Hi PianoGroove family!
This week I’d like to share my thoughts on practice routine, that has shown to work for most people, including me, as well as punch of people in other fields in arts and science as well.
One common thing I have noticed with people who are good in learning new things (whether they were musicians, scientists, athletes or other experts in their own field), is that whatever they want to learn, they have a structured routine that they repeat every day, or at least 5-6 times a week.
This doesn’t mean that you would practice hours and hours every day; the important thing is to use little bit of time per subject, and keep it consistent on a daily basis.
I have a friend who is an amazing jazz drummer, being in the NYC scene for decades. Meanwhile being a working drummer, playing several gigs a week, he has learned many different other subjects from different instruments (bass, piano, zither) to chess, carpentry, even brewing his own beer! And he has become pretty good at whatever he decides to do! The key to his learning has been using ONLY 10-20minutes a day per one subject, but doing it every day.
I’m not an expert in educational/learning psychology, but I have my own theory that this way of learning works because returning to the subject every day keeps your mind actively thinking and working on the topic you want to learn. If you practice a lot (hours) but only couple of times a week, the material is only going to stay in your working memory, and be mostly forgotten before you return to the subject. We need to be working on and thinking of the subject often to be able to move the new material to the long term memory, where it actually becomes a part of our “musical DNA”.
I have used this way of learning (almost) my whole life, and for me it works like a charm! I still use it for learning things I’m interested in, and I clearly see the results.
Everyone can (and should) of course find their own way to do this, as long as you remember to keep it as a part of your daily life. However, I want to share an example of the practice routine, that closely resembles my routine from my practice days.
Here goes:
First, set a time that you realistically can practice every (or almost) every day.
Let’s say we have a 1 hour practice time. The I would divide it in 15 minute segments. this way we get 4 different slots for different things to practice. If you have most topics you want to work on, and only one hour, you can divide the hour for example in 10 minute segment, that way you get 6 slots!
Here are 4 different topics you could start with:
Now, here an example of how to fill these slots:
Technique
Scales, Hanon, any melodies/lines you want to work on at the moment.
Harmony/Improv
Different keys, 25-exercises, tritone subs, important cadences, anything you need to work on depending your level
Practicing Songs
Learning tunes, however you want to; for example learning arrangements or making your own
Voicings
3-note voicings, drop 2, Barry Harris, left hand voicings, 4th voicings etc.,
Starting the routine is the most difficult part; what to practice and how? I suggest to just start with one thing per topic, and let the routine shape it over the next days/weeks. The funny thing is that when we repeat the routine for a while, your practicing starts to find a way by itself!
Lastly, one important detail is to NOT do more than 15minutes at once! Once the time is done, you move to another topic, and once the hour (or however long your routine is) is done, you don’t return to practicing until next day, or if you have more time later that day, you can do the routine again. Important thing is not to get stuck to a subject for longer than 15minutes a time. This keeps you mind “hungry” for the topic, and it’s easier to return to it later.
This is it pretty much, I’d love to hear you thoughts and questions! Also would love to hear your comments after doing the routine for a while!
All the best,
Tuomo