Practicing with Intention: Part 4, Practice Tools

In the first Practicing with Intention post, we started talking about how to practice smarter not harder. I outlined the basics on how to intentionally practice, and now we are getting into the finer details!

Practicing with intention is like using a microscope (stick with me double majors and science enthusiasts!).

A lot of issues we come up against as musicians are so small they aren't discernible to the naked ear. This means we have to get creative with how we practice so we can diagnose what's standing in our way. If we can carefully zoom in on a teeny problem, taking care to magnify it one step at a time, we won't accidentally focus in on the wrong problem or become overwhelmed with what needs improvement.

As we practice, we will find measures or whole sections that are hard for us. If we use the right tools, we can locate smaller stuck points within those sections, then slowly work our way closer to the root of the problem.

Once we know what our obstacle is, it's a heck of a lot easier to face and overcome it. By being deliberate with the tools we use during practice sessions, we can achieve more in less time!

So let's jump right in and discuss some of the tools we can use to conquer those pesky stuck points.

Slow Practice

Practicing slowly allows us to lay a solid foundation for ourselves from the beginning and can often help us bypass stuck points that tend to form when we try to learn challenging music too quickly. Practicing under tempo allows us time to process the rhythms on the page and read ahead while the music is new to us so we don't have the chance to practice in mistakes.

I recommend setting your metronome at about half your goal tempo (feel free to go slower if needed!). Play it through a couple of times to get the notes and rhythms under your fingers. When you are completely confident at your starting tempo, you can begin to slowly work the metronome faster, a couple clicks faster each time, getting closer to your goal.

Remember to take your time with each new tempo. If you stumble a little when you play with a new tempo, move the metronome back a step to avoid practicing incorrect notes or rhythms. Remember that clean playing at a slower tempo is better than messy playing at full speed.

Backwards

It feels silly the first time you try it, but a tricky passage always feels easier after you've read it in the wrong direction! Plus it's a good way to exercise your brain muscle and double check that your air is appropriate for the whole passage rather than one note at a time.

Excerpt from Bach Flute Sonata No. 2 as printed:

Excerpt from Bach Flute Sonata No. 2 backwards:

Odd Rhythms

If playing the music as written, at full speed is obscuring the issue and slow practice didn't seem to fix it, odd rhythms can be a helpful next step.

When your fingers aren't moving evenly at a fast tempo, it can be impossible to tell exactly which finger is leading you astray. Sometimes, playing technically difficult passages on a different rhythm can help shake the problem loose. Odd rhythms allow us to feel specific note transitions in different ways, uncovering the exact spot that's throwing off the whole passage.

My two favorite odd rhythm patterns are long-short-long-short (dotted eighth, sixteenth), and short-long-short-long (sixteenth, dotted eighth). Between these two, I usually find the transition at fault right away, but there are an infinite number of odd rhythms you can try.

Excerpt from Bach's Flute Sonata No. 2 in odd rhythms

Tip: Sometimes I find the spot more by feel than by listening with this practice technique. Pay attention to what you feel in your hands as well as what you hear.

Chunking!

Chunking is a technique where you group notes in different combinations to change the way you're looking at a passage. This technique can expose patterns in the music that we didn't notice before, or even help us figure out how to analyze a difficult passage.

Breaking the music down into many small pieces in different combinations can also help unmask the spot that's throwing off your fingers. You can even make a game of it! See how many ways you can think of to break up the music into bite-sized pieces.

Take a look at this measure from Bach's Flute Sonata No. 2 to see just a couple ways the music can be broken up into smaller, more manageable pieces.

As you're dividing the music into the chunks, I would also look for patterns. For example, look for repeated intervals, chord outlines/arpeggios, or components of scales as I marked in the same measure below.

The next step is to practice each of these color-coded combos to see if you can catch your fingers in the act. Sometimes just identifying arpeggio patterns is enough to smooth out the bumps in one's technique. If not, play the grouping at full tempo, each followed by a rest. Once a stuck point is discovered, practice it in isolation before reincorporating it into the passage.

In a Different Key

If you're struggling with a specific interval in a passage, transpose it up a step or two, then try the original again. This is another mental exercise almost like a tongue twister. It's meant to stretch your brain and challenge you beyond the original music's difficulty. You may also try using alternate fingerings (such as harmonic fingerings if the passage is above the staff) to check the strength of your support.

Excerpt from Bach Sonata No. 2 transposed up one step:

Wrapping Up Practicing with Intention

Thoughtful practicing tools are common sense principles that we can all apply to practicing, time management, or even being a good student. When it comes to technique, I think it's important to have a toolbox at the ready with a variety of options that can be used in any combination so we always have another thing to try when we get stuck. Many of us use a selection of these tools, but maybe not all at the same time. For example, exclusively using a clinician's favorite technique after attending a masterclass. The key is to be open to wacky, creative approaches and to observe carefully so you can zoom in further, diagnose, and address the issue.

Everyone has their own unique way of thinking about practicing and some of us are quite opinionated about what strategies work. There's no guarantee that my techniques will enhance your practicing habits. These are just suggestions from one flute teacher/performer.

Whether these inspire you to try something new or affirm what you've been doing for years, I hope you enjoyed and these ideas are helpful to you in whatever manner you decide to apply them.

Until next time, be safe, kind, and well,