I'm now 71, I started playing guitar at the age of 12. Self taught, I learned to play piano/keys and bass guitar too, and played professionally for about 20 years. I played right handed, but after incurring severe left hand injuries in a car wreck, I am relearning to play left handed. It is the hardest thing I have ever done musically. But I'm on a mission, and this will help.
Good luck. I'm no expert on physical rehab, but I agree that this approach would be very helpful. There are two aspects worth considering. First the motor cortex is extremely good at rewiring itself. We see this especially when people lose fingers. The neurons rewire to increase the dexterity of the remaining fingers. But second, hemisphere is also very important. For example, reaction time vary based on which visual hemisphere the button you are pressing is located. Since the motor cortex is layed out as a kind of homunculus, its organization maps the body. Which is why the fingers can remap. The neurons are next to each other. I don't know how hemisphere and handedness affects the mapping. But there have to be researchers working on the problem. And if you could find one it would be win-win in the sense that you'd at least learn more about your situation. I'd guess that with the recent Neuralink success, they know much more today than in my day. Though each case is different and the Neuralink patient had a spine injury, not a brain injury. His brain produced the commands, they just didn't reach his muscles. Finally it's worth looking into mental practice. Activating neurons helps and the brain can often remap its way around deficits or learn new ways of doing things. Hope you're making progress.
@mikem668 I have had 593 workouts. Written 3 books. And play harp. Guitar it's been 3 8 months. 2nd fingerpickin attempt. It's the fingers and right side is the problem
You’re missing the most important point. HOW do you minimize errors: PLAY SLOWLY. As a rule, most reps should be at 50 percent of performance tempo, until the piece is fully learned. A metronome is necessary for this.
Indeed. Same thing with learning an athletic movement. Break it down into discrete parts and do it slowly. The idea is to learn it correctly so you are not ingraining bad technique.
WRONG. I wouldn't say to play everything as fast as you can, BUT I would never advise someone to learn to alternate pick slowly. The wrist and hand movements you make slowly during runs are NOT AT ALL the wrist movements you make while playing fast, meaning you're just wasting your time. Solution= split up your hands. Or in other words, first practice with each hand individually at tempo, then get faster and faster and faster. That whole practice slow bit only works ONCE you've learned to play fast
I partially agree. The goal is obviously to play however we want at whatever tempo we want given our ultimate musical goals. In order to do that, we first need to learn the basic mechanics of the movement and be able to play that correctly just ONCE (I.e., the baseline stage). That’s where we shift to the next stage which is to work on increasing tempo. In the fast stage, my preference is usually to increase tempo quickly and in big steps, and try to correct my mistakes at my fast tempo first. If a mistake is persistent (for me that means more than two times in a row.) then I think it’s important to slow down to correct it and then speed back up again. This stage is a constant toggling between fast and slow, where slow is only used to correct something “under a microscope.” What is also true is that there is no smooth transition from slow to fast. It’s just like going from a walk to a run. At some point, we just have to flip the switch and go fast. Same thing with musical instruments. Thank you so much for your comment! Very important thing to note! 🙏🏽
@@DiegoAlonsoMusicthis is what was missing from the video in the first place. When you say to limit the number of mistakes you don’t say how, but I guess you meant that if there are too many mistakes one should slow down until the error rate falls below 30%?
Absolutely. Do it slowly and perfectly. As slow as you need to do it perfect. Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Only perfect practice should get sped up.
I have been teaching the Guitar for more years than I care to remember and the most important thing I feel we need to pass on to our students is how to practice properly and productively. Many of the things you spoke of were things I tried to pass on but your detailed analysis of the processes I thought was excellent. It may well be that the most important thing was, a phrase I use very often, 'don't beat yourself up'. What you're trying to do is hard. It takes time. You are trying to teach your brain what you want it to do so that it can deliver the instructions to your hands efficiently and accurately just to get the notes right never mind making music. I am now subscribed. This is a really useful video. Well done.
I heard a British rock n' roll guitarist say, years ago, "You don't really know a song unless you can play it with your eyes closed".I can play something well, seated, but if I stand to play it, the keyboard view changes too dramatically for me and it's a no-go. I think it was the violist W. Primrose who, when asked why he practices so much while in his 80s, he replied something along the line of "I'm starting to get pretty good." I'm 79 and my guitar playing ability hasn't peaked out yet, thank the dear Lord.
I was playing campfire songs recently. Genuinely sitting around a bonfire with friends at night. The Lyrics and chords were in a book which was lit using a lamp. All of the open chords were no problem, including F and B/Bm barre chords. Then came a song with a whole load of barre chords and it was hopeless, as I'd look down at the neck and couldn't see where the frets were!!! So yeah To get good you need to be able to play in the dark.
My teachers told me when practicing it's as if you put a red ball in a bag every incorrect repetitions and a green ball every correct one, and when performing you take a random ball from that bag. So make sure you have a lot of more of green.
Some really helpful advice in there and some new ideas which I had not heard which is good. But he forgot to mention or maybe I missed it. The most important thing you need to hammer into people's brains is. It is much better to play it slow and correct than it is fast and sloppy. That might sound obvious but it's very easy to forget.
@@elbruce3 agreed. Great comment. That's why it it critical that you never practise your mistakes which so many people do by trying to play at the correct speed way too soon.
I learned something similar from Ron Block (banjo player for Alison Krauss) He said that you have to pay close attention to any friction you perceive whether that is on the fretboard or on your picking hand. Even if you are hitting the notes just fine. If you feel like you are straining even in the most subtle of ways, that is one area you must focus on. It will come to bite you later if you ignore it. Such good advice that a lot of amateurs like myself don’t consider.
What I do is record my practice. If I’m feeling tension in my fretting hand, I will say something so that I can review the tape later to see what passage was making me tense up. I will also pay attention to my breathing to see if I hold my breath when I reach the same point in a tune. It also helps to watch someone else practicing to see at what point they tense up in a tune. In some cases, you discover that it is the same point where you tend to feel your playing going sideways.
The analogy that I would use is weight lifting. When do you get strong when you are lifting weights? It's NOT when you are lifting the weights. It's when you are resting that your body makes itself stronger. That's why you don't need to do 50 reps to gain strength. (I'm not talking about body building here). A limited number of good reps challenges your neuromuscular system, but the body then needs time to process/heal/grow. Following that thinking, musicians need to remember that the biggest part of the learning process is sleeping on what you practice. I think that is what underlies what you are talking about here, both in limiting reps and in interleaving practice. The "actively learning" brain can only focus for a small period of time before it is overloaded. We must learn to have trust that our brain will process better when challenged at the appropriate level. Unfortunately, I think we all hear these stories of heroically long practices and we get invested in the idea that this is the path to perfection.
@@gabbleratchet1890great post. I agree with the fundamental point here - it is really important that when practising a piece of music, as soon as you find you are making no more progress, STOP. Your brain will carry on working and will sort things out while you sleep. Tomorrow, like magic, you will find you have improved. Trust your brain - it really works. Don't over-strain; you will only resent practising.
I have 10 pennies. When I learn something new, I aim to play it 10x without a mistake. Do it once, move a penny. Make a mistake, move it back. It actually works.
No one really teaches you how to practice. I’ve been experimenting all my life. Although I have always achieved my goals, learning the science of music practice is surely beneficial. Thanks very much for this video. I look forward to learn more about music practice from this channel.
Thanks for posting. I’m 81 and play at my classical guitar, getting interested when I was already middle aged and starting and raising a family when I was already 45. They still live with me. However, I was motivated to keep up my practicing by listening your lecture. My goal is a pleasant sound on basic playing with some improvisation and, of course, some Brazilian. My own compositions are jazz and/or blues oriented. I also studied Tabla for about two years with professional private lessons. Unfortunately, my wife put hardwood floors in the house and made me quit the tablas, being worried about the circles in the floor! Any, thanks again for your generosity in posting so much info! 3:48
Yes , Professor, perfectionism is a fault . My career as a Jazz Guitarist my rule was, play what you are going to perform for 14 days before the show. 10 days minimum, but this will get me to where I know the song inside and out, and it is right on my fingertips.
And all this wisdom and useful info for free?...gosh, what a blessing this era for the compulsive learners like myself. Diego, I´ve been beating myself up about my "evident" lack of talent and technical skills for forty years...And despite of it my guitar time has always been a therapy through almost my entire life. I dont have any professional motivation to keep on playing and learning but I´m really passionate about it. I´ve found your video AWESOMELY clear and informative about many questions I´ve been asking to myself for years about the eficiency of my practice sessions. The ABC clue is something that I´m going to raise to the next level from now on. I´m going to check right now the rest of your videos to find answers about the use of the metronome, how to speed it up for optimal learning and so on...BTW, very happy to see in one of your referenced studies the expression "GRADIENT-DESCENT"...a milestone in many MACHINE-LEARNING algorithms...so AI is also helping here...Fascinating era this is!! A big HUG from Bilbao, Spain and lots of luck and health for you and your loved ones. You are a blessing!!!
There are many gems of advice here, thank you. If I might add one from the talented pianist and teacher, Nahre Sol, she suggests when repeating a note/phrase that has been played successfully, purposely wait a few seconds before the next repetition. To paraphrase her, that allows your brain to absorb the "correctness" of what you have just played before running through it again. Don't just repeat the correct phrase in an endless loop. This advice makes sense to me, and it seems to work (for me).
Excellent concise delivery of important and useful points without the filler the vast majority of videos like this include. Diego gets to the points and provide information that we can use now.
Good practice advise. As a brass player we are challenged to increase our range which is more a physical challenge and practicing upper range is different than finger dexterity of piano and guitar. I use the 3 times and your out rule. If you are trying to hit a higher note and fail 3 times then stop and take a break or try again in the next practice session. This prevents injury, bad habits, and frustration!
When I am playing from a score, I spend time reading the score first. I say out loud what I’m seeing, and also comment on how I would play a passage (for example, a large part of the score can be played from the fifth position). I try to describe whatever I’m seeing in the score even if it is something obvious. I do this because it encourages me to organize what I’m seeing. This makes the first run through with a guitar in hand easier.
As a stroke survivor, this guidance is helpful. It is also consistent with what I've learned about neuroscience/neurophysiology during my rehabilitation. Thank you!
This is an excellent channel - thank you for creating it. Your informed advice is outstanding in quality and relevance, even as a musician who only rarely plays the classical guitar.
This is great material! I'm currently doing a PhD in motor skill learning (not music per se) and everything you mentioned is spot on. I would also add that we music learners should also cultivate the meta-cognitive skill of monitoring our own mental states, especially mental fatigue, and stop/take a pause before we reach a point of saturation. The Challenge Point Framework (=learning is optimal when there *is* some challenge but not overwhelming) is very helpful in understanding how we should practice. We should monitor how challenged we are and adjust our practice accordingly: is the passage too easy? Spice it up. Is it too challenging? Break it down to smaller easier pieces. The interleaved practice strategy can be seen as a means to spice up the practice and make it more challenging, so it should also be employed accordingly. If the passage we're practicing is already too challenging, by adding interleaved practice we make it worse and we hinder learning. Thanks for the video, looking forward to more!
It's amazing how much more we know nowadays about the science of learning than we did back in the late 80s and 90s! I wish I knew all these things when I was an eager teenager trying to understand how to better practice... wasted so much time with the mindless, endless repetitions. At least I enjoyed them nevertheless lol! Thanks for sharing your knowledge on the subject.
Diego, you are such an intelligent, talented and generous person. You are giving us Gold for free... Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will definitely look at everything you are putting out. Best wishes from Montreal, Canada.
Diego, thank you this is just the thing I need right now, unexpectedly the algorhithm has done me a favour! I should also say, this is one of the best produced videos I have seen on TH-cam - your presentation/production quality, the content, the length overall and you own manner of presentation are excellent! I am sending this to everyone I play with.
I just discovered this channel (and will be looking at some of your old videos!). Many thanks for this one. I had learned a few of your points by trial and error. For instance practicing mistakes is bad and the effectiveness of interleaving. I often try to learn two or more pieces at once and find it is more effective. One other thing I've found that you didn't mention is to "sleep on it" ... don't try to work something to perfection in one sitting. It will usually be better/easier the next day.
I really appreciate the reference to studies throughout this video! A topic I'd like to see more discussion about is days off from practicing something. Here's what I've noticed: I do several consecutive days of practice on a particular passage or song, then due to circumstance have to set it aside for a few days, but when I get back, it's markedly better than where I left it. Maybe there's small errors to clean up, but whatever it is usually feels much more comfortable. I'd guess the same mechanism that makes SRS learning so effective would also be influencing this, but it feels quite profound with motor skills, where cognitive skills don't seem to have that same boost.
Thanks for commenting! Glad you enjoyed the video. Yes, what you’re describing is essentially a spacing effect which helps consolidate newly learned information. I’ll make a more detailed video on this in the future. Thank you so much!
Hi! Thanks so much for commenting! I did my B.S. in psychology and am very interested in cognitive neuroscience. So fascinating! Glad you enjoyed the video 🙏🏽❤️
I saw an interview with buddy guy who said that he just started incorporating mistakes into his playing. Some of those mistakes sounded good and they became the song. I love that idea.
Great video! I think that an issue correlated to this is: how to get on with a performance after making a mistake... I remember an interview with the great drummer and musician Bill Bruford who quoted one of his teachers: "when in doubt: roll!!!". I am convinced that having strategies to cope with the mistakes we are bound to make can decrease the level of stress that comes with performing.
Thank you so much for your comment! Yes, absolutely absolutely. I will definitely make a future video on this. Performing is a whole different animal, which requires a lot of performance practice. That definitely includes a lot of strategies to deal with the emotional component of performance. Thank you again for your comment! 🙏🏽
While I didn't go to music school, I had many friends who did and basically told me that half of the battle in a performance major is to train your skill in being able to continue un-flustered in spite of a mistake. A mistake is much smaller if you can just fudge a few notes and carry on like nothing happened vs having to do a full reset. For a performing musician, its a critical skill to intentionally develop. Strategies will vary on the instrument and style/genre though :)
I was watching some YT video (piano sight-reading) and he said that with very mentally taxing study and learning, you should take frequent breaks where you don't do anything. That way, your subconscious mind continues to process it. I take a break every 10 or 15 minutes (and go outside for a few minutes) when trying to figure out and play stuff from tabs.
Excellent info and presentation! It wasn't until my 60's that I discovered the steps you brought up in this video. I feel I am better able to learn new music or make technical improvements now than when I was younger and not using these methods. I came across a couple ideas that you hint at, or state in a different way than how I state them. One is a reminder that learning has a biological aspect. Physiological changes occur. Specifically, one of the important aspects is the growth of myelin sheaths on the neurons involved in the practice. For this, I think of sleep as being a big component. We can only improve so far in a single session. But after sleeping and after some biological changes have occurred, sometimes we can pick up exactly where we left off and it will seem simpler or more comfortable, and it will be possible to push the envelope further from there. Another idea I think about is that there are two nervous systems to consider: afferent and efferent. Often to improve, one has to break habits. To do so requires awareness, especially sensory awareness in the hands (depends on the instrument). Practice can/should be aimed at speeding up and improving awareness. I find that the practice of focusing awareness on a single point (perhaps a given finger, or as I play oboe, my tongue or jaw position or fluxes in breath pressure) can help unlock habits that consist of e a series of motions tightly chained together. IDK if this is widely known or if it has been investigated in the literature yet. Am looking forward to checking out your channel (I have subscribed) and learning more. When I was in college (UC Berkeley) getting my Music degree, I took a couple courses in the Cognitive Psychology area. A lot of what I've figured out has been built on that foundation.
One good rule I've heard is to correct a mistake immediately. Back up and fix it. I find it often happens when moving along or across the finger board, between two notes. A few reps is often enough to establish the muscle memory. Tweaking the fingering often helps.
Absolutely fantastic video. Thank you so much your advice has been so helpful. I started playing the guitar in my 60s and your practise methods have been so helpful.
Thank you for this valuable information! Practice is key in any discipline, but as you pointed out, it's so easy to get it wrong with the guitar. I'm already subscribed and excited for more of your fantastic content. Keep up the great work!
I love these tips. I think if you're reaching only a 50% success rate for more than a couple of consecutive practice sessions, it's probably an indication that what you're attempting is too far beyond your current ability. That's where being strategic comes in. That might mean stepping back to something a little less challenging, but building toward the ability you struggle with, or it might be analyzing the problem and addressing it very specifically, for example by playing it slower, or breaking a longer exercize into chunks.
Es muy común que los cursos de guitarra (tanto libros como videos) vomiten todo el contenido pero ni te digan como consumirlos o practicarlos, tu canal se diferencia por eso, excelente. Muy bueno master, saludos desde Chile.
Diego, so nice to hear your recommendations, which vocalized what I've felt over time. Now I've the language to communicate with others... and a tighter strategy to practice. Thank you.
This is brilliant, thank you! I'm so glad I just stumbled upon your channel. I'm a professional guitarist, though not in the classical realm. I wish I'd had access to this kind of information when I was first learning as a kid. My strategy then was simply to play for as many hours as possible each day. Consequently, it took me decades to figure out (from a lute instructor, funnily enough) that I first needed to relax. I'd never heard of the concept of 'interleaved practice' before but this makes so much sense. I greatly look forward to watching more of your videos, cheers!
Hi Diego I just subscribed to your channel. I’m 71 and have played guitar off and on since I was 11 when I took lessons from Joshua Van Heygen. Unfortunately I didn’t get very far as my youthful interest was all Beatles songs. I’m still not that good with the guitar but nevertheless enjoying my time practicing. My reason to write to you is that I teach Equitation Science and there are many correlations I find in your excellent breakdown of ‘how many repetitions and quality of such’, with regard to both human learning and horses learning. My question is would it be possible for you to make a short video demonstrating the first 3 topics (#1 70%-85% Success Rate. #2 Keep Incorrect Reps Low and #3 Use Interleaved Practice). Perhaps using a short simple phrase/melody which you can then address the 3 topics and demonstrate visually what you have discussed in this video. Thank you for your consideration.
Hi Jon! Thank you so much for your comment! Yes, I’ll definitely make a video demonstration ASAP. Thank you so much for this suggestion! Please let me know if there are any other Guitar challenges you’d like me to cover in future videos. I appreciate it!
The content was of course, very good. People who make music videos should learn from you. The acoustics were spot on. I don't know why people make videos in a live room with an echo. The background was excellent. Sparse, but relevant. You are sitting in a good position and maintain it. No reaching for stuff and knocking stuff over. No dogs barking. No telephone ringing. It seems obvious to us perhaps, but you had in depth information. All those faux pas distract. This was all about the information.
Great video, Diego! I am a 71 year old piano player and have played the live stage for 37 years. Your information is just as applicable to me. I find that I can perfect my musical parts at home with ease but being an ear-trained musician, when on stage I can't play these perfected parts very well due to the loudness of the band. I have tried various stage positions but nothing helps. I could invest in much louder monitors but that's just going to aggravate my hearing. I went to an audiologist and she said my hearing is on the low side of normal for a 71 year old. I make a lot of mistakes because I can't hear my piano parts as a balanced part of the group. The drums and bass are very loud. I fear my only answer is to resign. The band is a 50s, 60s, 70s group. Suggestions most appreciated. Many thanks!
You might want to try an in-ear monitor. That would allow you to adjust the mix in your ears instead having to compete with the band on volume. Just a suggestion.
@@josephgerbino4271 Thanks. I have a friend who just bought ear monitors from Shure. They were $1,000 but he swears by them. They filter out the echo and crowd noise of the venue he plays at as a regular entertainer. I shall consider it. Thanks again!!
Great vid. I play double bass, and recently I've got into swing bowing. A massive leap from my classical stuff. I picked up a real gem in this video to help me with this - in fact it's a kind of reaffirmation of what I already suspected; swing bowing is really about developing articulations - which is very heavy on the motor skills side of things - in fact I often find myself working on artics for 80% of my practice sessions. However, this has helped me also realise there are two types of motor skills which need to be honed - those necessary for i) hitting the correct notes, and ii) articulations - i.e. 'one's voice'. And it's the latter I'm spending 80% of my practice time on. It's a big trade-off vis a vis what I could be working on - learning new music, scales etc. - but "rebirth is always painful". I keep telling myself that once the rebirth is acceptably accomplished, I can revert to a more balanced practice regimen..;-)
Thank you, great video that all beginners must see. You clearly want people to improve effectively and easily leading to quick, enjoyable progress. Excellent idea too= make it fun. And you do this without excess chatter . Now subscribed. And I found out something that helped me- keep your instrument close by, easy to pick up. Hey what are you doing when the water is boiling for tea or coffee ? -pick up that guitar1 Thank you again...from a returning beginner. *** Oh, ONE REQUEST: as a former keyboard student, I've had a challenging time learning the fretboard. CAN you make a video on the best way to learn the fretboard- perhaps a variety of methods? Cheers, DK.
I believe the main thing to be a good guitarist is to ask yourself WHY you want to learn, what is it you expect to get out of hours of practicing your instrument. Do you want to be famous? Do you want to play with a band and have fun? Do you want to use your guitar chops to get women or men? Do you want to be a guitar teacher? Do you want to be the next Taylor Swift? or the next Segovia? Do you imagine yourself in a tuxedo playing for the wealthy? and finally, do you know yourself? Are you patient? tenacious? Perseverant? snobbish? are you capable of working on a piece for years? Are you physically strong enough to play your instrument? Why do you want to learn fast? Do you want more pieces to your repertoire or do you want to get to the women or men faster? What are your intentions? I, personally, grabbed the guitar at 13 after I saw how some of my friends who were in a band got all the girls. If I had listened to this video 20 years ago, I would not have been able to appreciate it. Today, I play my guitar because I love it, I don't want anything out of it. If somebody offered me 2 million dollars to come up with an album, I would say no, thanks. I hate deadlines, I hate goals. I hate travelling. What gives me joy, it to explore the instrument, to practice triads using only harmonics for example. Know yourself, perhaps you don't even like playing your instrument.
Hi! Thank you so much for commenting. I have not heard of Christopher Berg, but now that you mention him, I will definitely check him out. Thank you again! 🙏🏽
Thank you Diego! There are so many things here that I struggle with. I also know what my strengths are, like not rushing. I see so many post up a cover of a difficult song. The passion is there, but the accuracy or groove certainly are not. I won't post anything or even introduce anything to family until I have it down. But there are so many things discussed here that I need to work on. Thanks again!
Amazing vid, TYSM! Subbed instantly. So many things you say resonate with what my teenage self intuitively came to realize trough the years back in the 90s when I became a musician. Interleaved practice, for instance, is something I found out enhanced my learning and I've always done but nobody taught me. Wish I had confirmation back then, but better late than never. Thanks for sharing the science on it all!
Great lesson, thank you. I’ve often wondered: is there any research on the minimum speed to adopt on the first play of a figure? In the extreme, imagine an arpeggio that takes place at 60 bpm in the performed piece, but it would make no sense to attempt it at, say, 60 beats per day. What is the thinking in the lower tempo bound?
Hi! Thanks for your comment! I haven’t seen any research on minimum tempo. It may be a bit too subjective. What I have found works best as an initial goal is to play through small passages of music from memory at a slow enough tempo that allows you to play with correct rhythm and w/o errors. I like to think of this as my baseline. After that, I’ll begin adding expressive variation and increases in tempo. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for this video and your wonderful community of commenters. I’ve been playing guitar for 30+ years and I always seem to randomly miss notes when playing songs now I know why. 😊
I'm 63 and have played guitar for three years. I struggle with massive reps, over weeks, to get a song down. I need to be more efficient. I took a lot of notes from this video. I'm also going to join the fb page.
@@brianhay4024 How are you working on a song? And that's probably related to what kind of songs they are. When I got started seriously - not from scratch - I had larger goal. Clapton, Hendrix, Garcia, and Mayer were my models. I started with blues. Then I realized my approach was too wide, and that Garcia and Mayer were only partly blues focused. Because Garcia was a bluegrass guy - I messed around with the banjo - and a composer, and Mayer was learning his songs, I decided to focus on Dead songs. Ideally I tried to learn the melody first. Then the rhythm part, followed by the solos from transcriptions. For example, the studio version of Franklin's Tower has an Intro and two main solos. Each teaching me or improving something different: Bends, Chord Tone Soloing, scales. I learned one solo first. Then I found out it was different than the transcription. So I forget both, though I remember the Intro and other Solo pretty well. Each Dead tune, all written by Garcia, teach me something different. I think I can play 6 now. What interesting is related to the video. It feels like what it call interleaving. Each song or riff improves everything else. Both motor and cognitive. Sometimes I have a ha moments. I'm not saying you can't do this playing a little of this and a little of that. But there are stories about the greats focusing and taking what might be called a master class on one guy. I think the point and mystery of this class is why doing one thing improves a different thing. Don't quote me, but I read somewhere that exercising one leg strengthens the other somehow. I also think that knowing the lyrics helps. Not sure why. Maybe it frees the motor system to play more loosely. We missed the opportunity to form a band and play Louie Louie at a high-school dance. I played concert, but only once had I memorized my part. I think that being a kid, practicing for a dance, and just doing it is best done early. I asked a friend who'd done it and most of my questions were irrelevant. He'd started out with Mel Bay, lessons, a Fender Bassman and a 59 Les Paul and just did it. Too bad he didn't keep the guitar for his retirement.
@@mikem668 Mostly Rock songs. I write out the lyrics and chords, look for patterns and the main riff (if there is one). I figure out how I'm going to play it and then play along with a slowed recording. I practice endlessly and still get lost in the song (e.g. I loose track of the verse or similar). My playing is inconsistent. This morning I played the song with F shaped bar chords. This afternoon I had to use power chords on the same song. If I play the song almost every day for months, and at rehearsal, I get more comfortable. I'm sure some of it's age but I hate to admit it.
@@brianhay4024We all get lost. Even John Mayer gets lost. Couple comments then a suggestion. Is it possible the song you choose are too complicated? Or too far above your current level? Are they reinforcing each other? By that I mean are they coming from the same musical universe? For example early rock n roll and punk, maybe some country are three chords and the truth. Neil Young played endless solos in his early days. Sounds crazy, but lots of experienced musicians have used single string exercises to advance their playing. Do you learn the melody by itself? My eyes were opened by Tomo Fujita's lesson on triad. Three strings, one chord. The open D on strings 1 to 3 is an example. That triad is a 5th Root 3rd. A D F#. D triads of different shapes can be played on three strings across the neck and down the fretboard.Fretboard. Here's where it gets complicated. Every note on the guitar can be represented in a different way. The note name, say C. String/Fret position. 5th string, 3rd fret. But... there are many other C's on the fretboard. C is also a part of a scale. And scales or modes can be represented as patterns, notes, or intervals. Or as part of chords. It's a combinatorial explosion. Which eventually will come together to some degree. John Mayer talks in terms of neighborhoods. You might have heard of the B B King box. Mayer says when you're in a neighborhood you know, you're comfortable. When you move out of it, even he gets lost. Blues for John. No problem. Jerry Garcia, way more danger of getting lost. What's interesting is that you can hear him learning the neighborhood over his years with Dead & Company. Music theory can help you understand what you're doing when you learn to play a song. Not completely and not necessary. But at some point understanding pays of. You see why X works, then try it somewhere else, at Y, and it works too. Sometimes you cross from the 3rd string to the 2nd and no joy. In my experience it's a slow accumulation of knowledge. It won't necessarily help your fingers immediately, because you needs to build motor memory. Back to C. There's a C chord. C E G. It's Major. It also has two inversions. It can be described numerically as Root (1) 3 5. Those are also the notes in C Major: C(1) D E(3) F G (5) A B C. But if those 3 notes are part of a different scale or mode, they may have a different function. A Major chord can be described as a minor 3rd (E to G) on top of a Major 3rd (C to E). Those are intervals. The A minor pentatonic can be played as either minor or major, depending on where you start. A C D E G A is minor. Starting on A, C is the b3 ir minor third. A C# E is Major. But if you start in C then C D E G A C is Major. 1 2 3 5 6 1(the octave). It's the beginning of My Girl. Overwhelming for sure. But eventually it starts to hang together. But it comes in bits and pieces. So much to learn, but so much help out there. John Mayer calls this reverse engineering. Take one of the songs you know. Try and figure out how it works. Try and figure out why it's different. I love the song D'Yer Mak'er by Led Zeppelin. A Doo Wop chord progression with a Reggae beat. I didn't figure it out myself. I read it somewhere. Apologies if this is overwhelming. I'm still learning it myself. But I feel it kicked me from Beginner into Intermediate. Something I never thought would happen.
Hi! Thank you for commenting! Yes, I’ll definitely make a video in general on building finger, agility and consistency. Thank you again for your comment! 🙏🏽
Wow thank you so much for all these tips. This is a very valuable research fir anyone hoping to become better at playing instruments. I’ve casually applied the tip i learned here which is to only practice the part i make errors on and i noticed a quicker process i’ve made. Now i came back to learn the rest of the tips and will apply them now😇
Neuroscience claims that after a practice session one should rest. The best is to sleep and if not just rest and nothing else... not like ok lets rest an watch something.... just rest.
I have a friend who is a famous Australian singer, guitarist and song writer and I have had the privilege of working with him many times in his studio which is at his home and he does exactly this after about 4 or 5 hours or whenever he feels the need to rest. He actually has a lounge/bed in the studio to lay on and then after he is rested, he takes a small walk around the block to clear his head and then he is fresh and ready to listen to how his work is going and continue if he feels like it. Great suggestion buddy. Definitely works.
Well presented. I am definitely a follower of The bulletproof musician. Glad you you follow him. I do a lot of interleave practice, but I had never thought of the repetition strategy in terms of a specific percentage. I do track progress heavily in a journal. Thanks for this good description
Love this! Would be awesome if you could illustrate what the 70%-85% success rate means exactly on a few examples. Suppose for instance I’m working on increasing my speed on a simple chromatic exercise like the spider. Is the idea that I should select the bpm where I make about one mistake for every four cycles through the exercise?
That’s an excellent question and suggestion! I’ll definitely follow this video up with another one where I demonstrate how this works. The idea would be too isolate the exact error first. You want to stop when you make the error and then correct it first by slowing down through the error. If that repetition is correct, you want to repeat it again. At that point, I usually challenge myself a little bit more and try to increase my tempo. If I make a mistake again, I’ll slow down a bit. Then I keep playing that slow-fast-slow game until I build my speed up to my desired tempo. I hope this helps! Thank you again. 🙏🏽
Another aspect of this is where on the fretboard you're trying the 'spider' exercise. Higher on the fretboard means the fingers are closer together but you may feel cramped. Lower down and you may have trouble with the stretching. Also p'raps consider only working across a couple of strings. If you only do the spider on the high E and B strings, around the 5th fret, maybe try moving up one fret... OR include the G string in the exercise (3 strings)... OR move the 2 strings you play on down to the B and G strings (still 2 strings but the action/tension will be a different 'finger load'). Try and isolate the 'scope' of where you're getting into strife... and that will help you better target what you're having troubles with and where the trouble does (not) occur.
1 more tip I would like to add, always practice to a metronome/backing track. My fav technique is to start at 60 bpm, next go to 70, next 65 then 75. So up 10 down 5 and repeat. This is specially helpful for learning fast lines. Make sure you can play clearly on given bpm before moving to next.
Back in the 60s, I learned many songs on guitar, some of which had errors in them, (either mis-learning from a record or a band mate) but still sounded good. Now, many years later, I started playing again, and found that I wanted to play the songs correctly....and it came as a mild surprise that it was actually harder to relearn the incorrect parts than to learn the song correctly the first time. Still, I just decided that it was actually fun to relearn the correct way and gives me much satisfaction to accomplish this. Besides, at my age, my brain really needs the exercise!
thanks for the advice. I don't remember you talking about the speed of practice. One big thing I got from my teacher Christopher Berg was to practice very slowly in decide where each finger is going to go exactly in slow motion and only bring up the speed when it's done correctly. I wonder if you've talked about speed in a different video. Thanks.
Hi! Thank you so much for your comment! Yes, that is absolutely correct. We should always start very slowly When learning something to make sure that everything is done correctly. Then we work on gradually speeding up until we make a mistake. That’s the point where I would apply the strategies I mentioned in this video. I’m working on another video where I discuss playing slowly. Please stay tuned. Thanks!
On the subject of individual differences, I've always struggled with consistent practice and practicing towards a purpose. I've found Sam Griffin's advice of "keep your guitar near you" helps with the first thing and when it comes to practicing with a purpose it's all about the song I'm playing. I have to choose something I like, that isn't too easy or too hard, and that I am willing to see through till the end. Classical songs are great for this because they're often broken up into different sections of different difficulty, and I'll often get one section for free, one that requires a bit of practice and the last one that requires a good deal of practice. This way it's not just boring practice, I get to play the part of the song I know and enjoy it, and I'm incentivized to learn the rest of it.
Exactly. You know yourself. That is what I preach. I like what Van Halen once said: (paraphrasing) "Who is the guitar god that says how you should hold the guitar or sit or practice or fret the notes."
Well done, !! scientific studies is a must for a professional and effective advices, i much appreciated that, also i wished you had covered evidence based techniques such as neuroscience corelates, exercing before going to sleep for better brain synapse network consolidation, corelation between frequency and duration of sessions, few weeks of aerobic exercises before starting to learn new things, corelates between frequency of repetitions and memory recall persistence such as repeting after 3 days , ensures on average a good recall after 3x3 days and repeating after 6 months ensures an acceptable recall after 3x6 months and so in ...
Hi again, looking back on some of your practice related episodes I found some of my wishes already or partially addressed, so many thanks maybe have a look at the rest in case it make sense 🎉
I'm watching this for just 24 seconds and I realize what 8 hours a day for about 8 months did for me back on my twenties and I just found out John Coltrane played 11 to 15 hours a day for years. I'm not sure what the rest of this video says but Coltrane is pretty hard to argue with. and it's not about practice. it's that you love it so much you can't stop and sure you want to see how good you can get. countless hours is the answer.
More practice is always better if you can manage it. But: * At 11 to 15 hours a day, you are definitely WELL into the realm of diminishing returns on your time-to-results investment. * Related to the above, you only have so much you can actually learn in a day. I doubt 11-15 hours a day is actually high focus work that Diego is talking about * Thus it's likely not as an efficient use of your "total hours" towards a project. For example, a 1000-hour person who practices 3-6 hours a day vs a 1000-hour person who practices 11-15 hours a day, I'd put my money one the first person, because you are giving your brain time to actually learn effectively (Andrew Huberman has some great science backed information on learning and how important it is for sleep to learn effectively). It's the same reason body builders don't work out every single day and rarely target the same muscles on consecutive days - you need to recover. Same for your fingers, and the same principle applies to the brain. * Practicing that much risks physical injury for most people, especially as you age * Most people don't need to be coltrane level :) So yes, more practice is almost always better, but I think it's important not to lose people who think they need to invest ungodly amounts of time just to be effective as a musician. Most people can get very far with just a bit of consistent deliberate practice. Most people simply don't do that in the first place, let alone for 10+ hours a day
I wonder what ‘Trane did in those 11 hours of practice? I’ve read that he would practice the same phrase over and over for hours. For example, he would practice an arpeggio study written for violin. This, I assume, could have been the whole Etude or just part of it. He’s also said to have worked on his tone. He played certain chord progressions. I assume that this was to work out the different ways to anticipate a chord change. Coltrane was asked in the 1960s how much he then practiced. His answer was that he practiced much less than before.
@@RyanCacophony I think if you did do a long session like that as I've done occasionally you will notice after taking two or even three days off to let the brain do its thing, there will be a step up in your playing
While the interleaving concept presented is good (short time frame spaced repetition), the repetition question I believe can be answered purely with binomial analysis. For a given piece of music and tempo, decide on the proficiency level you want to achieve (probability you can play the piece at tempo with no mistakes) which determines how many times you should be able to play the piece in a row without error or how many times you can play it and only play it wrong once. If you want to play with 95% proficiency, you should be able to play it 7 to 8 times playing it incorrectly once. If you want to play it with 99% proficiency, you should be able to play it 7 to 8 times in a row with no mistakes. All of this is based on using 95% confidence level criteria.
Thank you for this very thoughtful video. The strategies you recommend are the same ones my instructor uses. I can say they are very helpful. The problem is, I forget when I am at home on my own and revert back to my anxiety driven need for success. Being an old woman, it is hard to teach me new tricks! 😊
A mighty useful video. I'd add a couple of thoughts, though... While 'interleaved learning' is a good thing... I remember also reading something about it being more helpful to mix-up the order within each set. So, the first time, you would attempt A, B & C. The next session would be B, C & A... and so on... It's again something to do with managing (and pushing) the 'cognitive load'... but not so much so that fatigue becomes an issue. Similarly, with 'overlearning', that's more about dealing with something like a 'forgetting index', where you don't necessarily get the value from playing something you 'know' again and again... but you DO _schedule_ a time to again play 'the thing' you've learnt and can (reliably) 'play it well'; it just needs to be before the point where you start to make significant errors again when playing it. Overall, though, I think you _can_ very easily go overboard with all the analysis (which has always been _my_ problem)... and it's maybe better to just make sure you build and maintain your repertoire by always playing everything you know every so often... and deal with old/new playing errors as they occur by using these sorts of techniques.
Excellent comment! Yes, I totally totally agree! As far as interleaving goes, the research I read generally suggest to start with serial interleaving (ABC, ABC, ABC) and then switch to randomized interleaving (ABC, CBA, BAC) once the serial process begins to feel easy. Thanks again!
Fantastic and intelligent vid Diego. Bravo. 85% to 100% Success Rate!!!!! 😎👍Implementing a Practice Strategy, yes perfect. For me the most important element is Number 6 - Don't Beat Yourself Up!!!!!!! Admit to yourself that whatever it is is going to take time. Enjoy the ride. Something I took away from another TH-camr was the simple idea; "Hey, you can do this." Puts everything in perspective. And instills self-confidence. Thank you, great vid. You've gained a subscriber!! WOW, what an impressive catalogue of vids you have!!! A treasure chest!! And it's also Friday!!!!! 🤣
I'm now 71, I started playing guitar at the age of 12. Self taught, I learned to play piano/keys and bass guitar too, and played professionally for about 20 years. I played right handed, but after incurring severe left hand injuries in a car wreck, I am relearning to play left handed. It is the hardest thing I have ever done musically. But I'm on a mission, and this will help.
Damn, that is a hurdle. Wish you success in your journey
I’m sorry you have to deal with that, but your dedication is awesome and inspiring! I’m rooting for you! You got this! 💚
4 years since stroke. Play gtr 1x now. Hope is all I got
Good luck. I'm no expert on physical rehab, but I agree that this approach would be very helpful. There are two aspects worth considering. First the motor cortex is extremely good at rewiring itself. We see this especially when people lose fingers. The neurons rewire to increase the dexterity of the remaining fingers. But second, hemisphere is also very important. For example, reaction time vary based on which visual hemisphere the button you are pressing is located. Since the motor cortex is layed out as a kind of homunculus, its organization maps the body. Which is why the fingers can remap. The neurons are next to each other. I don't know how hemisphere and handedness affects the mapping. But there have to be researchers working on the problem. And if you could find one it would be win-win in the sense that you'd at least learn more about your situation. I'd guess that with the recent Neuralink success, they know much more today than in my day. Though each case is different and the Neuralink patient had a spine injury, not a brain injury. His brain produced the commands, they just didn't reach his muscles.
Finally it's worth looking into mental practice. Activating neurons helps and the brain can often remap its way around deficits or learn new ways of doing things. Hope you're making progress.
@mikem668 I have had 593 workouts. Written 3 books. And play harp. Guitar it's been 3 8 months. 2nd fingerpickin attempt. It's the fingers and right side is the problem
the best advice i got over the 50 years I've played was don't practice until you get it right, practice until you don't get it wrong.
You’re missing the most important point. HOW do you minimize errors: PLAY SLOWLY. As a rule, most reps should be at 50 percent of performance tempo, until the piece is fully learned. A metronome is necessary for this.
Indeed. Same thing with learning an athletic movement. Break it down into discrete parts and do it slowly. The idea is to learn it correctly so you are not ingraining bad technique.
WRONG. I wouldn't say to play everything as fast as you can, BUT I would never advise someone to learn to alternate pick slowly. The wrist and hand movements you make slowly during runs are NOT AT ALL the wrist movements you make while playing fast, meaning you're just wasting your time. Solution= split up your hands. Or in other words, first practice with each hand individually at tempo, then get faster and faster and faster. That whole practice slow bit only works ONCE you've learned to play fast
I partially agree. The goal is obviously to play however we want at whatever tempo we want given our ultimate musical goals. In order to do that, we first need to learn the basic mechanics of the movement and be able to play that correctly just ONCE (I.e., the baseline stage). That’s where we shift to the next stage which is to work on increasing tempo. In the fast stage, my preference is usually to increase tempo quickly and in big steps, and try to correct my mistakes at my fast tempo first. If a mistake is persistent (for me that means more than two times in a row.) then I think it’s important to slow down to correct it and then speed back up again. This stage is a constant toggling between fast and slow, where slow is only used to correct something “under a microscope.” What is also true is that there is no smooth transition from slow to fast. It’s just like going from a walk to a run. At some point, we just have to flip the switch and go fast. Same thing with musical instruments. Thank you so much for your comment! Very important thing to note! 🙏🏽
@@DiegoAlonsoMusicthis is what was missing from the video in the first place. When you say to limit the number of mistakes you don’t say how, but I guess you meant that if there are too many mistakes one should slow down until the error rate falls below 30%?
Absolutely. Do it slowly and perfectly. As slow as you need to do it perfect.
Practice doesn't make perfect.
Practice makes permanent.
Only perfect practice should get sped up.
I have been teaching the Guitar for more years than I care to remember and the most important thing I feel we need to pass on to our students is how to practice properly and productively. Many of the things you spoke of were things I tried to pass on but your detailed analysis of the processes I thought was excellent. It may well be that the most important thing was, a phrase I use very often, 'don't beat yourself up'. What you're trying to do is hard. It takes time. You are trying to teach your brain what you want it to do so that it can deliver the instructions to your hands efficiently and accurately just to get the notes right never mind making music. I am now subscribed. This is a really useful video. Well done.
Thank you so much! 🙏🏽🙏🏽
You are spot on!
I've been teaching for about 30 years, and I find this the most excellent video on practice
I've ever seen.
"An amateur practices until he gets it right, a pro practices until he can't get it wrong."
I heard a British rock n' roll guitarist say, years ago, "You don't really know a song unless you can play it with your eyes closed".I can play something well, seated, but if I stand to play it, the keyboard view changes too dramatically for me and it's a no-go. I think it was the violist W. Primrose who, when asked why he practices so much while in his 80s, he replied something along the line of "I'm starting to get pretty good." I'm 79 and my guitar playing ability hasn't peaked out yet, thank the dear Lord.
I was playing campfire songs recently. Genuinely sitting around a bonfire with friends at night. The Lyrics and chords were in a book which was lit using a lamp.
All of the open chords were no problem, including F and B/Bm barre chords. Then came a song with a whole load of barre chords and it was hopeless, as I'd look down at the neck and couldn't see where the frets were!!! So yeah To get good you need to be able to play in the dark.
Really good and succinct presentation! I’m a guitarist and newly-retired professor with about 35 years in the classroom - you know how to teach!
So glad you liked the video! And thank you for such a nice comment 🙏🏽
My teachers told me when practicing it's as if you put a red ball in a bag every incorrect repetitions and a green ball every correct one, and when performing you take a random ball from that bag. So make sure you have a lot of more of green.
Some really helpful advice in there and some new ideas which I had not heard which is good. But he forgot to mention or maybe I missed it. The most important thing you need to hammer into people's brains is. It is much better to play it slow and correct than it is fast and sloppy.
That might sound obvious but it's very easy to forget.
My daughter's cello teacher repeatedly stated that practice does NOT make perfect; practice makes permanent @ 7:08
@@elbruce3 agreed. Great comment. That's why it it critical that you never practise your mistakes which so many people do by trying to play at the correct speed way too soon.
I learned something similar from Ron Block (banjo player for Alison Krauss) He said that you have to pay close attention to any friction you perceive whether that is on the fretboard or on your picking hand. Even if you are hitting the notes just fine. If you feel like you are straining even in the most subtle of ways, that is one area you must focus on. It will come to bite you later if you ignore it. Such good advice that a lot of amateurs like myself don’t consider.
What I do is record my practice. If I’m feeling tension in my fretting hand, I will say something so that I can review the tape later to see what passage was making me tense up. I will also pay attention to my breathing to see if I hold my breath when I reach the same point in a tune. It also helps to watch someone else practicing to see at what point they tense up in a tune. In some cases, you discover that it is the same point where you tend to feel your playing going sideways.
Man, you really put together a good video. I'm a lifelong "self taught" type and this kind of advice is good stuff. I dig the thought process.
"Practice makes permanent, so practice perfectly."
Now that's a quote.
Greetings from the sunny climes of Basle, Switzerland
The analogy that I would use is weight lifting. When do you get strong when you are lifting weights? It's NOT when you are lifting the weights. It's when you are resting that your body makes itself stronger. That's why you don't need to do 50 reps to gain strength. (I'm not talking about body building here). A limited number of good reps challenges your neuromuscular system, but the body then needs time to process/heal/grow.
Following that thinking, musicians need to remember that the biggest part of the learning process is sleeping on what you practice.
I think that is what underlies what you are talking about here, both in limiting reps and in interleaving practice. The "actively learning" brain can only focus for a small period of time before it is overloaded. We must learn to have trust that our brain will process better when challenged at the appropriate level. Unfortunately, I think we all hear these stories of heroically long practices and we get invested in the idea that this is the path to perfection.
Excellent comment! I completely agree! 🙏🏽🙏🏽
@@gabbleratchet1890great post. I agree with the fundamental point here - it is really important that when practising a piece of music, as soon as you find you are making no more progress, STOP. Your brain will carry on working and will sort things out while you sleep. Tomorrow, like magic, you will find you have improved. Trust your brain - it really works. Don't over-strain; you will only resent practising.
I have 10 pennies. When I learn something new, I aim to play it 10x without a mistake. Do it once, move a penny. Make a mistake, move it back. It actually works.
That would be a much quicker video. Haha.
No one really teaches you how to practice. I’ve been experimenting all my life. Although I have always achieved my goals, learning the science of music practice is surely beneficial. Thanks very much for this video. I look forward to learn more about music practice from this channel.
@@AntoineVideoLibrary i totally agree. That is the biggest missing piece in music teaching in my view. Well said.
Thanks for posting. I’m 81 and play at my classical guitar, getting interested when I was already middle aged and starting and raising a family when I was already 45. They still live with me. However, I was motivated to keep up my practicing by listening your lecture. My goal is a pleasant sound on basic playing with some improvisation and, of course, some Brazilian. My own compositions are jazz and/or blues oriented. I also studied Tabla for about two years with professional private lessons. Unfortunately, my wife put hardwood floors in the house and made me quit the tablas, being worried about the circles in the floor! Any, thanks again for your generosity in posting so much info! 3:48
Yes , Professor, perfectionism is a fault .
My career as a Jazz Guitarist my rule was, play what you are going to perform for 14 days before the show.
10 days minimum, but this will get me to where I know the song inside and out, and it is right on my fingertips.
And all this wisdom and useful info for free?...gosh, what a blessing this era for the compulsive learners like myself. Diego, I´ve been beating myself up about my "evident" lack of talent and technical skills for forty years...And despite of it my guitar time has always been a therapy through almost my entire life. I dont have any professional motivation to keep on playing and learning but I´m really passionate about it. I´ve found your video AWESOMELY clear and informative about many questions I´ve been asking to myself for years about the eficiency of my practice sessions. The ABC clue is something that I´m going to raise to the next level from now on. I´m going to check right now the rest of your videos to find answers about the use of the metronome, how to speed it up for optimal learning and so on...BTW, very happy to see in one of your referenced studies the expression "GRADIENT-DESCENT"...a milestone in many MACHINE-LEARNING algorithms...so AI is also helping here...Fascinating era this is!! A big HUG from Bilbao, Spain and lots of luck and health for you and your loved ones. You are a blessing!!!
What a great comment! Thank you so much, Felipe! I’m so glad to help 🙏🏽❤️
There are many gems of advice here, thank you. If I might add one from the talented pianist and teacher, Nahre Sol, she suggests when repeating a note/phrase that has been played successfully, purposely wait a few seconds before the next repetition. To paraphrase her, that allows your brain to absorb the "correctness" of what you have just played before running through it again. Don't just repeat the correct phrase in an endless loop. This advice makes sense to me, and it seems to work (for me).
Excellent concise delivery of important and useful points without the filler the vast majority of videos like this include. Diego gets to the points and provide information that we can use now.
Good practice advise. As a brass player we are challenged to increase our range which is more a physical challenge and practicing upper range is different than finger dexterity of piano and guitar. I use the 3 times and your out rule. If you are trying to hit a higher note and fail 3 times then stop and take a break or try again in the next practice session. This prevents injury, bad habits, and frustration!
"Don't multitask"
*sweats in having been running scales and various note combinations with vibrato while I listened.*
When I am playing from a score, I spend time reading the score first. I say out loud what I’m seeing, and also comment on how I would play a passage (for example, a large part of the score can be played from the fifth position). I try to describe whatever I’m seeing in the score even if it is something obvious. I do this because it encourages me to organize what I’m seeing. This makes the first run through with a guitar in hand easier.
As a stroke survivor, this guidance is helpful. It is also consistent with what I've learned about neuroscience/neurophysiology during my rehabilitation. Thank you!
This is an excellent channel - thank you for creating it. Your informed advice is outstanding in quality and relevance, even as a musician who only rarely plays the classical guitar.
This is great material! I'm currently doing a PhD in motor skill learning (not music per se) and everything you mentioned is spot on. I would also add that we music learners should also cultivate the meta-cognitive skill of monitoring our own mental states, especially mental fatigue, and stop/take a pause before we reach a point of saturation. The Challenge Point Framework (=learning is optimal when there *is* some challenge but not overwhelming) is very helpful in understanding how we should practice. We should monitor how challenged we are and adjust our practice accordingly: is the passage too easy? Spice it up. Is it too challenging? Break it down to smaller easier pieces. The interleaved practice strategy can be seen as a means to spice up the practice and make it more challenging, so it should also be employed accordingly. If the passage we're practicing is already too challenging, by adding interleaved practice we make it worse and we hinder learning.
Thanks for the video, looking forward to more!
It's amazing how much more we know nowadays about the science of learning than we did back in the late 80s and 90s! I wish I knew all these things when I was an eager teenager trying to understand how to better practice... wasted so much time with the mindless, endless repetitions. At least I enjoyed them nevertheless lol!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge on the subject.
Diego, you are such an intelligent, talented and generous person. You are giving us Gold for free... Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will definitely look at everything you are putting out. Best wishes from Montreal, Canada.
Diego, thank you this is just the thing I need right now, unexpectedly the algorhithm has done me a favour! I should also say, this is one of the best produced videos I have seen on TH-cam - your presentation/production quality, the content, the length overall and you own manner of presentation are excellent! I am sending this to everyone I play with.
I just discovered this channel (and will be looking at some of your old videos!). Many thanks for this one.
I had learned a few of your points by trial and error. For instance practicing mistakes is bad and the effectiveness of interleaving. I often try to learn two or more pieces at once and find it is more effective. One other thing I've found that you didn't mention is to "sleep on it" ... don't try to work something to perfection in one sitting. It will usually be better/easier the next day.
I really appreciate the reference to studies throughout this video!
A topic I'd like to see more discussion about is days off from practicing something. Here's what I've noticed: I do several consecutive days of practice on a particular passage or song, then due to circumstance have to set it aside for a few days, but when I get back, it's markedly better than where I left it. Maybe there's small errors to clean up, but whatever it is usually feels much more comfortable. I'd guess the same mechanism that makes SRS learning so effective would also be influencing this, but it feels quite profound with motor skills, where cognitive skills don't seem to have that same boost.
Thanks for commenting! Glad you enjoyed the video. Yes, what you’re describing is essentially a spacing effect which helps consolidate newly learned information. I’ll make a more detailed video on this in the future. Thank you so much!
I’m a psychologist by day and gigging musician by night. This is fascinating. I just subscribed.
Hi! Thanks so much for commenting! I did my B.S. in psychology and am very interested in cognitive neuroscience. So fascinating! Glad you enjoyed the video 🙏🏽❤️
Great content, clearly explained and backed with evidence. Thanks for this!
Interesting and very articulate. Far more refined than my approach which has always been to bully a difficult part into submission.
I saw an interview with buddy guy who said that he just started incorporating mistakes into his playing. Some of those mistakes sounded good and they became the song. I love that idea.
Great video! I think that an issue correlated to this is: how to get on with a performance after making a mistake... I remember an interview with the great drummer and musician Bill Bruford who quoted one of his teachers: "when in doubt: roll!!!".
I am convinced that having strategies to cope with the mistakes we are bound to make can decrease the level of stress that comes with performing.
Thank you so much for your comment! Yes, absolutely absolutely. I will definitely make a future video on this. Performing is a whole different animal, which requires a lot of performance practice. That definitely includes a lot of strategies to deal with the emotional component of performance. Thank you again for your comment! 🙏🏽
While I didn't go to music school, I had many friends who did and basically told me that half of the battle in a performance major is to train your skill in being able to continue un-flustered in spite of a mistake. A mistake is much smaller if you can just fudge a few notes and carry on like nothing happened vs having to do a full reset. For a performing musician, its a critical skill to intentionally develop. Strategies will vary on the instrument and style/genre though :)
Thank you for this. I have been playing like a madman for over 50 years and this is the first time I have seen this information. EXCELLENT!!
I was watching some YT video (piano sight-reading) and he said that with very mentally taxing study and learning, you should take frequent breaks where you don't do anything. That way, your subconscious mind continues to process it. I take a break every 10 or 15 minutes (and go outside for a few minutes) when trying to figure out and play stuff from tabs.
Excellent info and presentation! It wasn't until my 60's that I discovered the steps you brought up in this video. I feel I am better able to learn new music or make technical improvements now than when I was younger and not using these methods.
I came across a couple ideas that you hint at, or state in a different way than how I state them. One is a reminder that learning has a biological aspect. Physiological changes occur. Specifically, one of the important aspects is the growth of myelin sheaths on the neurons involved in the practice. For this, I think of sleep as being a big component. We can only improve so far in a single session. But after sleeping and after some biological changes have occurred, sometimes we can pick up exactly where we left off and it will seem simpler or more comfortable, and it will be possible to push the envelope further from there.
Another idea I think about is that there are two nervous systems to consider: afferent and efferent. Often to improve, one has to break habits. To do so requires awareness, especially sensory awareness in the hands (depends on the instrument). Practice can/should be aimed at speeding up and improving awareness. I find that the practice of focusing awareness on a single point (perhaps a given finger, or as I play oboe, my tongue or jaw position or fluxes in breath pressure) can help unlock habits that consist of e a series of motions tightly chained together. IDK if this is widely known or if it has been investigated in the literature yet. Am looking forward to checking out your channel (I have subscribed) and learning more.
When I was in college (UC Berkeley) getting my Music degree, I took a couple courses in the Cognitive Psychology area. A lot of what I've figured out has been built on that foundation.
One good rule I've heard is to correct a mistake immediately. Back up and fix it. I find it often happens when moving along or across the finger board, between two notes. A few reps is often enough to establish the muscle memory. Tweaking the fingering often helps.
Absolutely fantastic video. Thank you so much your advice has been so helpful. I started playing the guitar in my 60s and your practise methods have been so helpful.
You have inspired an unorganized person to try to practice more organized. Cool and thanks!
@MichaelBLive header. Thanks for incouragement. I'm 90. % I think
Thank you for this valuable information! Practice is key in any discipline, but as you pointed out, it's so easy to get it wrong with the guitar. I'm already subscribed and excited for more of your fantastic content. Keep up the great work!
I love these tips.
I think if you're reaching only a 50% success rate for more than a couple of consecutive practice sessions, it's probably an indication that what you're attempting is too far beyond your current ability. That's where being strategic comes in. That might mean stepping back to something a little less challenging, but building toward the ability you struggle with, or it might be analyzing the problem and addressing it very specifically, for example by playing it slower, or breaking a longer exercize into chunks.
Es muy común que los cursos de guitarra (tanto libros como videos) vomiten todo el contenido pero ni te digan como consumirlos o practicarlos, tu canal se diferencia por eso, excelente.
Muy bueno master, saludos desde Chile.
Diego, so nice to hear your recommendations, which vocalized what I've felt over time. Now I've the language to communicate with others... and a tighter strategy to practice. Thank you.
This is brilliant, thank you! I'm so glad I just stumbled upon your channel. I'm a professional guitarist, though not in the classical realm. I wish I'd had access to this kind of information when I was first learning as a kid. My strategy then was simply to play for as many hours as possible each day. Consequently, it took me decades to figure out (from a lute instructor, funnily enough) that I first needed to relax. I'd never heard of the concept of 'interleaved practice' before but this makes so much sense. I greatly look forward to watching more of your videos, cheers!
Hi Diego I just subscribed to your channel. I’m 71 and have played guitar off and on since I was 11 when I took lessons from Joshua Van Heygen. Unfortunately I didn’t get very far as my youthful interest was all Beatles songs. I’m still not that good with the guitar but nevertheless enjoying my time practicing. My reason to write to you is that I teach Equitation Science and there are many correlations I find in your excellent breakdown of ‘how many repetitions and quality of such’, with regard to both human learning and horses learning.
My question is would it be possible for you to make a short video demonstrating the first 3 topics (#1 70%-85% Success Rate. #2 Keep Incorrect Reps Low and #3 Use Interleaved Practice). Perhaps using a short simple phrase/melody which you can then address the 3 topics and demonstrate visually what you have discussed in this video.
Thank you for your consideration.
Hi Jon! Thank you so much for your comment! Yes, I’ll definitely make a video demonstration ASAP. Thank you so much for this suggestion! Please let me know if there are any other Guitar challenges you’d like me to cover in future videos. I appreciate it!
@@DiegoAlonsoMusic Thanks Diego. Much appreciated .
The content was of course, very good. People who make music videos should learn from you. The acoustics were spot on. I don't know why people make videos in a live room with an echo. The background was excellent. Sparse, but relevant. You are sitting in a good position and maintain it. No reaching for stuff and knocking stuff over. No dogs barking. No telephone ringing. It seems obvious to us perhaps, but you had in depth information. All those faux pas distract. This was all about the information.
Great video, Diego! I am a 71 year old piano player and have played the live stage for 37 years. Your information is just as applicable to me. I find that I can perfect my musical parts at home with ease but being an ear-trained musician, when on stage I can't play these perfected parts very well due to the loudness of the band. I have tried various stage positions but nothing helps. I could invest in much louder monitors but that's just going to aggravate my hearing. I went to an audiologist and she said my hearing is on the low side of normal for a 71 year old. I make a lot of mistakes because I can't hear my piano parts as a balanced part of the group. The drums and bass are very loud. I fear my only answer is to resign. The band is a 50s, 60s, 70s group. Suggestions most appreciated. Many thanks!
You might want to try an in-ear monitor. That would allow you to adjust the mix in your ears instead having to compete with the band on volume. Just a suggestion.
@@josephgerbino4271 Thanks. I have a friend who just bought ear monitors from Shure. They were $1,000 but he swears by them. They filter out the echo and crowd noise of the venue he plays at as a regular entertainer. I shall consider it. Thanks again!!
Amazing Video! Thanks for taking your time to share it!
Subscribed. I’ve heard all of this before but this is the best explanation, with a plan, that I have seen.
Thank you so much for commenting! Happy to help!
Great vid. I play double bass, and recently I've got into swing bowing. A massive leap from my classical stuff. I picked up a real gem in this video to help me with this - in fact it's a kind of reaffirmation of what I already suspected; swing bowing is really about developing articulations - which is very heavy on the motor skills side of things - in fact I often find myself working on artics for 80% of my practice sessions.
However, this has helped me also realise there are two types of motor skills which need to be honed - those necessary for i) hitting the correct notes, and ii) articulations - i.e. 'one's voice'. And it's the latter I'm spending 80% of my practice time on. It's a big trade-off vis a vis what I could be working on - learning new music, scales etc. - but "rebirth is always painful". I keep telling myself that once the rebirth is acceptably accomplished, I can revert to a more balanced practice regimen..;-)
Thank you, great video that all beginners must see. You clearly want people to improve effectively and easily leading to quick, enjoyable progress. Excellent idea too= make it fun. And you do this without excess chatter . Now subscribed.
And I found out something that helped me- keep your instrument close by, easy to pick up.
Hey what are you doing when the water is boiling for tea or coffee ? -pick up that guitar1
Thank you again...from a returning beginner.
***
Oh, ONE REQUEST: as a former keyboard student, I've had a challenging time learning the fretboard.
CAN you make a video on the best way to learn the fretboard- perhaps a variety of methods? Cheers, DK.
Thank you for the detailed video and the recap at the end! Very helpful 🎉
I believe the main thing to be a good guitarist is to ask yourself WHY you want to learn,
what is it you expect to get out of hours of practicing your instrument.
Do you want to be famous? Do you want to play with a band and have fun?
Do you want to use your guitar chops to get women or men?
Do you want to be a guitar teacher?
Do you want to be the next Taylor Swift? or the next Segovia?
Do you imagine yourself in a tuxedo playing for the wealthy?
and finally, do you know yourself? Are you patient? tenacious? Perseverant? snobbish?
are you capable of working on a piece for years?
Are you physically strong enough to play your instrument?
Why do you want to learn fast? Do you want more pieces to your repertoire or
do you want to get to the women or men faster?
What are your intentions? I, personally, grabbed the guitar at 13 after
I saw how some of my friends who were in a band got all the girls.
If I had listened to this video 20 years ago, I would not have been able
to appreciate it.
Today, I play my guitar because I love it, I don't want anything out of it.
If somebody offered me 2 million dollars to come up with an album,
I would say no, thanks. I hate deadlines, I hate goals. I hate
travelling.
What gives me joy, it to explore the instrument, to practice triads
using only harmonics for example.
Know yourself, perhaps you don't even like playing your instrument.
This video is gold. Have you read any of Christopher Berg’s publications?
Hi! Thank you so much for commenting. I have not heard of Christopher Berg, but now that you mention him, I will definitely check him out. Thank you again! 🙏🏽
This is awesome. Some really good stuff. Thanky you Diego, cheers!
Terrific presentation. Sincere, smart and valuable advice. Glad I found this!! Answered questions I’ve had for YEARS
dude you are a savior. thank you so much. you just ended like 9 years of mindless guitar practice for me.
Thank you Diego! There are so many things here that I struggle with. I also know what my strengths are, like not rushing. I see so many post up a cover of a difficult song. The passion is there, but the accuracy or groove certainly are not. I won't post anything or even introduce anything to family until I have it down. But there are so many things discussed here that I need to work on. Thanks again!
Had to halt my practice when I saw this on my recommended. I need more of this. Subscribed!
Amazing vid, TYSM! Subbed instantly.
So many things you say resonate with what my teenage self intuitively came to realize trough the years back in the 90s when I became a musician. Interleaved practice, for instance, is something I found out enhanced my learning and I've always done but nobody taught me. Wish I had confirmation back then, but better late than never.
Thanks for sharing the science on it all!
This is super helpful! The specific numbers help out a lot, can’t wait to try
Really great video and well articulated. Thanks for recording and sharing this.
I am a classical violinist. This video was incredibly helpful. This advice works for all instruments. Thank you!
A friend who is both a personal trainer and a guitar teacher really recommends interleaving as well.
Great lesson, thank you. I’ve often wondered: is there any research on the minimum speed to adopt on the first play of a figure? In the extreme, imagine an arpeggio that takes place at 60 bpm in the performed piece, but it would make no sense to attempt it at, say, 60 beats per day. What is the thinking in the lower tempo bound?
Hi! Thanks for your comment! I haven’t seen any research on minimum tempo. It may be a bit too subjective. What I have found works best as an initial goal is to play through small passages of music from memory at a slow enough tempo that allows you to play with correct rhythm and w/o errors. I like to think of this as my baseline. After that, I’ll begin adding expressive variation and increases in tempo. Hope that helps!
Thanks!
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed the video! 🙏🏽
Thank you so much for this video and your wonderful community of commenters. I’ve been playing guitar for 30+ years and I always seem to randomly miss notes when playing songs now I know why. 😊
I'm 63 and have played guitar for three years. I struggle with massive reps, over weeks, to get a song down. I need to be more efficient. I took a lot of notes from this video. I'm also going to join the fb page.
@@brianhay4024 How are you working on a song? And that's probably related to what kind of songs they are.
When I got started seriously - not from scratch - I had larger goal. Clapton, Hendrix, Garcia, and Mayer were my models. I started with blues. Then I realized my approach was too wide, and that Garcia and Mayer were only partly blues focused. Because Garcia was a bluegrass guy - I messed around with the banjo - and a composer, and Mayer was learning his songs, I decided to focus on Dead songs. Ideally I tried to learn the melody first. Then the rhythm part, followed by the solos from transcriptions. For example, the studio version of Franklin's Tower has an Intro and two main solos. Each teaching me or improving something different: Bends, Chord Tone Soloing, scales. I learned one solo first. Then I found out it was different than the transcription. So I forget both, though I remember the Intro and other Solo pretty well.
Each Dead tune, all written by Garcia, teach me something different. I think I can play 6 now. What interesting is related to the video. It feels like what it call interleaving. Each song or riff improves everything else. Both motor and cognitive. Sometimes I have a ha moments. I'm not saying you can't do this playing a little of this and a little of that. But there are stories about the greats focusing and taking what might be called a master class on one guy. I think the point and mystery of this class is why doing one thing improves a different thing. Don't quote me, but I read somewhere that exercising one leg strengthens the other somehow.
I also think that knowing the lyrics helps. Not sure why. Maybe it frees the motor system to play more loosely. We missed the opportunity to form a band and play Louie Louie at a high-school dance. I played concert, but only once had I memorized my part. I think that being a kid, practicing for a dance, and just doing it is best done early. I asked a friend who'd done it and most of my questions were irrelevant. He'd started out with Mel Bay, lessons, a Fender Bassman and a 59 Les Paul and just did it. Too bad he didn't keep the guitar for his retirement.
@@mikem668 Mostly Rock songs. I write out the lyrics and chords, look for patterns and the main riff (if there is one). I figure out how I'm going to play it and then play along with a slowed recording.
I practice endlessly and still get lost in the song (e.g. I loose track of the verse or similar). My playing is inconsistent. This morning I played the song with F shaped bar chords. This afternoon I had to use power chords on the same song. If I play the song almost every day for months, and at rehearsal, I get more comfortable. I'm sure some of it's age but I hate to admit it.
@@brianhay4024We all get lost. Even John Mayer gets lost. Couple comments then a suggestion. Is it possible the song you choose are too complicated? Or too far above your current level? Are they reinforcing each other? By that I mean are they coming from the same musical universe? For example early rock n roll and punk, maybe some country are three chords and the truth. Neil Young played endless solos in his early days. Sounds crazy, but lots of experienced musicians have used single string exercises to advance their playing. Do you learn the melody by itself?
My eyes were opened by Tomo Fujita's lesson on triad. Three strings, one chord. The open D on strings 1 to 3 is an example. That triad is a 5th Root 3rd. A D F#. D triads of different shapes can be played on three strings across the neck and down the fretboard.Fretboard. Here's where it gets complicated.
Every note on the guitar can be represented in a different way. The note name, say C. String/Fret position. 5th string, 3rd fret. But... there are many other C's on the fretboard. C is also a part of a scale. And scales or modes can be represented as patterns, notes, or intervals. Or as part of chords. It's a combinatorial explosion. Which eventually will come together to some degree. John Mayer talks in terms of neighborhoods. You might have heard of the B B King box. Mayer says when you're in a neighborhood you know, you're comfortable. When you move out of it, even he gets lost. Blues for John. No problem. Jerry Garcia, way more danger of getting lost. What's interesting is that you can hear him learning the neighborhood over his years with Dead & Company.
Music theory can help you understand what you're doing when you learn to play a song. Not completely and not necessary. But at some point understanding pays of. You see why X works, then try it somewhere else, at Y, and it works too. Sometimes you cross from the 3rd string to the 2nd and no joy. In my experience it's a slow accumulation of knowledge. It won't necessarily help your fingers immediately, because you needs to build motor memory.
Back to C. There's a C chord. C E G. It's Major. It also has two inversions. It can be described numerically as Root (1) 3 5. Those are also the notes in C Major: C(1) D E(3) F G (5) A B C. But if those 3 notes are part of a different scale or mode, they may have a different function. A Major chord can be described as a minor 3rd (E to G) on top of a Major 3rd (C to E). Those are intervals. The A minor pentatonic can be played as either minor or major, depending on where you start. A C D E G A is minor. Starting on A, C is the b3 ir minor third. A C# E is Major. But if you start in C then C D E G A C is Major. 1 2 3 5 6 1(the octave). It's the beginning of My Girl.
Overwhelming for sure. But eventually it starts to hang together. But it comes in bits and pieces. So much to learn, but so much help out there.
John Mayer calls this reverse engineering. Take one of the songs you know. Try and figure out how it works. Try and figure out why it's different. I love the song D'Yer Mak'er by Led Zeppelin. A Doo Wop chord progression with a Reggae beat. I didn't figure it out myself. I read it somewhere.
Apologies if this is overwhelming. I'm still learning it myself. But I feel it kicked me from Beginner into Intermediate. Something I never thought would happen.
Thank you. Struggling to reach perfection, the best advice I got was, that I could not do it without mistakes. I will definitely try this out.
Can you make a video on building fretting ring/pinky finger strength and consistency? Thank you
Hi! Thank you for commenting! Yes, I’ll definitely make a video in general on building finger, agility and consistency. Thank you again for your comment! 🙏🏽
Wow thank you so much for all these tips. This is a very valuable research fir anyone hoping to become better at playing instruments. I’ve casually applied the tip i learned here which is to only practice the part i make errors on and i noticed a quicker process i’ve made. Now i came back to learn the rest of the tips and will apply them now😇
Just found this channel. I think I will find it very helpful. Thanks!
Neuroscience claims that after a practice session one should rest. The best is to sleep and if not just rest and nothing else... not like ok lets rest an watch something.... just rest.
I have a friend who is a famous Australian singer, guitarist and song writer and I have had the privilege of working with him many times in his studio which is at his home and he does exactly this after about 4 or 5 hours or whenever he feels the need to rest. He actually has a lounge/bed in the studio to lay on and then after he is rested, he takes a small walk around the block to clear his head and then he is fresh and ready to listen to how his work is going and continue if he feels like it. Great suggestion buddy. Definitely works.
Excellent advice! This applies to any musician. Thank you for sharing your expertise! I will apply these ideas and share them with my students. 🙏🏻🎻
Well presented. I am definitely a follower of The bulletproof musician. Glad you you follow him. I do a lot of interleave practice, but I had never thought of the repetition strategy in terms of a specific percentage. I do track progress heavily in a journal. Thanks for this good description
Good advise. That makes it a lot easier to adjust the difficulty of what my practise.
Awesome! will try it!
Love this! Would be awesome if you could illustrate what the 70%-85% success rate means exactly on a few examples. Suppose for instance I’m working on increasing my speed on a simple chromatic exercise like the spider. Is the idea that I should select the bpm where I make about one mistake for every four cycles through the exercise?
That’s an excellent question and suggestion! I’ll definitely follow this video up with another one where I demonstrate how this works. The idea would be too isolate the exact error first. You want to stop when you make the error and then correct it first by slowing down through the error. If that repetition is correct, you want to repeat it again. At that point, I usually challenge myself a little bit more and try to increase my tempo. If I make a mistake again, I’ll slow down a bit. Then I keep playing that slow-fast-slow game until I build my speed up to my desired tempo. I hope this helps! Thank you again. 🙏🏽
Another aspect of this is where on the fretboard you're trying the 'spider' exercise. Higher on the fretboard means the fingers are closer together but you may feel cramped. Lower down and you may have trouble with the stretching.
Also p'raps consider only working across a couple of strings. If you only do the spider on the high E and B strings, around the 5th fret, maybe try moving up one fret... OR include the G string in the exercise (3 strings)... OR move the 2 strings you play on down to the B and G strings (still 2 strings but the action/tension will be a different 'finger load').
Try and isolate the 'scope' of where you're getting into strife... and that will help you better target what you're having troubles with and where the trouble does (not) occur.
1 more tip I would like to add, always practice to a metronome/backing track. My fav technique is to start at 60 bpm, next go to 70, next 65 then 75. So up 10 down 5 and repeat. This is specially helpful for learning fast lines. Make sure you can play clearly on given bpm before moving to next.
Back in the 60s, I learned many songs on guitar, some of which had errors in them, (either mis-learning from a record or a band mate) but still sounded good. Now, many years later, I started playing again, and found that I wanted to play the songs correctly....and it came as a mild surprise that it was actually harder to relearn the incorrect parts than to learn the song correctly the first time. Still, I just decided that it was actually fun to relearn the correct way and gives me much satisfaction to accomplish this. Besides, at my age, my brain really needs the exercise!
Yes but it still a good challenge. It's harder to relearn than to learn from scratch. But don't see that as a negative.
thanks for the advice. I don't remember you talking about the speed of practice. One big thing I got from my teacher Christopher Berg was to practice very slowly in decide where each finger is going to go exactly in slow motion and only bring up the speed when it's done correctly. I wonder if you've talked about speed in a different video. Thanks.
Hi! Thank you so much for your comment! Yes, that is absolutely correct. We should always start very slowly When learning something to make sure that everything is done correctly. Then we work on gradually speeding up until we make a mistake. That’s the point where I would apply the strategies I mentioned in this video. I’m working on another video where I discuss playing slowly. Please stay tuned. Thanks!
great video , the repetition section is an eyeopener regarding the nummers it's a releave not always to go for perfection from the start!!!
On the subject of individual differences, I've always struggled with consistent practice and practicing towards a purpose. I've found Sam Griffin's advice of "keep your guitar near you" helps with the first thing and when it comes to practicing with a purpose it's all about the song I'm playing. I have to choose something I like, that isn't too easy or too hard, and that I am willing to see through till the end. Classical songs are great for this because they're often broken up into different sections of different difficulty, and I'll often get one section for free, one that requires a bit of practice and the last one that requires a good deal of practice. This way it's not just boring practice, I get to play the part of the song I know and enjoy it, and I'm incentivized to learn the rest of it.
Exactly. You know yourself. That is what I preach.
I like what Van Halen once said: (paraphrasing) "Who is the guitar god that says how
you should hold the guitar or sit or practice or fret the notes."
Great advices here. Thanks 🎸
Well done, !! scientific studies is a must for a professional and effective advices, i much appreciated that, also i wished you had covered evidence based techniques such as neuroscience corelates, exercing before going to sleep for better brain synapse network consolidation, corelation between frequency and duration of sessions, few weeks of aerobic exercises before starting to learn new things, corelates between frequency of repetitions and memory recall persistence such as repeting after 3 days , ensures on average a good recall after 3x3 days and repeating after 6 months ensures an acceptable recall after 3x6 months and so in ...
Hi again, looking back on some of your practice related episodes I found some of my wishes already or partially addressed, so many thanks maybe have a look at the rest in case it make sense 🎉
I'm watching this for just 24 seconds and I realize what 8 hours a day for about 8 months did for me back on my twenties and I just found out John Coltrane played 11 to 15 hours a day for years. I'm not sure what the rest of this video says but Coltrane is pretty hard to argue with. and it's not about practice. it's that you love it so much you can't stop and sure you want to see how good you can get. countless hours is the answer.
More practice is always better if you can manage it. But:
* At 11 to 15 hours a day, you are definitely WELL into the realm of diminishing returns on your time-to-results investment.
* Related to the above, you only have so much you can actually learn in a day. I doubt 11-15 hours a day is actually high focus work that Diego is talking about
* Thus it's likely not as an efficient use of your "total hours" towards a project. For example, a 1000-hour person who practices 3-6 hours a day vs a 1000-hour person who practices 11-15 hours a day, I'd put my money one the first person, because you are giving your brain time to actually learn effectively (Andrew Huberman has some great science backed information on learning and how important it is for sleep to learn effectively). It's the same reason body builders don't work out every single day and rarely target the same muscles on consecutive days - you need to recover. Same for your fingers, and the same principle applies to the brain.
* Practicing that much risks physical injury for most people, especially as you age
* Most people don't need to be coltrane level :)
So yes, more practice is almost always better, but I think it's important not to lose people who think they need to invest ungodly amounts of time just to be effective as a musician. Most people can get very far with just a bit of consistent deliberate practice. Most people simply don't do that in the first place, let alone for 10+ hours a day
Real good statement, and l heard that bass player for EWF( Earth Wind and Fire) Verdine White practiced 8 hrs a day on bass
I wonder what ‘Trane did in those 11 hours of practice? I’ve read that he would practice the same phrase over and over for hours. For example, he would practice an arpeggio study written for violin. This, I assume, could have been the whole Etude or just part of it. He’s also said to have worked on his tone. He played certain chord progressions. I assume that this was to work out the different ways to anticipate a chord change.
Coltrane was asked in the 1960s how much he then practiced. His answer was that he practiced much less than before.
@@RyanCacophony I think if you did do a long session like that as I've done occasionally you will notice after taking two or even three days off to let the brain do its thing, there will be a step up in your playing
I've noticed that when I sleep on it after a learning session I improve a lot the next day.
take two days off after a good session and the 'fresh feel' coupled with obvious improvement is a real buzz when you come back
While the interleaving concept presented is good (short time frame spaced repetition), the repetition question I believe can be answered purely with binomial analysis.
For a given piece of music and tempo, decide on the proficiency level you want to achieve (probability you can play the piece at tempo with no mistakes) which determines how many times you should be able to play the piece in a row without error or how many times you can play it and only play it wrong once.
If you want to play with 95% proficiency, you should be able to play it 7 to 8 times playing it incorrectly once.
If you want to play it with 99% proficiency, you should be able to play it 7 to 8 times in a row with no mistakes.
All of this is based on using 95% confidence level criteria.
Thank you for this very thoughtful video. The strategies you recommend are the same ones my instructor uses. I can say they are very helpful. The problem is, I forget when I am at home on my own and revert back to my anxiety driven need for success. Being an old woman, it is hard to teach me new tricks! 😊
lol. I can relate.
A mighty useful video. I'd add a couple of thoughts, though...
While 'interleaved learning' is a good thing... I remember also reading something about it being more helpful to mix-up the order within each set. So, the first time, you would attempt A, B & C. The next session would be B, C & A... and so on... It's again something to do with managing (and pushing) the 'cognitive load'... but not so much so that fatigue becomes an issue.
Similarly, with 'overlearning', that's more about dealing with something like a 'forgetting index', where you don't necessarily get the value from playing something you 'know' again and again... but you DO _schedule_ a time to again play 'the thing' you've learnt and can (reliably) 'play it well'; it just needs to be before the point where you start to make significant errors again when playing it.
Overall, though, I think you _can_ very easily go overboard with all the analysis (which has always been _my_ problem)... and it's maybe better to just make sure you build and maintain your repertoire by always playing everything you know every so often... and deal with old/new playing errors as they occur by using these sorts of techniques.
Excellent comment! Yes, I totally totally agree! As far as interleaving goes, the research I read generally suggest to start with serial interleaving (ABC, ABC, ABC) and then switch to randomized interleaving (ABC, CBA, BAC) once the serial process begins to feel easy. Thanks again!
This sounds like really good advice - some new ideas for me to try out
Fantastic and intelligent vid Diego. Bravo. 85% to 100% Success Rate!!!!! 😎👍Implementing a Practice Strategy, yes perfect. For me the most important element is Number 6 - Don't Beat Yourself Up!!!!!!! Admit to yourself that whatever it is is going to take time. Enjoy the ride. Something I took away from another TH-camr was the simple idea; "Hey, you can do this." Puts everything in perspective. And instills self-confidence. Thank you, great vid. You've gained a subscriber!! WOW, what an impressive catalogue of vids you have!!! A treasure chest!! And it's also Friday!!!!! 🤣
As a bass player who plays new songs most weekends, I needed to know this
Thank you - excellent advice. And nice room, I like the set up.
Very good lesson also using scientific method, with RCTs. Excellent video thanks!
The best thing you said is have fun and stay relaxed But i did like the video, thankyou.