How to Practice Music Well, Summarized

Music practice!

Music is a discipline in which methodical, rigorous learning brings pleasure. Unsure what exactly this means? Please keep reading.

Learning music requires daily practice. Progress and joy in seeing the fruits of your labor are guaranteed—if you practice well.

How does one practice well? That is the question. (For young children, an adult's thoughtful and understanding guidance is highly desirable.)

There is a methodical, rigorous way of learning that brings you the pleasure of playing beautiful music well. For over a decade, I have used the following paragraph to summarize this “not so secret” and dependable way, leading to great progress for my students in France. I am glad to share it with you:

Whenever I make a mistake or hesitate in music, I pause and work on the challenging point, also including a note before and after it. I don't waste my time going back to the beginning and repeating the same mistake over and over. On the contrary, I'm happy to stop and overcome any difficulty I may face. When I've got it right, I repeat that passage accurately three times in a row. I don't worry if a mistake comes back several times: this is perfectly normal and happens to all good students, including me. I simply correct it again, and I note with pleasure that I overcome it a little faster every time.

This summary is packed with information. We will go over it more in the following chapters/videos of this course.