Music Practice Tips

The human body contains between 10 and 100 Trillion cells (no exact figure can be found). Each of these cells lives for a short time, doing its job before being replaced by a new one. Our practice sessions are like this, full of cells that fulfil their purpose and are then replaced by a new one. This idea comes from Philip Johnston’s book Practiceopedia.

Imagine that your journey with a piece is a campaign. It might last for several months before it is performed, and during that time there will be hundreds of practice sessions dedicated to that piece. If we look closer, we’ll find that each practice session is made up of dozens of tiny cells. These cells are the things we do during the practice session. Some will be larger (eg. being able to run through the piece without stopping), others will be smaller (figuring out a fingering for that bar). If we ensure that these practice cells are being used to the highest efficiency, and that they’re healthy, then our practice sessions will be healthy and efficient, and then our whole campaign will be successful.

But what makes a cell healthy? Basically, we need to be able to know 3 very important things about the practice cell.

1. What is the exact location of the section you are working on? (This could be one bar, a run of notes, the development or in the case of a full run, the whole piece)
2. What is the specific issue that you’re working on? (Are you trying to get it up to speed, make it more secure, or work out a better fingering?)
3. And finally, what is the practice technique that you are using to address it?

Once those things are addressed, you can start working on that cell, knowing what you need to do. Once that cells job is complete, you are then able to kill that cell and replace it with a new one. It’s important to understand that you shouldn’t kill a cell before its job is complete, nor should you try and keep a cell alive after its job is over.

Becoming cell-aware

If this is new to you, you probably don’t realise that you have been practicing in cells. The problem is that you have been, but you aren’t aware of it. You might not be aware of what you’re practicing, or how you’re practicing it, or what you’re trying to fix. You need to become aware of your practice, so that you can decide what the next cell is going to do, and not let it just come randomly.

First, let’s just focus on becoming aware of these cells. In your next practice session, don’t try anything different, but continuously ask yourself the three questions above. You’ll find either one of two things - first, that you’ve been using cells all the time, and hadn’t realised it, or two, that you hadn’t been using cells, and were actually just playing (which should hopefully open up some ideas as to how to practice better).

Once we’ve found out about our practice cells, it’s time to stop letting them happen, and start being aware of them, engaging with them, and using them to focus on the areas we want to work on.

This is, in a sense, the easy bit, because it’s just a thing of getting into the habit of asking yourself those three questions before you do anything. You figure out what part you’re going to practice, what you’re wanting to fix, and how you’re going to fix it. You’ve then got to be aware of what you’re practicing, not only to make sure that you are actually working on that cell, but also to be aware of when that cell has done its job, so that you can let it die and replace it with a new one.

The New Cell

Once you’ve completed that cell, it’s time to choose a new one. There’s plenty of things that could be worked on in a piece of music, and now that we’re taking control of our practice cells, we’ve got to figure out plans as to how to deal with all these cells.

One path might be to use pressure testing to find out where to go next. For example, if you’re working on bars 42-44, and you’re using the metronome method of getting it up the speed, then one cell might be playing it at 100bpm. The next might be playing it at 105bpm, and then the next cell at 110bpm. You’ll pressure test each cell, and adjust the next one accordingly as to whether you found it harder or easier.

Or you might have a number of things that you want to work on in one section. For this, one cell might be playing all the notes in tune, the next might be playing it with the right articulation, and then with the dynamics, and so on and so forth. By doing this, you will quickly develop a number of themes that you can use to get each cell right, and you could very easily move from cell to cell, knowing what the next cell will be focussing on. Once you’ve done all your themes, you will know that the passage has been practiced very well, and you can move onto the next one.

They say that variety is the spice of life, and you might feel the same way. Perhaps you need to change what you practice on rather drastically. Move from a fast section to a more lyrical one. Move from a passage that jumps all over the place to one more scalic in nature.

You just need to make sure that all these cells are working towards your goals for the session, the day, the week, the month etc. If the thing that you’re working on isn’t a priority for the day, then it might be worth rethinking your cell.

As you practice this method, it will get easier, and your practice will take on a new element - synergy. No longer will your cells be isolated, no longer will your cells be unheard from. Your cells will now work logically and actively towards your goals, and help improve the efficiency of your practice sessions, and overall campaigns towards the pieces.

Do you have any methods to help control your practice cells and ensure that they remain healthy?