Tips & Tricks: Random Practice How It Helps Your Violin Playing Improve

Most of us tend to practice the same piece of passage over and over in order to get it right. This makes sense, right? Well, it does, but sometimes, as they say, a change is as good as a rest. Sometimes when I am practicing, instead of working on the same piece or passage many times in a row, I will practice it interspersed with the other pieces on which I am working. I especially use this technique when trying to memorize new music.

I always thought that I did this to avoid boredom, but it turns out that there are other reasons that this helps you learn new material faster.

• By changing things up you keep your brain interested. If you repeat the same passage over too many times, your brain will become uninterested and tune out.
• Your brain has to figure out how to perform a task each time you do it. If you play the same passage several times over in a row, your brain only really has to figure it out the first time. If you change up your practice schedule, your brain has to work every time you switch material.
• When you perform, you do not play the passage or piece several times over. You need to be able to perform it well the first time that you play it.

I read a great article on this topic not long ago on one of my favourite blogs. You can read their post here: http://www.bulletproofmusician.com/why-the-progress-in-the-practice-room-seems-to-disappear-overnight/#more-8297