How Best to Practice, Pt. 1: Perfect Practice Makes Perfect?

Practice makes perfect, right? Well, not really. There is better advice.

Perfect practice makes perfect, right? Well, this was what teachers told their students in the past, but it turns out that this might not always be the best advice either.

New research suggests that pushing yourself enough to make mistakes is more beneficial than always playing in your comfort zone and never making mistakes. When you make a mistake, your brain works extra hard to learn how to correct the mistake. In a few days you will be better off for the extra effort. Practicing in and out of your comfort zone is a way of varying your practice routine.

In general, when practicing guitar or any other instrument it is best to focus on the most challenging phrases and to vary the way you practice these challenging phrases. Try playing the phrase backwards, from the middle to the end, and from the middle to the beginning. Try playing the phrase with rhythms that are different than those intended by the composer. Play the first few notes only, then add a few more notes, and then a few more until you are playing the whole phrase. Try practicing one hand at a time. (With your fretting hand you can lightly tap each note that you previously pressed to fret. With your right hand simply pick the strings in the order required of the phrase.) See if you can think of other ways to vary what you are practicing.

Now, bringing us back to making mistakes: try playing the phrase at ever increasing tempos. Continue increasing the tempo until you are making mistakes. Remember, it is okay and beneficial to make some mistakes! However, don't spend too much time making mistakes. The research I have seen to date, does not go into detail about how many mistakes are too many and how many are not enough. It appears that making mistakes is less desirable during later phases of performance readiness. For example, early in my learning process I push myself to the point of making mistakes in order to identify areas that need more attention. Later in the process of getting ready for a performance I focus more on perfect practice and musicality.

Some caveats for the early phase of practicing new material: you have to understand what you are playing; make sure you can play the phrase perfectly at slower tempos; and only push yourself enough for practicing to feel like a fun game.

Practicing is not meant to feel frustrating. If you are feeling frustrated, you are likely pushing yourself too hard. Push yourself a little out of your comfort zone, but not into your frustration zone. If you are a gamer, think of practicing in a way that will make you feel like you're playing your favourite game. If you are an athlete, think of practicing in a way that will make you feel like you are playing your favourite sport. If your practice sessions feel like your favourite game or sport, you will be motivated to keep practicing.

The goal of practicing should be more about making music come alive and less about avoiding mistakes. If we keep this in mind practicing is fun. I would rather listen to an exciting performance with a few mistakes than a guarded lifeless performance without mistakes.