Accelerated Learning
I’ve heard people describe the years of school and studying as “Learning how to learn.” Among the many lessons during our formative years of education, we developed the ability to take in new information, process and understand that information, then implement it into a useful and valuable tool. The more you learn, the better you get at understanding how to learn, and better yet, how to learn quickly.
Music is no exception. In fact, some would argue that learning quickly is one of the most important skills for any musician - adding a note, though, that “learning accurately” while still learning quickly is always the aim.
What tips and tricks do musicians use? How do we master a piece in one week that would have taken us months when we were younger? In addition to having trained our minds and bodies to be familiar with common patterns such as scales, arpeggios, chord progressions, etc. and quickly play them with little effort, we do in fact have some pretty basic tricks that any student and musician can use and that help no matter how advanced you are:
Avoid excessive repetition of the same monotonous approach. Vary your practicing in one way or another.
Never bite off more than you can chew. What’s too much? If you can’t leave the piano without having accomplished something, then you tried to do too much. One page? One line? One measure?…in some lengthy measures with 64th notes, even a single beat can be enough.
In the face of consistent rhythmic divisions (e.g. Bach pieces) such as a series of intermixed 8th and 16th notes, temporarily modify the rhythm. The most common rhythm is the “long-short” or dotted rhythm (think swung rhythms in jazz music). Alternatively, in a series of let’s say four 16th notes, take turns pausing on the first note, then the second, then the third, and finally the fourth.
Temporarily modify the articulation. The key is muscle memory so anything you can do to harness it will quicken the pace of learning. Muscle memory is created using a cycle of tension and relaxation. Exaggerating each will help learn more quickly. In musical terms, this means using all staccatos for example, relaxing by using gentle legato, using accents on different beats (the faster you need to play, the farther apart you set the accents).
Never waste time. Do you love playing the first two of lines of the piece because you like hearing the theme at its entry, or just because it’s easier? When you’re short on time, you don’t waste it by playing parts you are already capable of playing. You’re building a house and don’t want to start adding carpet and lighting fixtures to the living room when the roof isn’t even finished. Stay focused on the task at hand.
Take pleasure in small accomplishments as you go. Did you finally remember the E double-sharp in m 87? Great! Enjoy it and put the energy into getting the next accomplishment.
Think of it as a job. For professional musicians, it really can be a job and in a world where the slightest mistake or wrong note can end up costing you money to pay the bills, you’re awfully motivated to learn fast and accurately. It might not be your job, but if you take the a similar degree of seriousness to the importance of the outcome, it can help fuel faster learning.
Prioritize accuracy and steadiness. If you don’t know what notes and rhythm you’re about to play, don’t play. The time it takes to correct a mistake is at least 3 times as much more effort than having taken a moment to ensure you’re about to play the correct notes. If it takes you a long time to be confident, then the piece is perhaps too hard for you. Of course, we all make mistakes so do your best to be accurate, but inevitably, we all have to just mistakes happen and clean up the mess as we go.
Finally, enjoy yourself. Once you’ve learned the piece, you can set the intensity aside a bit and take a moment of mindful expression and playing to find joy in your hard work. Now, share it with others.
This is a good place to start. There are many countless other tips and tricks that unfold as someone becomes more advanced and only lessons with a skills musicians and teacher will be able to give you those. For now, I hope this offers a small bit of help.