As you know, musicians spend a significant amount of time perfecting their skills. But, top performers practice smart! So, if you want to get ahead, consider learning a few hacks.
— February 5th, 2021
Below we will go over a few music psychology hacks to help you master your music:
Practice deliberately
If you’re stuck while practicing, do not stress about what you are doing wrong. The fact that you’re stuck means you’re trying to get somewhere. Thus, practice deliberately.
Deliberate practice means being aware of what you’re doing and never going on autopilot because you’re present. It is the quickest way to improve a skill.
Play music fragments
Music breaks into fragments; a fragment can be one line of a song. Skilled musicians focus on chunks of music rather than an entire piece, as working on small objectives can help you reach your goal faster.
You cannot run a marathon without learning how to walk!
Try “mental practices”
One weirdly useful music technique is “mental practice.” Here, you use your imagination to scheme a practice session. You can do it during a break, during lunch, or before bed.
Top performers stay in shape by practicing in their heads!
Interrupt yourself
If you’re stuck, take a 10-minute break. Leave the room, do something else, go for a walk. You’ll come back refreshed with new ideas.
Know that this hack tends to work better when you don’t time your practice. You don’t know when you’ll get stuck, so the timing for productivity is like catching butterflies in the dark. Half an hour can be productive on Monday and frustrating on Tuesday.
Don’t be afraid to improvise!
Creativity means breaking away from order and stirring away from your comfort zone!. Studies find that improvising, especially on an instrument, engages the brain’s creative-thinking parts; jazz pianists are known to be more creative than their classical counterparts.
Let yourself break away from order to explore new territory. Your best performance will be scary and exhilarating.
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This article is a re-post, with small modifications, of “6 Clever Music Hacks That Speed Up Learning” an article published on lifehack.org by Grace Miles.
