PRACTICE MYTH #2
PRACTICE MEANS REPETITION
Photo by Divyadarshi Acharya
We generally believe that boredom and mechanical work are necessary parts of proficiently practicing piano. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
What is true however is that if you hear someone practicing the piano for hours every day (a family member or a neighbour) you will possibly hear the same piece repeated a thousand times. You’ll probably not understand how any pleasure can be derived from the constant repetitions, wondering what kind of beauty the player is after, and you’ll barely notice any improvement since the last time you heard it.
What you won’t hear is the activity they are engaged in. Here’s what happens (or should happen) when we practice:
we search for weak spots, by means of repetition;
we search for the reason why it doesn’t sound right, through repetition;
we try to play it in different ways searching for one that will make it doable first, then acceptable, decent, listenable, to the point that will become nice sounding and finally beautiful;
we search for other spots where that strategy might work as well and try it out;
we play the piece again and see if anything got better;
if there are no weak spots, mistake or apparent issue left we then search for a way to make it sound more true, meaningful, interesting, personal, moving, beautiful.
In other words, the piece will be repeated a thousand times, but not twice in the same way. Practicing needs repetition, but repetition only is not enough. Unless you try something different each time there will be no chance for improvement. Blind repetition is easy but does not accomplish much: searching is hard and requires commitment, an inquisitive mind, curiosity, taste. Good practice is guided by searching.
While we practice we do engage in a certain degree of repetition that aims at training arms, hands and fingers to perform a complex set of movements by heart, ‘mechanically’ (or without conscious control, sometimes referred to as muscle memory): even this type of repetition, which certainly have some utility, is not just blind repetition but a search for the effortless control that allows us to enjoy the music we produce. A concert performer knows that in order to play flawlessly he needs to encode one by one all the moves required by the music into his arms, hands and fingers, to the smallest detail and aiming at the highest possible level of accuracy. Certain passages require a technique built as the result of years of slow patient training, certain artists at the top of their skills might still spend hours in order to flawlessly perform one difficult passage, and certain pieces requires a technique that is just not achievable without that type of training.
That is why many teachers stress the importance of repetition especially in classically oriented academia: the way to avoid mistakes in a concert is to leave it all to an unconscious trained body. Repeat it again, again and again. That might account for one of the ingredients necessary to mastery, but not all. Certainly, it accounts for why many passionate individuals grow boredom and give up practicing: who can blame them if the search for beauty is replaced by mechanical repetitive gymnastics?
I recently realized that when I’m practicing something new, usually the first 45 minutes to an hour are spent figuring out an effective way to actually practice it. I am de facto investing that amount of time searching for a way that is specific to the music, my level of familiarity with it and the general skill that I need to learn in order to play it well. The initial part of my practice becomes a stream of attempts at practicing, each going basically wrong, showing that no effective improvement is happening: until I modify the strategy to the exact point needed for real improvement. I’ll repeat the concept: effective practice often means a stream of attempts going nowhere.
My final suggestion therefore is: instead of practice, search!
Search for a way of making it a bit better than yesterday
search for why it is more difficult than you thought
search for an alternative way of doing it that might show you the problem
and if it seems you have tried it all but nothing works, leave it on the side for the moment and move on to something else. By means of repetition itself you will not make any improvement, except perhaps in your level of frustration.
Alberto L. Ferro
I teach at the London Contemporary School of Piano, open to all students in UK and abroad. For inquiries contact me or the school directly.
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