How to use a random schedule in the practice room Rather than spending long uninterrupted periods of time woodshedding each excerpt or section of a piece, pick a few passages you would like to work on and alternate between them. If you want to spend a total of 30 minutes on a particular excerpt, practice in shorter segments, continually returning to this excerpt until you have achieved your 30-minute goal. Experiment with lengths of time. If you are practicing excerpts that are very short, you may be able to switch between them at a faster pace than would be required for longer sections. You can use a small alarm clock to time specific intervals or switch after each repetition. At its most basic level, random practice might look like this: Length Material to Practice 3 minutes Excerpt A 3 minutes Excerpt B 3 minutes Excerpt C 3 minutes Excerpt A 3 minutes Excerpt B 3 minutes Excerpt C Etc. Practicing passages in different rhythmic variations is a great way of introducing contextual interference on a smaller scale. But instead of doing all rhythmic variations on a single excerpt before moving onto the next, do one variation on excerpt A, one on excerpt B and then return to excerpt A for a second variation etc. Technique can also be interspersed into the random schedule, instead of doing all of it in one long block. An example of a more complicated random practice session might look something like the following: Length Material to Practice 2 minutes Long tone, scale, long tone, scale… 3 minutes Excerpt A (using first rhythmic variation) 2 minutes Third progression, arpeggio, third progression, arpeggio… 3 minutes Excerpt B (using first rhythmic variation) 2 minutes Long tone, scale, long tone, scale… 3 minutes Excerpt A (using second rhythmic variation) 2 minutes Third progression, arpeggio, third progression, arpeggio… 3 minutes Excerpt B (using second rhythmic variation) Etc. The permutations are endless and the exact division of time is not important. What is crucial is that you are keeping your brain engaged by varying the material. More engagement means you will be less bored, more goal-oriented (you have to be if you only have 3 minutes to accomplish something), and substantially more productive. Most importantly, when you return to the practice room the next day, you can start from where you left off. This type of practice sticks.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 10:35:47 +0000
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