Slow Practice Member Challenge
For our November 2023 Member Challenge we will be focusing on slow practice. Slow practice is a practice technique that has several different uses and thus can benefit your playing in a number of ways. Each week of the month of November we’ll be using slow practice in a different way. Here’s how it works:
Method
You will choose a piece that you know well or you have already been working on for a time. Even if it’s Twinkle, Twinkle, that’s still a great start. It is best, however, not to select something that is new to you. Obviously you want a piece that needs work, not something completely polished.
Week 1:
In week 1 we will identify problems and how to fix them.
- First, record a baseline video of your piece (or a portion of it) at a tempo you’re comfortable with, but still close to your desired performance tempo.
- Then watch your recording back and mark in a fresh score places that you think could benefit from slow practice.
- Next, post your video with notes about what you think would most benefit from slow practice in the Member Challenge #24 Forum. The point here is to identify problems that we’ll work to address next week.
- Finally, comment on others’ videos in the Member Challenge Forum. Be constructive and kind as you do so, but the point here is to engage your critical thinking about what most needs work — sometimes it’s easier to see what needs work in your own playing by looking at others first. And be open to receiving feedback/criticism from others. It’s only meant to help you identify the things that need work so you can get the most out of the learning process.
At the end of the week Niki and Dave will release a podcast where we can help you identify places that need work and that will most benefit from slow practice.
Week 2:
Here we’ll be implementing slow practice from all you learned in your week 1 investigation. Post a video at your slow tempo of your work using slow practice to fix the problems you identified in your investigation.
Week 3:
For week 3 we will be slowing down the way we practice. Here we want you to choose one spot from your piece that needs work and for each day you will practice at a VERY slow tempo for a specific amount of time.
The goal is to spend 15 minutes each day at your very, very slow tempo just on this one passage. Set a timer to hold yourself accountable!
Post a video of your progress on your spot practice by the end of the week.
Week 4:
Finally, in week 4 we will take a slow and gradual approach to build your piece back up to your initial comfortable tempo.
This process is pretty simple:
- Start at a slow tempo focused on control, accuracy, and precision.
- Each day notch up your metronome bit by bit to reach your desired tempo by the end of the week.
- Record a video at the end of the week with your results.
By the end of the month, you will have hopefully acquired a new practice technique that allows you to identify and solve problems, break muscle memory to correct habits, and to establish foundations of accuracy and control.
Check out Dave’s video on Spot Practice for how to work on your trouble spot:
Schedule
- Week 1 video due: Saturday, November 4
- Week 2 video due: Saturday, November 11
- Week 3 video due: Saturday, November 18
- Week 4 video due: Saturday, November 25
LIVE Wrap-up Session: Sunday, November 26 at 4pm NYC time
Sign up
Sign ups for the Slow Practice Member Challenge are now closed.