Soft Repetition

Planning out a logical plan for improvement.

A common shortcoming when I overhear students practice is in preparing the tough licks.

Most realize that a key element in conquering a tricky passage is repetition. Some however wanting instant gratification, will attempt difficult passages at full speed, repeating the same mistakes over and over again. The idea one supposes, is that if you beat your head long enough against a brick wall, it will eventually cave in through shear force.

Once in a masterclass, I heard Yo-Yo Ma caution a student to not force the sound from his instrument, but rather to “pull” or “draw” the sound. While for the cello this makes literal sense (since cellists use a bow), I think that Ma was communicating a deeper meaning.

Yes, repetition is indeed a key element in improving but there is more effective repetition method than “pounding it silly.” It is softer, more methodical approach.

Weeks – even months – before the target performance date:

1. Get a metronome, a pencil and a piece of paper.
2. Isolate the problem area in your music and find a tempo where it can be performed perfectly five to ten times in a row. This tempo will most likely be substantially slower than the performance tempo.
3. Write down this tempo and begin a journal.
4. Once you can execute the passage perfectly, move the metronome up one notch and repeat the slow-repetition process. Make note of these progressions in your journal.
5. Continue this method until you hit the wall and can no longer play it perfectly, then STOP. This is your boundary for the moment.
6. Calculate a chart of where you are now and where you need to be for the performance.Do a little rough math and figure out a progressive plan. This should include target tempos spread out from the present to the performance – aim to have the passage at full tempo a few weeks before the performance.
7. Stick to this plan, refining it as needed.

While this plan does not provide instant gratification, it does produce better long-term results.

This Francaix Divertimento piece for example, took months of preparation.

While I would like to say that I woke up one day and was gifted with the instant virtuosity to pull this off, the truth is that it took a long-term plan to figure it out.

Rather than trying to hammer down the “wall,” the soft repetition method

lets the wall wither and fall down.

As noted in “The Inner Game of Tennis,” the key is trying softer not harder.

In a related item, Sergeant First Class Gregory W. Alley of the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point has written a good article that covers the basics of concert preparation.

• Great Practice Equals Great Performance

It is worth checking out.