{"id":9729,"date":"2014-05-13T09:03:28","date_gmt":"2014-05-13T13:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/?p=9729"},"modified":"2014-05-13T09:03:28","modified_gmt":"2014-05-13T13:03:28","slug":"practice-makes-perfect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/practice-makes-perfect\/","title":{"rendered":"Practice makes perfect"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"UkuleleWhenever I’m asked for advice<\/strong> from new ukulele players on how to get better, or what secret they need to know to play better, I tell them it’s simple:<\/p>\n

Practice.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice.<\/p>\n

That’s really all these is to it, whether you believe in the 10,000<\/a> or 20,000-hour<\/a>\u00a0path to accomplishment hypothesis. You gotta practice.<\/p>\n

Only when you have practiced enough will your fingers be loose enough, your callouses build sufficiently, and\u00a0your wrist be flexible enough to play without strain. When you’ve practiced enough you will be able to make chord shapes without having to look them up. You’ll know where to find Bb\u00a0and D# on the fretboard without stopping to count frets.<\/p>\n

Practice. Easy to say, but what with all the distractions – the dog, the TV, the phone calls, the internet, Facebook, the phone again, the neighbour’s kids, the sunny day, the grumbling tummy, the empty coffee cup begging for a refill, the unfinished blog post you’re writing… it’s hard. I find it easiest to go somewhere alone and quiet, and just sit down with some music and work away at it. Close the door and keep the world out for a little while.<\/p>\n

I also find it useful to walk around the house with a ukulele, just noodling, fingering the strings, trying chords, maybe even playing a song or two while upright and walking. Sometimes you come up with something interesting when you start out with unstructured time.<\/p>\n

I also find just walking around while playing something without really focusing on practice is meditative. It helps me think; clears my mind and makes issues clear. And it helps my motor skills.*<\/span><\/p>\n

But practice isn’t just noodling around for an hour or so every day. It takes focus, concentration and effort: you have to pay attention to what you’re doing. However, it also needs to be varied and fun. It shouldn’t be a chore you begrudge putting time into. Set tasks, change songs or try to explore different rhythms and strumming patterns. Pick a song you don’t know and learn it: make it a challenge to yourself.<\/p>\n

As Dr. Christine Harper<\/a> tells us:<\/p>\n

Constant repetition is boring and our boredom is telling us that our brains are not engaged. But instead of listening to this instinctive voice of reason, we blame ourselves for our lack of attention and yell at ourselves to \u201cfocus!\u201d… In a random practice schedule, the performer must keep restarting different tasks. Because beginnings are always the hardest part, it will not feel as comfortable as practicing the same thing over and over again. But this challenge lies at the heart of why random practice schedules are more effective. When we come back to a task after an intervening task, our brain must reconstruct the action plan for what we are about to do. And it is at this moment of reconstruction that our brains are the most active. More mental activity leads to greater long-term learning.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n


\n\"UkuleleI used to practice a lot with other musicians,<\/strong> back when I played guitar. We called it “jamming.” A lot of those sessions were really group practice: we gnawed over a song, perfecting our techniques, timing, chord changes, harmonies, added bass, drums, vocals. Worried it like a dog with a bone.<\/p>\n

However, today I\u00a0tend to practice alone. For me that means playing a song over and over, experimenting with fingering changes, chord changes, strumming changes. The playing another song, over and over. Rinse and repeat. Sometimes drives Susan crazy.<\/p>\n

But that may not be the most appropriate way to learn, if Dr. Harper is correct. I still stand by the “do it again” method – just not necessarily the same way every time. Exercise your brain, not just your fingers, when you practice.<\/p>\n

I find it’s sometimes helpful to play along with music – the radio, CD or some jam\/backing tracks. You can download many backing tracks online, and play along with them. At the very least, it helps you develop a sense of timing, so you anticipate chord changes.<\/p>\n

Musician Ivan Olarte<\/a> provided some down-to-earth\u00a0tips about his own practice methods:<\/p>\n

Within the time allotted, I still break it down into 3 or 4 small time periods where I can cover the following:<\/p>\n