The Importance of Slow, Deliberate Practice
Practicing With Intention
If you’ve ever felt like no matter how much or how hard you practice, you still don’t see the results you want, then you are not alone. Many beginning and even long term musicians have struggled with this at some point in their journey.
The expectation that, if I show up consistently, and put in the work, then I should see results, makes total sense.
So the question becomes, why am I not improving no matter what I practice?
If you can relate to this problem then this article is for you. The problem likely isn’t your discipline, or even musical ability. The problem may be your pace of practice.
Practicing on Autopilot
If you’ve ever faced this problem you may have noticed practicing begins to feel like a chore.
Once that starts to happen, you start to rush through the work. Instead of paying attention to what you’re actually doing, the goal becomes getting through it.
Each drill and exercise are something you “survive”. You mentally check out, go on autopilot, and disconnect from the process just to make the discomfort go away.
The problem is that, you put in the labor and spent the time, but you didn’t intentionally engage with the process.
This leads to disconnection from the physical process, and eventually forms and reinforces bad habits.
You didn’t get 10 reps of the drill, you put 10 reps into the bad habit.
That’s what makes this cycle so frustrating. You may not even realize the habit is forming until it starts to get in the way of your playing
Then you’re left wondering:
“Why am I stuck? Why can’t I get it right?”
The Simple Solution
The answer is remarkably simple, slow down and practice with intention.
This allows you to focus on each step of the process, and because you are often training the body and brain to work in new ways, is incredibly effective.
Two things make this approach effective:
Play at the speed your brain can keep up with.
Limit how many moving pieces you are working through at once.
If you can’t mentally keep up with what your body is doing, and why, then you are moving too fast. It takes a different kind of discipline to sit with something and find that pace that your brain is comfortable with.
But over time muscle memory takes over, the point of going slow is that the muscle memory you build is based on correct technique and good habits.
If you try to improve every element of a drill at once your brain gets overwhelmed and starts to check out. Even the simplest drills on the instrument require the coordination of multiple skills to execute.
Allow your self to practice a drill and only focus on, or evaluate, one of those skills at a time. Every other element is “allowed” to make mistakes, while you reinforce the prioritized skill. This creates an “on ramp” approach to getting multiple skills to feel balanced as you play.
Why Does Slowing Down Feel Like I’m Falling Behind?
If slowing down feels like falling behind remember that may be a response to pressures you’ve internalized. We’re often taught to value outcomes more than the process. Progress is measured by how fast we finish something, how much we can accomplish, or how quickly we move on to the next challenge.
Music doesn’t work that way.
Learning an instrument requires your brain and body to coordinate multiple skills at the same time. That takes attention, repetition, and patience. Things you can’t force to happen faster.
Setting good practice routines based on intention and attention to detail won’t let you treat learning like a sprint. Treating practice like a race is one of the things that causes practice to become a chore in the first place. Nobody wants to grind day after day with little to no results.
In truth speed does matter in music, but it is a result of accuracy. If you prioritize correct technique and intentional practice now, you’ll spend far less time trying to correct mistakes and bad habits.
What This Looks Like in Practice
The skill and discipline of using slow intentional practice is useful at any stage of learning. It becomes transformative when used to identify and correct mistakes. The Groove Lab Practice Cycle offers a step by step approach to optimizing your practice efforts.
The next time you sit down to practice pick a small concept to work on, practice it slowly, and narrate every note you play or action you take. If you can’t narrate your practice you are still going too fast. Record your practice so you can honestly review your execution.
If this sounds like something you are struggling with bring it up in your next lesson and I can help you slow things down.