Here’s what strategized practice looks like
Question:
Do you feel like you don’t have enough time to get your practice in?
(Or, that you’re not maximizing the precious time you have?)
I want to share a practice tool I’ve made for you that will help you maximize your results.
For us adult learners, I believe that figuring out how to maximize our results while practicing is the number one factor in determining our trajectories as players.
Whatever your goals are, seeing huge returns on your investment of time and effort will make the journey all the more exciting and meaningful.
So let’s talk about my practice journal because I designed it to be used in a very specific way.
The design is actually inspired from my own experience of keeping a practice journal for years.
I’ve experimented with tons of different methods on my own, all with the hope of giving myself that extra edge, and while there have been times it really helped me, there were also times that I think my method of journaling was actually counterproductive.
For example, at one point I was simply marking down the amount of time I was practicing every day, and as a result I believe my mindset became more and more about quantity of practice rather than quality; it felt like I was punching in my clock card to go work a shift in the mines.
Trust me, don’t do it that way!
I designed this journal to help you work towards weekly goals but to still have flexibility regarding your daily practice sessions.
In my experience, this is critical!
Another mistake I made in the past was scheduling my whole learning process out down to the minute and as a result I often felt rushed in my learning process and the final results suffered.
As an example, a while ago I was learning a fast show piece, At the Fountain by Carl Davidov, and I said, “Okay, I want to eventually play this at 150 bpm. So I’ll learn the notes for 3 days, and then I’ll start playing the first page at 60 bpm, super slow, then just bump up 5-10 bpm every day.”
As a result of this pre-planned schedule, I ended up allowing some sloppiness to creep in as I continually cranked up the metronome according to schedule and by the time I was supposedly playing it at 135bpm, it was already too messy and chaotic to be acceptable, let alone to continue increasing the tempo.
What I needed was to retain my final goal of playing it at 150 bpm, but to allow for day-to-day flexibility so that I gave myself the chance to really nail each step of the learning process.
You want to feel like you OWN each step of the learning process before you move on!
So let’s take a look at the journal.
On the sheet you have eight boxes that represent the seven days of the week and a bonus box at the beginning for weekly goals.
Let’s start there.
Step One
In the goals of the week box you are going to first decide on the tasks you will be working on for the week.
These can be certain scales, etudes, assigned pieces, orchestra parts, or more general aspects like vibrato or string crossings.
Next to the task you can put a ballpark amount of minutes you plan to devote every day.
For example, let’s say you’re going to spend 10 minutes a day on a scale, 15 minutes a day working on learning a new short etude that explores shifting, 15 minutes a day on a performance piece you’ve already started, and 5 minutes a day on some bow hand flexibility exercises.
Step Two
Now, in the lines below each task you want to write down a specific goal for each one.
For a scale routine you might put down something like “4 notes per bow very legato”, or for the etude the goal might be “play with separate bows in tune and at tempo”.
The point is to think of something concrete you can work towards so that you avoid simply “practicing” each piece.
If you plan on playing that shifting etude at tempo 6-7 days from now, you will need to form a plan, and an efficient one, if you’re going to get there!
In terms of goal setting, I like to tend towards being unrealistic in my expectations, so maybe try imagining what you think would be reasonable and then make your goal two steps further.
It’s a good way to see if you tend to underestimate yourself.
However, if you tend to be hard on yourself and a bit of a perfectionist, maybe try setting reasonable goals that will motivate you because you are able to reach them.
It all depends on what get’s you goin’.
So now we’ve blocked out our goals for the week and a rough daily breakdown of how much time we’re going to practice each task (and therefore how much total time we’ll spend practicing each day).
Step Three
Next, you will ideally fill out each day of the week right before practicing.
You’ll think about each task and where you are in the learning process, and then you will write down what phase of the process you’re gonna work on (pizzicato, one note per bow, etc).
If it’s more than one practice method per task, you can also plan out how much time you plan to spend on each mini-task.
So before you even sit down to practice you will have mapped out what you’re going to work on and for how long.
As an example, for the shifting etude you might see if you can pizzicato - at a slow, even tempo- through the etude by the end Monday’s practice.
If that works out, then you can move forward on Tuesday.
If not, then you will repeat that step of the process each day until it feels totally ingrained.
Step Four
Here is where the flexibility I mentioned comes into play.
You want to plan your day’s work based on where you left off the previous day.
If the “pizzicato” phase is taking longer than expected to feel comfortable, give it time!
It’s kind of a delicate balance between charging towards a goal and being honest with yourself about how solid each step truly is before proceeding to the next.
Talking about this reminds me of Billy Crystal’s character in Princess Bride.
He says, “Don’t rush me sonny. You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.”
Last but not least, maybe the greatest feature of the whole practice journal, are the boxes to check off once you’ve finished your task and your day’s practice.
I’m a list maker, box checker kind of guy, and I get great satisfaction out of finishing a task and marking it off!
I really hope you decide to try this journal; it’s a great way to take your practicing to the next level and if you stick with it, at the end of the year you will also have a comprehensive record of all the work and progress you’ve made.
I’ve made it into a printable pdf that you can download:
Regardless of what you want out of your cello journey, learning how to practice is essentially an art form in itself and through experimentation you can learn more about who you are and how you learn, what makes you bored and what helps you thrive.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at billy@adultcello.com.
Happy practicing!
