The saying “practice makes perfect,” is not entirely true. Of course practicing is important, but there’s so much more to it than just sitting down with an instrument in your hands. One can practice many hours and not still see any substantial improvements. This is when most students become discouraged. Honestly, who wouldn’t be discouraged after putting in effort and not seeing the progress that they had hoped for? There are real reasons why this happens and real ways that it can be avoided!
As a beginning trumpet player, I quickly realized that I was unable to practice for long hours like some other instrumentalists could due to fatigue. In no way am I discrediting other instruments, in truth I am jealous, but I will most likely never be able to play for hours on end like a pianist or a string player. So the question arose, “If others can practice for 4 hours at a time and I can only practice for 1, how do I compete with that?” The answer is actually quite simple, you have to get more done in your 1 hour than they can in 4. In truth, it’s all about efficiency and meaningful practice with a purpose!
With the right tools and planning, anyone can achieve a high degree of improvement in their musicianship. I have been fortunate to work with hundreds of players who have experienced a continuous process of substantial improvement. In talking with them about their practice habits, I found that they all shared these 3 qualities:
1. Be willing to experiment
This is the most important part of fast growth. It is important to note that significant improvement does not come immediately; it is a process that requires patience and tolerance. The only way to make real change to your playing is to actually try new things when you are playing. More than half the time, the result will probably not be the change you were looking for, but this information still gets you one step closer in the right direction!
Every day that you practice you should have one goal in mind that is a fundamental change you want to accomplish. For brass players, this could be usage of the breath. For strings it could be bowing technique, for a vocalist it could posture. Whatever it is, I’m sure your teachers can, has, and will tell you what you should focus on. This should always be in the front of your mind when you practice.
The experimental part of this is being able to devote your practicing to make a change. This means that you may have to temporarily go one step backwards to go 100 steps forward. This sounds counterproductive at first, but needed in order to explore a new technique. If you replace a bad technique with a new, better one, you won’t have the longevity of experience with this new technique that you just discovered. It takes time, but allowing yourself to make these adjustments will help you achieve much greater things down the road!
2. Invest the time and energy to REINFORCE what works
The first half of this refers to just actually putting time into practice, but I mean much more than that when I say invest the energy to reinforce what works.
Playing an instrument becomes a habit. Just like driving a car, after a while you don’t have to think so consciously about how to play the instrument. This is a good thing of course, but it is the main difficulty in improvement. When you make a change to your playing you are breaking out of what has become muscle memory and replacing it with a new one. We as musicians have to make a conscious effort to only reinforce the new habit. The energy that I refer to is mental energy and focus during practice.
If you're seeking to instill a new habit or technique, and half the time you’re successful in using the new technique and half the time your revert back to your old habit, sorry to tell you, but you’ve made no strides toward improvement. Let’s say now that instead of 50-50 you get it to 90-10. This will happen over a longer time, but even with 90 percent success 10 percent time you failed to improve. The problem with improving the percent is that you are still reinforcing the bad habit you want to break!
It takes practice, but if you really want to achieve your highest musical aspirations, it’s paramount to structure your practice in a way that you are always 100 percent successful in using the new technique. This means practicing simpler things so you can focus your energy on being successful. Maybe it means playing slowly for a week. Maybe it's narrowing your range for a week. Even though it may seem tedious at times, with this method the old habit has no reinforcement and can be replaced completely by the new better fundamental technique.
3. To improve your playing, you have to love music
This needs no explanation. However, I will say that listening to the best musicians and the best music is one of the easiest ways to learn and improve. Practice doesn’t always have to be with an instrument in hand. Listen to more music, new kinds of music, and listen with an attentive ear! Most importantly, remember that being a musician is a continual process of growth and improvement. You’ll most likely never wake up one day and think “Well, I’m as good as they come!” This truth can in some ways seem daunting, but in truth this opportunity to always continue learning and growing is part of what makes being a musician so special.
Give it your best shot, practice patience, and always remember to have fun!
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