PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT!
True confessions: as many of you know I am happily a life-long student. I get so excited about learning anything new and even appreciate hearing old ideas presented in new ways. As many of you know, I attended the virtual MTNA conference recently. I have to admit that it wasn’t nearly as much fun as being in person, but the material presented was wonderful!
One of the presentations that I enjoyed the most was based on the book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise written by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool. This book addresses the role of Deliberate Practice. Ericsson had originally published a research paper in 1993 that lead to proclamation by Malcom Gladwell in Outliers that it takes 10,000 hours for the concept mastery! This theory has finally been put to rest. Turn off the stopwatch now! It is not just about time you spend in practice, but the way that you practice that will produce the desired effect of learning.
I have been reading this book since conference, and I am enjoying it tremendously. The nicest thing is that the book is not just for musicians, but works equally well for the business world, the medical world, any life aspect that we want to work to be “the best we can be!”
I was fortunate this past week to find two articles that address this idea of deliberate practice. Although it is definitely not definitive in breadth, the ideas briefly presented here are valuable reminders for ALL.
The first article is entitled “What is Practice”
The second article is full of ideas on HOW to practice. In addition to many obvious points I am sure that you are already following, there are many small helpful hints that bear repeating time and again. Eleven practical tips will guide you on ways to improve your practicing at any level.
https://interlude.hk/how-to-practice/
Can’t think of any better time to share this material with you than NOW as we prepare the Spring Recital performance: “The Music of Nature” May 15, 2021
Happy practicing!