How to Slow Down Your Practice For Big Improvements

By -
I know that when I'm practicing and making mistakes I need to slow down. This is true for music, and it's true for aikido, so for how many other things must it also be true!

But we all know it's not that easy. How much should we slow down? How long should we slow down? When we speed up again, how fast should we go?

Here's a really helpful breakdown related to practicing piano, adapted from instructions from my teacher, the awesomely talented David Leonhardt. I apply the same general principles to my aikido practice.

  1. When you detect a mistake you want to fix, get out your metronome. (You're using it already? Great!)
  2. Break down the problem section into small pieces - a couple of bars, a series of 3-4 chord changes.
  3. Set the metronome at a speed that you think you can play the section comfortably. Comfortably means not frantic, able to think ahead, with good posture and hand position.
  4. If you're still having trouble, you can either slow it down some more, or break it down some more: maybe just one chord change is giving you trouble. Maybe you should focus on one hand.
  5. Play that small section until you're starting to feel relaxed about it. Again: relaxed should mean you don't feel frantic, you're able to be aware of what's coming, and your posture is good - in my case, that means my shoulders aren't creeping up around my ears!
  6. Then start to add things back, one at a time: for example, add back the second hand, or go back to the two-measure phrase. Don't add a new element 'til you're comfortable with the last. Stay focused!
  7. When all is good here, try increasing the tempo. Chances are there will still be things wrong, but many fewer things. Focus in on them. Clear them up in the same way. 
  8. If you have time, focus and energy, try another tempo increase.
A few things to keep in mind:
  1. The hardest part, for me, is admitting that there's a problem. How often do I just flounder on, unwilling to "notice" that I always hesitate, fumble or tense up in the same place? Maybe I just don't want to take the time to fix it, but it's the only way to get better!
  2. Most of us can't stay focused for more than 20 minutes or so at one stretch. If you find you're losing your ability to pay attention, switch to working on something else.
  3. When you're zoomed in on details, it's easy to be disheartened because you're taking such baby steps. Keep reminding yourself that everything you are learning will apply in a hundred other places.
  4. When you come back tomorrow to do the same thing, you'll find you can't play as well as you did at the end of your previous practice session. Practicing is like dying cloth a dark color: you have to put the cloth in the dye bath, and then rinse some of the color out; then put the cloth in a new dye bath, and rinse it out again. That's the best way to get a deep, rich color that won't fade.
I hope this works for you as well as it works for me!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Make a "Rush" Woven Seat Chair Using Old Jeans (or Fabric Scraps)

By -
Image
I used the technique for weaving a rush chair seat to make a chair seat using old jeans. The antique ladderback chair is just the right height for me to practice my Québécois button accordion. Fabric Choice Although at first I considered using t-shirt strips (also called tarn), I decided to jeans because denim is stronger and not stretchy. I had some old heavy linen fabric that would have done the trick, too, but I didn't have enough for the whole chair with either linen or jeans. I decided not to mix them, at least not for my first chair. I was advised, (correctly!) by other crafters, that all I had to do was out the word out, and I’d get donations. I sent out 4 emails and literally went shopping and there were two pairs of jeans on my doorstep. I had five more pairs by the weekend. (Now I need another chair!) Some Pointers Before I describe the process, here are some pointers. I don't recommend doing this with a stretchy fabric. Therefore, if you use jeans, avo...
Read more

Keep One Point

By -
Image
I've been slowly but surely writing of a series posts devoted to each of the  four basic principles of Kokikai Aikido . One of these is Keep One Point to Develop Calmness. We spend about 90 minutes in each aikido class, and most students practice once or twice a week - only a small proportion of the of hours we are awake each week. It may be plenty of time to spend doing a demanding physical exercise, but we need to spend more time working on the underlying principles for them to become second nature in our bodies. Fortunately, all of the basic principles are easily practiced at any time, not just in class. We can easily practice finding and keeping One Point while off the mat, and test the results when we're back on the mat. What Is One Point? One Point is a concept closely related to your center of balance. Centuries ago martial artists discovered that if the mind is focused on keeping this point low, one becomes stronger and harder to move. In Kokikai, we first...
Read more

What is Ki?

By -
Image
The concept of Ki , or lifeforce, exists in many cultures. In Chinese it's Chi or Qi , in Sanskrit,  Prana . In western culture, while we may say someone has a soul that is distinct from their physical body, the soul is connected to the individual.  Ki, as it is understood in Japanese culture, is a universal force that permeates everything. Individuals may manifest more or less ki, but it is a connecting force between everyone and everything. In Japan, ki is an everyday concept that's found in many common phrases . For example the phrase "O  ki o tsuke te," which means "take care," literally means, "apply ki ."   "O genki desu?" the most common way to say "How are you?" means, literally, "Do you have ki ?"   "Ii k imochi," a phrase heard often, particularly in popular songs, means "(What a) good feeling." "Ii" means "good" and "kimochi" literally means having, o...
Read more