the first half often requiring more effort.
The graph represents a realistic expectation of learning, but the approach can be adapted to the complexity of the music piece.
As musicians advance, they can learn more challenging pieces more quickly, but the foundational process remains essential.
David Lane encourages patience and enjoyment of the learning process, emphasizing the importance of foundational work.
Transcripts
what does good practice actually look
like it might not be what you think
especially if you're thinking it should
be smooth and steady let's take a look
at how your practice should flow if it's
going well my name is David Lane and I
like to help pianists and composers with
techniques and strategies that will help
them build their craft so if you're
practicing correctly what should it look
like I mean visually if you were to draw
a graph with an X axis and a y AIS where
the x axis shows the time you spend been
practicing and the Y Line shows the
progress that you're making we start
with the present reality and our
eventual goal present reality the dot
goes here we haven't yet practiced and
we don't yet know the music so this
first dot goes in the bottom left of the
graph our eventual goal we practice as
long as it takes and we improve the
music as well as we can now I don't
think musically learning actually has a
finish line but let's call this the
point of
satisfaction and that dot goes here at
the upper right point of the graph now
how do we connect the dots if you
haven't been effectively practicing for
a very long time there's a chance you
think it looks like this a smooth line
from start to finish you practice a
little you progress steadily until you
eventually get there is that actually
correct though no the only time it's
correct is if you're trying to learn a
piece of music that isn't much much more
difficult than your sight reading level
what if there's a piece you're trying to
learn where the first time you try to
play it you can't even play it half
Tempo the smooth and steady progress
graph is going to be a myth in this case
and if this is what you're expecting you
won't be disappointed later you'll be
disappointed right away practice is
going to seem so much slower than you
were expecting and that's because of the
way good practice is supposed to look
again assuming the music you're trying
to learn imposes at least a moderate
challenge correct practice actually
happens in two stages stage one is what
I call the Learning phase we could call
it the stage where you are learning
drilling carefully engaging your senses
of sight hearing and touch you're
working on the difficult passages you're
working on consistently correct
fingering and watching for not only only
the correct notes but smooth transitions
to make playing the correct notes more
likely it's exhausting it's slow it
doesn't seem like you're even making
much progress it demands so much of your
attention that it honestly isn't very
fun unless you have full faith that this
is a natural part of the process and
that things are about to get a whole lot
better this fairly tedious stage of
practice lasts roughly half of the time
needed to improve prove what you're
practicing so if you draw this line of
barely noticeable progress and continue
to project this forward you'll see that
you're much further from your goal than
you thought it's going to take forever
to learn this music or so it seems
however if you've practiced well up to
this point that is to say if you've
practiced slowly and carefully
prioritizing accuracy and consistency
over speed really paying attention to
what it looks like what it sounds like
what it feels like when you play it
correctly repeating it often enough that
you're starting to get an understanding
of it then you're about ready for this
point I call it the click the click is
the point where everything starts to
feel like it's coming together it's no
longer tedious it might still be slow at
first but you're getting it now so
what's next this is where the fun part
begins it's the practice stage or the
getting more familiar stage yes I called
it the practice stage after you've
already been supposedly practicing but
I'm taking the word literally practice
is related to the word practical which
means using what you know when you start
learning a new piece of music guess what
you don't actually know it yet so the
first stage is a learning stage not a
practice stage now once you're getting
it you begin the practice portion and if
you always thought as a Young musician
that practice is tedious well true
practice is actually the fun part I have
a podcast called the musician toolkit
which gets shared every Monday to this
Channel and on this episode in the upper
right of your screen I talk about the
power of the subconscious the conscious
part of your brain is the part that has
to be aware of everything as you're
doing it it lives in what is new and
unexpected the subconscious takes care
of what is habit and routine in other
words what is familiar take riding a
bicycle when you're learning you're
trying not to fall off the bike you want
to get the pedals moving and you want to
keep your balance after a while you
don't think about anything but just
getting on the bike and going you're
still doing all the things to keep
balance and keep the bike moving but
your subconscious brain has created new
shortcuts that bypass your awareness the
things we do with our subconscious like
walking like riding a bike like driving
a car and like playing a piece of music
with which we are already familiar these
things always look and feel easy so the
second half of what correct practice
looks like this is where the
subconscious is beginning to take over
you're familiar enough that all we need
now is mindful repetition exercise
allowing the tempo to increase and then
practice just takes
off it gets faster and easier and
smoother rather quickly our second half
of practice shoots up to our goal but it
only does this because we did the proper
foundational work in the first half of
our practice graph here are a few
important additional thoughts first
there are two common mistakes that many
students make the most common is
mistaking that click at the end of the
first half of the practice for actually
being the end of all necessary practice
students who do this are playing
everything correctly but still thinking
really hard about everything it's going
well but it's slow and it's far from
effortless the other mistake is rushing
through the first stage to get to the
second this is when the music is
confident and maybe even fast but it's
clumsy and it's littered with mistakes
the second thing I want to mention is
that this graph represents the realistic
expectation of practice but that you can
choose how much you apply it to at once
if you try to learn an entire piece at
one time this will take seemingly
forever but if you apply this to eight
measures four measures maybe even one or
two measures at a time you'll find that
you can get through the the entire graph
of mystery to Mastery in rather a short
amount of time the third thing is that
the two stages of this graph are not
necessarily
50/50 in terms of time needed I think on
average you'll spend more time in the
first half than the second but how much
could vary from piece to piece the final
thing and it's a question that I get
especially from older students the
question is at what point will I be able
to not have to go through this tedious
first half and just learn things
smoothly the answer is as long as you
are trying to learn music that is at
least a little challenging never this
graph shows the reality of learning
something new and trying to make it
familiar the exception is if you are
trying to learn music that is at or
barely above your ability to site read
well that is music that you can perceive
as learning smoothly or rush through the
first half of the graph the good news is
that the more you learn and the more
advanced you get the more pieces there
are in the world that you can learn
quickly if you found this helpful I'd
appreciate it if you would please
subscribe hit the like on this video and
feel free to share it with someone who
might find this helpful also let me know
in the comments what kind of videos you
would like in the future again my name
is David Lane good luck practicing be
patient enjoy the process
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