Variation Makes Perfect

Generally, traditional music practice has been focused on repeating the same phrase or musical exercise over and over in the same way in order to “get it right.” However, neurological studies show that the brain learns best when it can experience something from different angles. Try practicing the same phrase using variation instead of repetition. You can do this in hundreds of ways. Here are few to get you started. Singers can do this too.

Variations in Tempo:
Play the phrase fast, then slow
Play it starting slow, accelerate in the middle, and get slow again at the end
Play it faster, then slower in the middle, faster at the end again.

Variations in articulation:
Play it legato
Play it staccato
Start staccato, then slowly change to legato and back to staccato
Play with overly precise articulation, then sloppy

Variations in pulse:
You can use this especially to learn fast pieces. By changing how you count or group the notes, you can change your experience of the tempo so it stops feeling fast:
Play many beats to the bar, in small groups of 2 or 3 notes
Play less beats to the bar, in longer lines of 6 or 8 notes
Play it in longer line of half or whole bar.
Play it in lines that cross the bars when possible, using the least “beats.”

Variations in dynamic and tone:
Play it soft, play it loud
Go from soft to loud to soft in one phrase then do the opposite
Play it mf, p, or f for three different reasons or with three different sounds.

Variations in affect:
Play it happy
Play it sad
Play it springy
Play it monotone
Play it angry
Play it silly

There are many ways to vary your practice and direct your attention mentioned in the Flashcards section. Read the whole Motor-neurology MENU for Expanding your Practice in the Reading section.

Thanks to Dr. Ben van Cranenburgh, neurologist, for this tip.