The Rule of 5.

This is a nuts and bolts post, but these are critical nuts and bolts. I am sometimes able to practice at school, and when I do, I often be a student practicing in the room next to me. And often, not always, but often, they are either ignoring what needs to be fixed or banging their head against the wall (Proverbially, I think. I’m not always sure).

Here’s why that makes me crazy, when you keep making the same mistake, you are actually learning the mistake. So to play the part correctly, you have to basically unlearn the mistake and relearn the right way. You do twice the work for the same payoff.

I’ve done that more times than I care to count. Here’s my strategy to avoid that, I call it the “Rule of 5”. Basically- if you can play something five times in a row correctly, you know it, and can move on.

By “move on”, I mean that you can either move and practice something else, or if you’re not up to your goal speed, take the material you mastered at one speed a little faster (for me, it’s usually 4-8 clicks on a metronome).

Here’s an example of me using this on a thorny spot of Bach”:

This process can feel slow, but it’s actually a fast way to learn music- that’s one of the paradoxes of any skill building. Try it, and let me know what happens!