The Band-Aid Approach to Practicing Music

You might not have heard of the band-aid approach to practicing music and that’s OK. It is an effective practice technique I came up with years ago and continue utilizing. It increases effectiveness to practicing and I share it with all my students.

When it comes to practicing, I strive for efficiency. I want to get as much done as I possibly can within the time I have. I wish I could practice all day long but my schedule rarely permits it – instead I have to find times to practice and make sure that I get as much benefit from it as I can in the time that I have.

There are many practice techniques available and there are dozens of problems musicians face in their playing and development. This technique is really designed to help you zero in on a specific problem you are having. As a musician, you will encounter specific problems in some areas of your music. This is where you will want to focus most of your energy.

So how do you use this technique? Start with a piece of music and play it through until you have a problem. Let’s say you missed a note. Now instead of starting from the begging of the piece and playing it over again, jump to right where the problem is. Keep working on your trouble section until you iron out the correction. Play it many times over and over again until you can play it effortlessly. Then go a measure or two before your trouble phrase and play it from there many times until it comes together nicely. Then, play the entire section or piece again. Basically, you are putting a bandage on the problem area and making sure it sticks!

I have found this technique incredibly helpful over the years. Please try it out and let me know if it works for you. Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729