David Motto’s Practice Tip of the Week:
Put an End to Making Mistakes

Are You Learning Mistakes Every Day?

Many musicians teach themselves mistakes at every practice session. They’re usually not even aware that these errors are happening.

This habit of learning mistakes is so commonplace because of the way most musicians practice their music. A typical attempt at learning a song looks something like this:

• Start playing at the top.
• Stop when a mistake is made.
• Correct the mistake.
• Move on.

Then, you simply keep up this process until the end of the song is reached.

Sound familiar?

What Your Muscles Learn

Let’s look at these steps from the point of view of your muscles and what they’re learning:

1. Stopping in the middle of a phrase is normal and acceptable.

2. The incorrect note is a normal part of what your muscles should play.

3. A wrong note followed by a right note is the sequence of activities your muscles should follow for this song.

When you see the process laid out so clearly as it affects your muscles, it’s obvious that you must replace this style of practicing immediately!

Stopping and starting just confuses your muscles, and you will never master your music or your instrument if your muscles are confused.

Another (Better) Approach to Learning New Music

Follow these 3 steps and you’ll stop making mistakes:

1. Practice Slowly: Practice slowly enough that you get every note and rhythm accurately placed.

2. Teach Your Muscles Correctly: Give your muscles the correct sequence of actions needed to play your music without stopping – the first time! (This concept is so surprising to some musicians that they can’t imagine doing it!)

3. Slowly Build Speed: Slowly work up to performance tempo with your muscle memory intact.

This approach lets you learn correctly the very first time you go through new music. It undoes the normal process of teaching your muscles mistakes.

The Consequences of Learning Mistakes

If your muscles learn to play mistakes, you face a very painful process of re-learning your music so you can play accurately.

First, you must un-learn the mistake. Then, a new (correct) sequence must be learned by the muscles. While this corrected sequence is being learned, there will be a struggle as the earlier mistake tries to creep into the music.

Here’s why that earlier mistake will stay with you forever: Scientific research shows that when one muscle memory is learned and is then replaced by a subsequent, corrected muscle memory, the first muscle memory is not actually replaced! That wrong sequence is still there in your brain, waiting to be pulled up just like all the other muscle memories you’ve put there.

So, you have to make a pledge: Never learn mistakes. Never teach your muscles incorrect actions.

Not only does re-learning your music disrupt progress with your practicing, the mistakes you’ve learned can totally destroy your upcoming performances. That is a level of frustration you never want to experience – in the practice room or on stage.

Rather than experience this frustration, use your muscle memory to your advantage by playing slowly and correctly. You will learn faster, feel more confident, and enjoy playing more.

Here’s to Your Musical Success!
David Motto