There’s no way around it, if you want to learn an instrument properly, so well you can rip the sax without thinking or pour your soul into the piano keys effortlessly…you need to repeat the same phrase 1,000,000 times. Or maybe like 3 times, with focused attention.
Think of a piece or song you’re working on right now. Imagine that it’s a relatively flat pancake with some craters, some being bigger than others. Someone has to fill in these craters, who’s it gonna be? No one else but you.
You can say you’ve learnt the song, but we both it’s not 100%. Bar 34-35 still has that technical work problem, or the lead into the main melody isn’t as confident as it could be.
The Key: Focused Repetition of Just That Part
It’s really that simple. If you’re still playing it wrong, you then need to adjust these variables:
- Speed
- Rhythm
- Playing
Let me break it down:
If you have troubles repeating a little section because it’s difficult, you first need to SLOW DOWN. This resolves 99% of your issues. Your practice session will be over FASTER, the SLOWER you take the MISTAKES THAT REALLY MATTER. Think about that, practicing isn’t meant to be fun. Playing and performing is fun. So reduce your window of practice by only focusing on the craters of the pancake, but really do it. Go Slow.
Still difficult? Take out rhythm. But never take out notes and articulation. Playing the right notes is training for your fingers, and is ingrained in your muscle memory. You don’t want to play with this. Articulation is training for your tongue (for woodwinds) and also for your fingers (for piano)! Always keep your notes and articulation perfect, from the beginning. If you train it wrong, you’ll have wrong muscle memory, and thus a wrong foundation for your playing.
Taking out rhythm allows you isolate your notes and articulation. Once you get that going good, rhythm is a breeze.
And if you’re still having difficulty on the sax, isolate only your fingers. Don’t play at all. Just finger the keys. Bring it down to the most essential element.
If you’re not ready to repeat and repeat and repeat in your practice, with focused attention, then you’re not ready to master an instrument. Ask yourself: Do you want to know a song or two at half to 75% accuracy and call it a day? Or do you want to properly learn your instrument, so you produce an undebatably beautiful piece of music. What’s the point of playing an instrument if the output isn’t perfect? If it doesn’t move others?
Strap yourself and get repeating for only the mistakes that matter!
