Maximise Brain Power | Spaced Repetition in Piano Practice

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One of my favourite books on Piano by Heinrich Neuhaus ‘The Art of Piano Playing’ advises that we should work relentlessly on something until we master it - and that moving from one thing to another is akin to keep removing a kettle from the stove and wondering why the water isn’t boiling.
We also know that ‘repetition is the mother of learning’ - although if it were as simple as all this, then we’d all be top class pianists! So, there must be something more than this.
Another proven learning method is that of ‘Spaced Repetition’ - whereby we purposefully put gaps between our repetitions of something to help cement the learning process.
On the face of it, these would both seem to be opposing viewpoints. However, I think we can actually reconcile them by adding detail to the analogy of ‘letting the water boil’ by quantifying how much water are we going to try to boil at any one point in time. An entire piece or even a small passage might feel like ‘boiling the ocean’ if we attempt to ‘work relentlessly on it until it’s finished’. Whereas a smaller section or even just a specific task (such as working out the fingering), might be enough ‘water to boil’ in any one sitting.
Indeed, I did talk about this idea originally in the article linked here:
tommyspianocor...
This video then makes suggestions for how we might combine these to ideas to give us something where the whole ends up being greater than the sum of the parts (one and one might just equal three).
I have used a piece I learned recently to demonstrate how we can do this. It's Rachmaninov's Prelude in D Major. I will shortly release a tutorial for it.
Other videos on my channel that I mention here are:
How to learn new music faster | • How to learn new music...
The Henle Level of Difficulty system | • How to know how diffic...
The 'Simplify' Piano Practice Technique | • Piano Practice | Simpl...
EQUIPMENT:
Full details of all equipment used are available on my blog at the address below:
tommyspianocor...
Filmed on an iPhone 13 Pro - using the Filmic Pro app
Piano Audio captured on a Zoom F6 using a matched pair of Rode NT5 microphones (see my review of the F6 here : • Record Piano | 5 Reas... )
Voiceover captured on a Rode SmartLav microphone plugged into an iPhone 6S
Video editing done using Lumafusion
Audio editing done using Garageband (voiceover) and Cubase LE Elements (piano).
SOCIAL MEDIA:
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Twitter: @tommyspianocor1
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tommy@tommyspianocorner.com

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2 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 25

@PabloGambaccini 3 месяца назад

I do another type of interleaving, but with the same idea. I usually learn/teach a piece, following the piece order, but interleaving the semi phrases, like semi phrase A, then B, then A B, then C, then D then C D, then ABCD, and then go to the next section. It's usually very efective in order to memorize pieces. For repertoire I use flash cards to organize my study. When I revise pieces I study the one that comes in the top of deck, then if after playing it I feel it still needs work, I put it after the next one on the deck, if it was ok, in the middle of the deck and if it was easy at the bottom of the deck, in that way I guarantee the spacing of the repetition and I give the more difficult pieces more frequent study. 💪

@TommysPianoCorner 3 месяца назад

I think I use a similar system for some pieces. I think the ‘right’ way to practice a piece very often depends on the piece itself. I showed how I interleaved this particular piece, but for others I would apply the same principle, but execute slightly differently. What you describe makes perfect sense - I’ll definitely see how I might incorporate that into my own practice !

@thekeyoflifepiano 3 месяца назад

I can't remember the source, however the music psychologist Noa Kageyama had a blog article where he talked about interleaving is the more effective practice technique (compared to not interleaving) , despite the fact that it feels less effective from the point of view of the learner.

@TommysPianoCorner 3 месяца назад

I think from the learner’s point of view it can feel like a lot of bother and we often just want a ‘simple hack’ that will do the trick. I think that often (although perhaps not always) complex problems will need a rather more sophisticated solution. Where I find the real value here lies is on limiting the amount of material used so that we can ‘boil water’ so to speak

@PleasurableLearning 3 месяца назад

Very interesting to see spaced repetition and interleaving practice applied to more procedural domains such as piano. I am an expert of spaced repetition and close to an ignorant about piano. Do you use any app to schedule the repetitions such as Anki or Supermemo? (I know some people for the latter and it is excruciatingly rare)

@TommysPianoCorner 3 месяца назад

I don’t use a specific app. Piano practice contains many elements - memorization, physical coordination, musicality etc and so the best way to use spaced repetition likely depends on the task in hand. For example, some skills if practiced for too long at a time can be injurious and so this needs to be taken into account. Different levels of pianism can mean any one person will have different thresholds of concentration etc. I think the basic approach needs to take this kind of thing into consideration at an individual level

@LiliVG 3 месяца назад

Super helpful! Before listening to this video I started doing something similar but granted, haphazardly because I wasn’t sure it would work. I will now proceed but in a more disciplined way. Thank you!

@TommysPianoCorner 3 месяца назад

I think we often start haphazardly as we try to work out ways to progress more quickly or reliably. As we start to see results, we tend to get more methodical. This has been my experience anyway. Let me know how you get on!

@LiliVG 3 месяца назад

I will, thank you. Lili

@thenewninja4726 3 месяца назад

i tend to get dissatisfied and stuck on one thing not liking my results. i guess ill start boiling less water

@TommysPianoCorner 3 месяца назад

It’s certainly worth a try. My experience has been always go with less than you initially think you can manage. Sometimes, a tricky passage can boil down to a single note - it can be worth just focusing in on that note rather than keep trying to get the entire passage :-)

@hungryformusik 3 месяца назад

I‘m learning Jazz Piano which is a completely different thing with almost no sight reading involved. Nevertheless, I have experienced that pausing frequently during a practice session gives better results. Having seen this excellent video, I will now try to practice something different instead of pausing, and see how this turns out. By the way, I‘m also using an App to monitor on which topics I‘m working. It‘s called Toggle Track and it‘s free for what I‘m using it.

@TommysPianoCorner 3 месяца назад

@@hungryformusik from what I’ve heard, jazz pianists also spend time working on different tasks so it might be an idea you can incorporate - let me know how you get on :-)

@jayden6361 3 месяца назад

I just discovered your channel through this video. I really like the concept and will try it - so thank you for the video. Apologies if this is addressed in another video, but would you do this multiple pieces at once? For example, if you were going to practice for 1-2 hours, would you do 20 mins (to use you the example in the video) on this piece, then move to another and apply the same technique?

@TommysPianoCorner 3 месяца назад

I’m pleased the idea interests you. I tend to work on several pieces at the same time as I practice for around 3 hours most days. I do use this technique with all of my pieces now. If I’m trying to finish a piece for a deadline, then I’ll often interleave it by practising it for 20/25 minutes, move on to some other pieces and then come back to it on the same day. Once you get into the habit, you’ll likely find that you just sort of do it without really thinking about it :-) Let me know how you get on.

@alisongray6786 3 месяца назад

Quite by coincidence I just looked at this prelude for the first time today, its been on my wish list for a while and I recently got the score. I'm not sure if I'm going to work on it yet though as have multiple other pieces on the go, but when I do I might try your approach as I tend to just work methodically from beginning to end so it could be an interesting experiment.

@TommysPianoCorner 3 месяца назад

I’m actually planning to record a tutorial on that prelude in the next few weeks so hopefully that will be available in time for you. Let me know if this ‘interleaving’ approach works for you. I too used to just work methodically (generally from the end forwards), however I find this approach naturally encourages me to devote more time to those parts that need it. It will be interesting to see if it works for you :-)

@mariaqi7950 3 месяца назад

Useful video. May I ask what you use for a practice app?

@TommysPianoCorner 3 месяца назад

Thanks. I created my own app in fact. It runs on my iPad.

@SeaDrive300 3 месяца назад

Very helpful, thank you! 🙂

@TommysPianoCorner 3 месяца назад

Delighted to hear it. I hope ie works well for you

@homamellersh8446 3 месяца назад

Thank you for the advice.

@TommysPianoCorner 3 месяца назад

You’re very welcome. Let me know if it works for you too :-)

@homamellersh8446 3 месяца назад

@@TommysPianoCorner yes thank you , have just been practicing one bar that had a big jump, which produced better results, so now I’m going to leave that bit till tomorrow,and see how well ,it has penetrated the black hole in my tiny brain 😀 .

@TommysPianoCorner 3 месяца назад

@@homamellersh8446 it always helps me