Maximising Practice for Accurate Performance
Student Activities for Eliminating Errors
This page is devoted to a series of activities intended to eliminate errors in performance. Students were exposed to ideas on maximising practice time and the difference between momentary mastery and habit strength. One of the activities was delivered in the form of a running dictation, extracting information by using all four standard language skills (as well as meta-skills) with subsequent discussions taking place and reflection. All of that information is present here.
Photo by Austrian National Library on Unsplash
Warm-Up Task
- What are your thoughts about this information?
- How much truth do you think there is to these statements?
- How do you think that you can fix these mistakes "once and for all"?
- What do you see as the fundamental difference between mistakes that you have control over and mistakes that you do not?
- What do you think is a "correct" mistake?
Teacher only boxThe teacher is to read the following thoughts, which have come from a professional guitarist, but could well apply to ANY musician:
After seemingly mastering a piece, guitarists often tell me they still make mistakes. They found solutions to play the really difficult spots in the song so they could deal with those. But they say, "I play through the piece beginning to end and make random mistakes." Or, one of my students will play through a piece for me, make an error and exclaim, "Ugh, I've never made that mistake before." But the truth of the matter is that they did make that mistake before, forgot about it or ignored it, didn't fix it, and now are making it again.
Even after a guitarist has spent months on a piece and is playing the music better than ever, the problems they ignored and did not fix will continue to pop up. "Accidental" or "random" mistakes can be hard to notice because when you play through a piece from beginning to end without stopping, you are "in the zone," focusing on what is coming next, not on what you just played. Or, you are focused on the big, known problems.
By the time you get to the end of the piece, you might remember making some "random" errors, but you can't remember precisely what they were or where they occurred. If you don't remember them, you can't fix them. Therefore they will appear again, seemingly as "random" errors. They may not appear every time you play the piece, but you can count on them returning like a politician seeking campaign donations. But there is a way to fix the mistakes once and for all.
Extracted from https://douglasniedt.com/putting-out-fires.html
PUTTING OUT FIRES
How to get rid of "random" mistakes
in the final stages of mastering a song
By Douglas Niedt
Copyright Douglas Niedt. All Rights Reserved.
This article may be reprinted, but please be considerate and give credit to Douglas Niedt.
Give students time to read the following ARTICLE:
https://williamjamespercussion.com/2015/06/08/how-to-make-the-correct-mistake/
Main Task:
20 minutes
Equipment:
1. handouts (see below) printed out and placed in two places in a large space (you may wish to go to the gym for this task OR a large room where you are not going to disturb others)
2. blank piece of paper for student note-taking, pen/pencil
Instructions:
- Students are to work in pairs (one group of 3 can work also if you have an odd number; will just need to divide up the information to accommodate this)
- Set this up as a competition with the fastest and most accurate pair as winners (you may wish to have some prizes standing by)
- Pairs labelled themselves as STUDENT A and STUDENT B (student C as well for the group of three)
- Place the handouts (2 sets of A and B) as far away from viewing eyes as possible (I like to have this OUT of the classroom altogether); the TWO sets of this are to alleviate traffic and potential accidents
- When the music begins, STUDENT A is to run to the information labelled as such (STUDENT A), and attempt to remember as much of it as possible. Then run back to their partner (Student B) and deliver the information to them as quickly and as accurately as possible who writes it down (in the case of the group of 3 Student B and Student C both need to write this down)
- Student A can return as many times as he or she wishes until ALL the information on the sheet has been communicated to their partner. Once this step has been completed STUDENT B will need to do the running and STUDENT A will take the role of scribe (in the group of 3, STUDENT A need only complete around two-thirds of the information on the STUDENT A sheet before swapping over, such that all three of the students have the opportunity of seeing the information and communicating it to their partners)
- The first group to complete the task (all the information on BOTH handouts done reasonably accurately) is the winner; others achieve success if they have completed the task BEFORE the end of the second playing
The information contained in the handouts does NOT need to be written down WORD for WORD. As long as the essence of the information is there, this is acceptable for this task (see below for the PDF).
Teacher only box Teacher only boxAs a post-task, ask the students to stand and without giving them reference to their notes, determine whether it is possible that collectively they can remember all the points contained on BOTH pieces of paper (STUDENT A and STUDENT B). It is ordinarily remarkable how much of the information they can retain.
This should lead to a further discussion of the materials and a sharing of their practice techniques and strategies.
Final Task
10 minutes
Here are some final questions that you may wish to pose to your students after this activity:
- What are THREE questions that you still have about practice / fixing mistakes?
- What’s the difference between HABIT strength and MOMENTARY mastery?
- What is the point of making a VIDEO about yourself as an initial step?
- What is your understanding of the difference between a CORRECT mistake as opposed to a RANDOM one?
- What was memorable for you today with the activities and discussions? What message did you receive from the experiences?
Here are a range of student responses to the questions posed above:
Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash
1. What are THREE questions that you still have about practice / fixing mistakes?
- Is this proven to be true?
- What are some strategies to overcome mental blocks when recording myself?
- How can I ensure that this technique can lead to long-term improvement rather than just fixing immediate errors?
- Is it normal to cramp up after practice?
- Is it possible to do this when one only has a minimum amount of time?
- Should we film every time we rehearse or only the first initial practice?
- What should we do to improve our annotations if the piece we are performing does not have any tabs (or a score) and we rehearse mostly by ear or videos?
- Do I have to follow my teacher’s suggested fingerings when playing the piano? Isn't it a personal thing?
- Is there a way to develop habit strength and momentary mastery simultaneously?
- When should you use videos and when should you use recordings to improve?
- What other ways can we identify mistakes in practice?
2. What’s the difference between HABIT strength and MOMENTARY mastery?
- "Habit Strength" is the ability to consistently play a passage well on the first try, day after day, indicating true mastery and stored in long-term memory. In contrast, "Momentary Mastery" refers to temporary proficiency achieved through repeated attempts or practice sessions, stored in short-term memory and not necessarily retained for future performances. Habit Strength represents reliable mastery, while Momentary Mastery is fleeting.
- Habit strength refers to the level of automation and ingrained nature of a particular skill or passage in your playing. Momentary mastery, on the other hand, refers to the temporary ability to execute a passage or piece correctly and fluently in a specific instance. It may not necessarily reflect a deep understanding or long-lasting proficiency because it’s related to short-term memory.
- Habit Strength is the level of automaticity and muscle memory associated with playing the piece. This means the long-term consistency of habit over time. On the other hand, momentary mastery is the ability to perform a task or skill at a good level for a specific time, immediate execution. But, this may be on a good day, and the day after you will not be able to play it with the same mastery.
3. What is the point of making a VIDEO about yourself as an initial step?
Making a video of yourself playing the piece is the first step in "Putting Out Fires." By reviewing and analyzing the recording, you can identify mistakes and areas needing improvement. The video provides objective feedback, helps pinpoint overlooked errors, and serves as a self-evaluation tool.
Making a video of myself playing can be a valuable tool for self-assessment and improvement. By watching yourself play, you can objectively observe your technique, posture, and overall performance and this thus can help me improve myself. Additionally, recording videos can serve as a progress tracker over time, allowing you to see your growth and development as a musician.
4. What is your understanding of the difference between a CORRECT mistake as opposed to a RANDOM one?
- "Correct mistake" is an identifiable error which happened even though the right priorities were made. In contrast, a "random mistake" is an unpredictable error often resulting from overlooking smaller issues during practice. The process of "Putting Out Fires" aims to eliminate random mistakes by systematically identifying and addressing them through video analysis and deliberate practice.
- A correct mistake refers to an error that occurs when attempting to execute a specific musical element or technique correctly but still falls short of the desired result. It indicates a gap between the intended outcome and the actual execution, highlighting the need for further practice and refinement.
- A random mistake, on the other hand, is an error that occurs unexpectedly or without any clear pattern. It may be a result of a lack of concentration, unfamiliarity with the material, or other factors. Random mistakes are typically inconsistent and not directly related to specific technical or musical challenges. This also may be affected by external factors
Teacher only boxYou should not be too concerned if these definitions do not align with the readings. It is important, rather, for students to recognise different types of errors and how much control we have over them.
5. What was memorable for you today with the activities and discussions? What message did you receive from the experiences?
Due to the adrenaline rush, I was able to work with a higher work rate and flow better in the state of focus. Also, because of the distractions (loud metal music and teacher's random conversations), it was harder to focus but because I was moving at a high speed and reading everything fluently, it was easier to lock in and work at a more consistent and solid rate.
Running out of breath was memorable. I get the message that you should be more metacognitive in your practice.
Today's activities and discussions were focused on the importance of mindful practice and self-consciousness. I feel like I should be more focused on myself and be less dependent on my music teacher.
Focused practice takes multiple tries to reduce the likelihood of error, but the technique of adopting an approach such as using a method like “putting out the fires”, may be slow, but it is likely effective.
The memorable part was the distractions during our activity because it was fun. This approach to practising is also unique, and although it sounds extremely tedious, it did shine a light on the "random mistakes" that I always make during performances.
Today's discussions highlighted the importance of adaptability in problem-solving. The message I received is the significance of flexibility and open-mindedness in overcoming challenges.
As a follow-up task, ask the students to read the full article (see HERE) and address the following questions:
- Will you adopt this system? Why/Why Not?
- Do you have alternative strategies for fixing mistakes?
- Proper practice requires FOCUS, TIME and CONSISTENCY. Is this something that you have considered in the process? How can you make this work?