The 2 Secrets to Practicing HARD Music
I got sucked into the Amazon Prime Day vortex this morning and bought a pull up bar. Yay consumerism!
Once upon a time, I could do a decent amount of pull ups. But it’s been a while, and I know getting back in the game ain’t gonna be easy.
Don’t worry – I have a plan.
It’s the same strategy I use for practicing hard music:
Calibrate the difficulty and measure the results.
In the pull up world, calibrating and measuring are pretty straightforward…
Set out to do X number of pull ups and record your results.
If you don’t hit your target, recalibrate the difficulty of the goal for next time, i.e., set out to do fewer pull ups.
Rinse and repeat.
The music application of this strategy is the same.
Let’s use transposing a lick as an example “exercise.”
Set out to transpose a lick in X number of keys at Y tempo. Write down your results in your practice journal.
If you fall short, you can recalibrate the exercise by reducing the number of keys or slowing down the tempo.
Alternatively, you can cut the lick in half or choose a new, easier lick and start over.
Just don’t end up hitting your head against the wall and burning yourself out.
The advantage of doing pull ups is that your body will not let you do more than you can handle. Eventually your arms will burn out, and you will literally be unable to pull up.
Music doesn’t have the same clear-cut indicator of when it’s time to recalibrate.
So, it’s important that you stay vigilant while in the shed, making sure that you’re using your time productively and not just practicing a bunch of mistakes. Remember: your goals should be hard but not impossible.
Try out the process described above with Licks for Days – the ultimate source for classic and modern jazz vocabulary on Major 7, Minor 7, Dominant 7, Half Diminished 7, and Fully Diminished 7 chords.
And if you’re really ready to get to work, ignore the included transposed sheet music so you can do the heavy lifting in your head!
https://go.jeffschneidermusic.com/licks-for-days
- Jeff