Practical Ways to Play Better Now,

Right Now, Cmon, Go Do It!

by Gregg Goodhart, The Learning Coach

www .GGoodhart. com

How Good Can You Be?

If you take a close look at the notion of talent, youve Repetition, with thought between each repetition to,
likely found there is not much there. It really seems at the very least, ensure that it was done correctly is
to boil down to where discipline meets desire meets not an optional mindset. If you do it you will improve,
dedication meets determination. if you do not you will not get very good. The choice
is yours. Just dont be surprised at the results either
I highly recommend the book, Talent is Overrated, way.
by Geoff Colvin for an overview of this.
Lets be clear, this is difficult to do. Focus,
So, Then What Do I Do? concentration, whatever you may call it is built like
Interestingly the first answer to that has little to do a muscle a little bit at a time. If you have not been
with practicing scales, etudes, concerti, whatever, practicing this way do not be surprised if you can
it has to do with self-control. How are you going to only do 10 minutes without having to stop whereas
practice for 30 minutes a day if you cant even sit before, doing it the other way, you could do 30.
down and start? Start building positive habits little
Dont worry; those 10 minutes are far better than the
by little. There is more info in the, My Dog Ate My
other 30 you were doing. (Ask you teacher which she
Talent, PDF on my site. I also recommend the book,
would rather have you do!) The 10 minutes will grow
The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg.
over time as you exercise it.
OK, Then When I Do It, What Should I Do? Why Is It So Uncomfortable?
However much you may be practicing, and however
Research has shown that learning occurs in the area of
much practice you will build, how you do it is the key
problem solving. This is not fun and requires creating
difference between you and, you know, that really
a state of confusion, solution, confusion, solution.
talented person in your music program who just
That is what learning is. I call it the burn of learning
seems to perform everything so well.
or the Blearn.
The process of learning something, which has been
Turns out a couple of researchers at UCLA noticed the
around since the dawn of humanity, has been given the
same thing and gave it a real name; Desirable Difficulty
name deliberate practice by cognitive researchers
(Bjork and Bjork). Be willing to make mistakes, figure
(Ericsson). Here is a nice synopsis of that process that
it out, and make more mistakes. We teachers have a
I took from the Royal Conservatory iSCORE website.

DO Founder of a natioonally renowned music

curriculum in Anaheim, OCDE Teaching
Award Winner and an ASTA Outstanding
Educator of the Year, Gregg Goodhart has
a passion for giving others intellectual
independence in their learning. His articles
PLAN REFLECT have been published in Soundboard and
The American String Teacher. He does
faculty professional development and
residencies as varied as inner city K-12 to
the Jacobs School of Music at IU.
 word for that learning. Fine. I Mean Specifically, What Should I Do
That seems weird. How does it work? Mr. Smarty Pants?
Your motor skills are physically represented by neural Well, my pants dont feel any smarter. OK, lets get to
communication networks that you build in your brain. work.
You build these networks through desirable difficulty,
What follows is a group of strategy changes that
then you must strengthen them through repetition.
create desirable difficulty allowing you to learn things
That it is why it is so crucial to do repetitions slowly more quickly. Dotted rhythms (see page 4) are a good
and accurately. Each time you do something it initiates place to start. I think a relatively easy way to apply
a process called myelination which strengthens and this would be 10-15 minutes/day for 5 days.
speeds neural communications.
If it works the way I say it does then a whole new
Doing something wrong, even slightly, strengthens world will open up to you. If it does not then youve
the neural representation for that mistake. Do it right wasted 75 minutes trying to get better. But if you
and activate the right neural network. focus and do it right I already know what will happen.
Speed does not come from trying to play fast, but On the next page you will find some no-fail instructions.
from building accurate and efficient neural networks Follow these for five days, then feel free to continue
over time. (Of course, you will also need patience). on page 4 for even more cool strategy changes.

Am I Talented Enough? Dont Believe the Signs

There are many ways that we talk ourselves off of the road to success. Dont buy it!

The way Mother Nature has set Even someone who learns fast you play better it is because that
up skill acquisition is far different at the beginning will eventually person has more practice hours. It
than what most people believe it experience some difficulty. That has nothing to do with age.
should be. She puts up signs on leads us to another false sign: Finally, you will experience
our road to improvement that You play some things well. Stay what I call the long arc of skill
seem to indicate a lack of talent. with your strengths and dont development. Learning any
jeopardize everyone thinking you
Learning a new skill is hard for complex skill is a long process of
are great. Of course, avoiding
everyone. When you hear of mastering thousands of smaller
challenges will ensure you always
someone who learned something skills and constantly refining and
stay at the level youre at.
particularly easily, you can be sure polishing them for mastery.
theres a good reason ... but it may We hear of pro players who learn This sign says something like,
not be obvious from the outside. difficult works in short periods Youve been doing the work
Likely theyve had some previous of time and think we could just like that Goodhart idiot told
exposure to the skillwhich never do that. Conversely we you. Youve put in well over 500
they themselves may not even see players younger than us who hours over many months and,
realizeor they are practicing are much better and we become while youve enjoyed significant
more, or more effectively. discouraged. But these are gross improvement, you are not even
mis-comparisons.
It is not, to be sure, because of close to being a virtuoso. Dont
some magic pixie dust called How many hours of deliberate be a fool. Any reasonable person
talent. practice do you have under can see that you should be farther
your belt? A few hundred? A along than you are. You do not
This false sign says, You are
thousand? The pro player has tens have what it takes. Make the
slower in learning than your
of thousands of hours. Comparing responsible decision and give up.
talented friend, so dont bother
by age is just as inaccurate. When
working hard, cuz its not going Nope. Not true, dont fall for it.
you see someone younger than
to do any good. Dont give up!
2
 DAY ONE
1. Pick something that you just cant seem to get perfect at tempo no matter what you do.
2. Learn it AS SLOWLY AS NECESSARY to play it completely perfectly. It does not matter how slow
you go, as you are creating a neural network; so make sure it is accurate.
3. Repeat that 10 times.
4. Learn to play it with a dotted rhythm (see page 4). You will experience some desirable difficulty.
This is good. Slowly work through it.

DAY TWO
1. Do TEN repetitions of the passage as slowly as necessary for perfection.
2. In each rep, notice any imperfections you can correct or any improvements you can make for the
next rep. No detail is too small.
3. Review your dotted rhythms. This may require some re-learning. Thats perfectly normal, and
youll be able to get it together much more quickly this time.
4. Do 310 perfect dotted reps (depending upon how much time you have).

DAY THREE
1. 10 reps at perfection, 10 reps with dots. If you need to review dotted rhythms, then no problem.
2. Begin learning reverse dotted rhythms .
3. Warning: Reverse dots are harder than dots and will be very frustrating. How grateful we are to
have this device to get us into that intense state of desirable difficulty! Feel the Blearn!
4. You may not finish perfecting this today; just do your best. It will be there for you tomorrow
when you get back to it.

DAY FOUR
1. I think I just made up a new word RAP (Rep At Perfection). Okay, so start with 10 RAPs in
regular rhythm and 10 RAPs in a dotted rhythm.
2. Continue learning reverse dots. If you keep Feeling the Blearn you should be able to get this
down today.

DAY FIVE
1. 1025 (the more the better, just stay focused) RAPs regular, 1025 RAPs dotted, 1025 RAPs
reverse dotted, 1025 RAPs regular.
2. See what happens in your next practice. Let me know what you think good or bad.

3
 Cool, Now What?
Well, the best part is that you have learned the process Varied repetition produces strategy shifts, a term used
of incorporating varied repetition. Keep using dotted in cognitive psychology to refer to a skill developing
rhythms for everything. Now go to the next level by from a slower multi-step process to one automatic
applying the strategy changes below as you have step. When you use varied repetition it creates a
already done with dotted rhythms. Implementing strategy shift in the learning process (Delaney et
new strategy changes will be easier now that you al.). This resets something known as the power law
have begun to use them. of learning (Newell and Rosenbloom) and increases
Some of these will be very hard. Do not be discouraged progress.
if you cant get them in a day or even days. Keep doing Thanks for reading, now go get good! What are you
deliberate practice and you will get them; then the waiting for?!
benefit will kick in.

Here are the strategy changes.

Now, go get good!
Dots and Reverse Dots Note Grouping
Take a passage you are having trouble with and once Play a fixed number of notes, and hold the final note
you can execute it perfectly, no matter how slowly you for at least twice the value of the previous notes.
need to play it, learn it with the following rhythms: Continue this pattern throughout the passage.
Practice groupings of 3 up to as many as 7.
Dotted rhythm: Play all of the notes as the first being
a dotted quarter note (q.) and the second an eighth For an added challenge, start your repetition with
note (e). Another way to a partial group, so that the pattern begins on the
do this is to count. Hold second or third note of the passage. Now the gaps
FEEL THE the first note for 1-2-3 and
play the second on 4, and
will be in different places.

Continuous Grouping
BLEARN! continue that pattern (ONE
two three, FOUR, ONE two Take a passage containing even rhythmic values (e.g.
2014 Gregg Goodhart three, FOUR). sixteenth notes) that can be played as an ostinato
Reverse dotted: These are (repeated without pause). You can also take a passage
the opposite of the dotted with uneven rhythmic values and simply play all the
rhythm we are used to the shorter (eighth) note notes equal in length.
(e) comes first, followed by the dotted quarter (q.). As you continually repeat the passage you will find that
That would be one count for the first note and three with some groupings the long note falls in different
for the second (ONE, TWO-three-four; ONE, TWO- places. For instance if we apply a group of three to a
three-four). 16note passage the long note will fall on every third
Someone pointed out to me that this rhythm is the note. On the next repetition the long note will fall on
Scotch snap. I should have paid more attention when the second note of the measure. In this way we vary
studying Lully overtures in grad school! the location of the long note and challenge our brain.

Practice these rhythms first without a metronome, Wait until you try fours, fives, sevens, and eight
then add the metronome. hundred sixty-one thousand four hundred twenty-

4
nines! You can also use a group NOTE: it is as important Planting
length that matches the natural Playing staccato, quickly move the
grouping of the passage, but starting
to understand how to
right hand finger to the next note
on the second or third note. do this work, as it is how and plant it on the string. When
All of these exercises challenge and much you do. If you do crossing strings, dont worry about
focus the brain; once you complete not do that, then you stopping the previous string; just
them, you will know the intricacies should not wonder why get the next finger on the string as
of every string crossing and finger quickly as possible.
you dont improve.
twist! This trains the fingers to return to
the string as quickly as possible. For
Pausing Before String Crossings arpeggios, plant all fingers at once and snap them
Sometimes this is exactly where the issue is and back as you play the notes.
everything else is fine. In this case, simply isolating
For bowed string players, move the bow and finger
the precise moment will remedy the problem.
rapidly to the next note, but insert a pause before
Add A Note playing it.
This tool is powerful but underused! Play the first Make up Rhythms
note, then the first two, then 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-
Make up your own rhythms whether shorter
4-5, etc. Since the repetitions are built in, count one
rhythms, or rhythms more than a measure long. Try
time through as equal to 10 repetitions (for a passage
all sorts of things like triplets to sixteenth notes to a
of medium length).
double dotted rhythm.
Sequences Write down some random rhythms and try them. You
You can construct sequences of any number of notes can also use examples from rhythm teaching texts.
and use it to transform a passage of your choice. Here Each time you have to navigate something new the
is an example using a three-note sequence. brain focuses and learns.
Play the first three notes, then without pausing play Duple in triple / Triple in duple
three notes starting on the second note, three starting
With the metronome turned on, turn sixteenth notes
on the third, etc. ( 1-2-3 | 2-3-4 | 3-4-5 | 4-5-6 ...).
into triplets (groupings of 3), or turn triplet rhythms
If you really want to mix it up do sequences in (including 6/8) into four notes per beat.
different patterns. One example using a FOUR-note
sequence would be playing the passage in groups Groups of 4 and 8 forward and backward
of four starting on the first note then the third, then Play the first 4 notes of a passage you are trying to
second, then fourth, etc. You are only limited by your master forward and backward. Do this at least 2
imagination. times. Now do the same with the next four.
Start with a three note sequence if youve never done Next, do groups of 8 notes forward and backward.
this before. It will be hard enough just to do that right Continue through the passage in this manner.
now. It may even take a couple of days of practice.
Variation: Do the same thing, but starting with second
Right Hand Only note, third note, etc. Keep the fingering or bowing as
printed, both forward and backward.
Separating the hands requires considerable mental
effort, since it departs from the muscle memory
Adding Accents
upon which your right hand usually relies. For bowed
strings this means bowing the open strings in the Add accents deliberatively to whatever passage you
appropriate pattern, without the left hand. are trying to master. Really emphasize the accent.
Do it on the odd note, the even notes, every third,
fourth, or whatever note.

5
 Try alternating every third then fourth. This is harder notes). Do not worry about having a large gap between
than you may think and really forces concentration. notes; the accuracy of the shift is what matters (i.e.
accurate neural representation).
Opposite Right Hand Fingering (Bowing)
After many repetitions (ideally around 25, but no
For guitarists, use the opposite right-hand fingering fewer than 10) play the first note / chord at the same
(for example, if a passage usually starts on i, start exact tempo, but play it twice (as eighth notes).
instead on m). For bowed players, start a down-
bow passage on up-bow, or vice versa. Again, do not worry about any gap in sound when you
shift. As long as you play the rhythms correctly, use
Use this sparingly to avoid learning the new fingering / as much time as necessary to get to the next position
bowing better than the old one! perfectly.
Super Slow Now play the first chord in triplets, then sixteenths,
then quintuplets, then sextuplets. Your shifting time
This is obvious, but rarely used. It takes great self-
will gradually be reduced.
control to play something that youve got at a much
higher tempo, painstakingly slowly. To stay with that For guitarists and pianists it will become too
for many repetitions can be mentally taxing. technically difficult to play repeated fingers (such as in
block chords) at the smaller note values. You may use
This exercise allows one to put the passage under
arpeggios in the desired rhythm; the same outcome
the microscope and magnify small details that may
will be achieved.
be overlooked in other types of practice.

Position shifting Visualization

This refers to the ability to see, in your minds eye,
The goal here is to systematically decrease the time
away from the instrument, what your left, right, or
between the note preceding and following a shift.
both hands (depending on the situation) are supposed
Play the isolated position shift as slowly as necessary to do.
to play each note or chord perfectly (lets say, quarter

RECOMMENDED READING
These are the jumping off point for everything you need to know and research.

Talent is Overrated: What review on your own. It is scholarly, Mindset: The New Psychology of
Really Separates World-Class but also it is an entertaining read. Success
Performers from Everybody by Carol Dweck
Else Willpower: Rediscovering the
Greatest Human Strength Professor Dweck has spent over
by Geoff Colvin
by Roy F. Baumeister and John three decades researching the
For my money the single best Tierny psychology of learning. Things like
reference on the nuanced failure and mistakes often seem to
overarching idea of talent, how These researchers have done indicate a lack of ability to people
we wrongly perceive it, and some amazing work on what unfamiliar with how learning
how these implications inform happens in the brain with regard works. You might be surprised
teaching and learning. to self control and how it is been to find what the research
trained. They also cite other shows about the difference in
Unlike some other good books relevant research and weave achievement between students
on the subject, like Outliers together a compelling take on who are told they are talented,
by Malcolm Gladwell, Colvin how discipline is learned. Another and students who are told they did
describes the things that you scholarly entertaining read. a great job because they worked
need to do to be successful. He
hard and applied themselves.
also points to research you can
6
Take a passage you have been repping and visualize Institutes of Health. Namely, our brains make stronger
in your mindas if you are seeing it with your connections when theyre stimulated three times
eyeswhat your left hand is doing. with a rest period of ten minutes between.
If you need to use your music for the first stage that Work on something, do something else for ten
is fine. You will have to go very slowly in order to get minutes, work on it again and repeat.
every visualized movement perfect.
Interleaving
When you can do it from memory begin doing reps in
your mind. Do at least 10. Whenever you have time When learning multiple pieces of music work on one,
do reps wherever you are. then go to another, back to the first, then to another,
back to the first, etc. During your practice sessions,
You will notice you have to concentrate pretty hard work on something, then go to something completely
whenever you do this. Feel the blearn! Experience different.
shows, and the research does as well, that this type
of work yields benefits. Also apply interleaving to the larger practice
structure. Work on something, then go to something
Taking it to the next levellearn to visualize entire completely differentfor instance, moving from
pieces of music. This is the most powerful way Ive learning a piece of music to answering emails for a
found to get rid of performance anxiety. If you can whilethen return to the original task. Continue in
see in your minds eye what is coming next before you this manner several times over the course of the day.
do it while on stage if provides an almost unparalleled
confidence in real time. Sandwich Technique
There are also some performers who learn entire Do something the right way, then the wrong way,
pieces away from the instrument. Then, when they then the right way again.
go to practice that piece, it is just a matter of a few
days of minor adjustments and extra repping. And Yes, 100 Reps, Controlled and Accurately,
as Written
Eyes Closed Practice Some days it is just good to rep as writtenslowly
Keeping your eyes closed sharpens your sense of enough to be entirely accurate. It works for
proprioceptionthe brains sense of where your myelination and can be a welcome change from all of
limbs are oriented in space. the other strategy changes.
You may be surprised at how well you can do it the
first time. Over time you may discover you play better ... And Were Just Getting Started
with your eyes closed; besides sharpening your body This list is not comprehensive. Design your own
awareness, it eliminates visual distractions (including strategies, ask your teacher for suggestions, and look
your fingers). for tips at masterclasses and workshops!

Three Times Ten

In The Little Book of Talent, Daniel Coyle references
research by Dr. Douglas Fields at the National

Today I will do what others wont so tomorrow I can accomplish what

others cant.
Jerry Rice
Four-time SuperBowl Champion renowned for his work ethic;
holds all major records for wide receivers in the history of the NFL.

7
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