David Motto’s Practice Tip of the Week:
How to Use Short Bursts of Time
Our Busy Lives
Many musicians feel that they won’t accomplish their goals without spending extraordinary amounts of uninterrupted practice time.
But, let’s look at reality for most people:
If you’ll only practice when you have a few hours in a row available, chances are you’ll skip practicing altogether.
This is because most of us are lucky to have 30-60 minutes at a time for our practicing.
So, we must get our practicing done in shorter increments. Maybe that means two or three 30-minute practice sessions a day. Multiple, short practice sessions are a very effective strategy for accomplishing your musical goals.
Very, Very Short Practice Sessions
Let’s take it one step further:
Do you ever find yourself with some time to kill? Maybe just a few minutes? You might be waiting to leave your house. You could be taking a quick break from work. Maybe you’re waiting for a call or a text to come in.
These very short increments of time can be turned into short bursts of practicing. It’s amazing how much you can get done in one 5-minute increment. Really! Embracing the concept that you can accomplish something meaningful and permanent in just a few minutes can totally change your outlook on your musical life. I highly recommend that you give it a shot.
3 Effective Strategies for Micro-Practice Sessions
Here are three suggestions for getting the most out of very, very short bursts of highly focused practicing:
1. Be Specific
Work on something very specific – a short section, one measure, just a couple notes, or even something you’ve been avoiding because it scares you. Like putting a microscope on your music, you’ll filter out the rest of the world and focus only on this one, single item. It’s not so bad to work on it for 1 to 5 minutes. Then, you get to walk away.
2. Be Spontaneous
What if you spent a couple minutes playing whatever you feel like? No planning. No goals. No guilt. Just goof off for 5 minutes and experience the sheer joy of playing music. That joy is likely to be enough to motivate you to do some focused practicing later in the day.
3. See Success
You can spend just a couple of minutes visualizing yourself playing flawlessly. When you do this visualization, focus on one specific part of your music you need to understand a little better. You can make the fix mentally so you’ll be ready to practice it the next time you’re in your practice room actually working through the music.
What a difference a few minutes can make! You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment, and you’ll probably be inspired to play your instrument later in the day.
Science Supports Short, Focused Practicing
Plus, there’s scientific evidence that supports doing very short practice sessions. See why these sessions may be the most effective way you can improve your playing.
Very short, micro-practice sessions are definitely a complement to your other playing. Sneak in 5 minutes of playing your instrument wherever and whenever you can.
And remember: Even when you’re doing longer practice sessions, you’ll want to break them up into short segments so you’re totally focused and feeling fresh for every item on your practice list!
To Your Musical Success!
David Motto
Great post and thanks for writing it. I often suggest to my students, (little ones, tweens, teens), that practicing for shorter amounts of time during the week is better than trying to cram it all in once a week…or not at all. Everyone’s schedule is so busy, including kids and the ones who drive them! I recently started using “practice time sheets” with my young students. They put the number of minutes, (or simply a check mark), in the box under the days of the week they practiced. I’m finding they practice more, even if it’s only for a few minutes a day. They are so proud of days that are marked, which makes them want to practice more!
Short focused work is very helpful for me. I use a little piece of colorful highlighter tape (available at office supply stores) to mark a spot that is problematic. When I’m making dinner and have just a few minutes until the buzzer rings, I go directly to a marked spot to work on (maybe a shift, a little fast passage, a fingering pattern). I can write on this highlighter tape, erase it and once I’ve mastered the segment I can easily peel it off the music without leaving a mark.
I actually follow these suggestions (all of them), and they work beautifully! If I’m at work, I sometimes take mental breaks and “rehearse in my head”, since my instruments are at home. Any practicing I can do, and whenever I can do it, makes me happy and furthers my goals and skill-building.