The Art of Practice

A strategy for Practicing the harmonica

Are you stranded in a sea of scales or ready to throw your metronome at the wall?

Here's a strategy for thinking about practice in 3 levels.

As musicians, teachers and students, we are always asking the question of how to practice.

This is a complex topic as we all have individual goals, so practice content must be tailored to achieve the smaller objectives that will assist in reaching our goals.

You may be taking an online course with heavily prescribed content or self-learning from YouTube, in which case you’ll essentially be choosing your own content.

Assuming you or your teacher has decided the content of practice, I'd like to suggest a strategy for viewing practice in 3 levels.

Level 1: 

Highly focused, methodical practice with predictable outcomes and limited creativity.

Nasty but necessary practice- a little boring and monotonous but efficient in making progress, especially in the execution of technique.

Examples-   

*Practice of a particular scale to a metronome.

*Perfecting a bend i.e 3 hole full step bend with a chromatic tuner in a series of exercises.

*A new technique such as throat tremolo.

*Transcribing repertoire ‘note for note’ and reproducing.

Level 2:

Slightly less focused and more varied with room for improvisation and creativity with some variety in outcomes- maybe even a little fun.

This practice occupies the ‘half-disciplined’ ground between levels 1 and 3.

Examples-

*Playing set licks or repertoire pieces/songs and employing different techniques for variety and incorporating improvisation.

*Using licks in a structured way- I.e taking a ‘chordwise’ approach to a chord progression by playing certain licks over particular chords - with use of theory or by ear as you wish.

Level 3: 

Less focus and structre with an emphasis on creativity, improvisation and freedom.

This level of practice can be great after a period of intense level 1 practice for some musical relief.

Examples-

*Jamming along to some favourite tracks, experimenting with new ideas and mixing of techniques in a non-structured way.

*Improvising in a non-structured way. Harness emotion and expression.

A few final thoughts..

Remember practice is a long-term skill that requires cultivating. A good teacher will aim to strike a balance based on your goals, personality and learning preferences.

As a student you may wish to assign different levels of practice to certain times of the day or week, or even have a reward system.

e.g 10 mins Level 1 before levels 2 & 3. (Recommended if you don't like level 1 practice).

As you progress and become an experienced learner, you’ll be able to pick and choose from all levels and even incorporate all into a single session to satisfy your aims, objectives and mood- this is the art of practice.

enjoy the journey!

Ed