Getting faster at playing any given exercise or skill in your instrument is something that gets better by baby steps. Perceiving that baby steps progress is sometimes hard to see, so it's easy give up out of the frustration of not seeing any progress on site if your hard work. However, any time you do work hard at your instrument, rest assured that there is always subtle progress going on that is almost impossible for you to perceive. It's like trying to watch grass grow- you know it's happening, but you'll never see it AS it's happening, unless you check on it a few days later and see that it's already happened. Getting faster at your playing speed is a lot like that- it's a leap of faith that you just have to trust is happening, even when you can't perceive it yourself.
There IS a way to track the almost imperceivable progress of your speed on any given exercise in a way that you can see, however: by using a line graph and a rhythm-keeping device like a metronome or drum track to track your BPMs, or beats per minute on the exercise.
Here's how it works:
1. Dedicate a phone Note app, piece of paper, spreadsheet, or other record keeping medium to write your records in.
2. Anytime you practice, note the day out of 365 that you are practicing on - look this up online if you're not sure - this will be your x-coordinate.
3. Find the BPM that works right for the exercise, lick, or other repetitive skill you're working on. This is a separate subject entirely, and you can see how to do this in my video entitled "how to find The Sweet spot BPM to practice at". when you have found the workable BPM for that day, take note of that too. this will be your y coordinate.
4. Using the line graph function of a spreadsheet app or graphing calculator, manually enter in all the coordinates of your X's and Y's in a list. Now create the line graph and see your progress! Different apps and OSes do this differently, so do a search for how to create a line graph in the spreadsheet app you're using. I personally recommend Libre Office Calc, since it's free and cross-platform.
Do you know any other ways to track your instrument playing progress in a way you can track visually? Share them below so your fellow musicians can boost their skills and speed too!
Tyson Farmer
