When I was a Freshman in High School, my band director handed out Mars by Holst, arranged for concert band. This was the hardest piece my young eyes had ever seen. Even the Seniors were flinching.
My band director, Linda Moeller, said, “I am so excited to learn this piece. It’s a little hard for us, but I know we can do it. What do we do when we’re learning something really hard? We practice backwards!”
I was confused, but I was taught to never talk back to a band director. I kept my mouth shut while I listened to her directions.
We played the last chord. She said, “Check your fingers and toes. Are they still there? Great!” Then we played from the last rehearsal mark to the end. We played from the second-to-last rehearsal mark to the end. We kept going like this until we started at the top of the third page. The whole song was getting easier.
What was this magic? Even the new parts were getting easier. We began to start at every other rehearsal mark, then every third. When we got to the beginning of the music, we played the whole thing with only a few mistakes here and there.
I use this technique all the time for myself and for my students. I use it a couple of different ways.
Learning a Whole Piece of Music
Start at the end. If it’s a long piece, I have a goal of playing the last page or two. If your eyes are going crazy just looking at the thing, just play the last chord. Then the last line to the end. Then the last two lines to the end. Keep working forward like this until you get to the beginning of your goal.
Each day, keep going forward, page-by-page, till you get to the beginning of the piece. Each page will get easier and easier as you get used to playing the same theme in different ways.
Learning a Small Section of Music
This is for tough licks in the music that you just can’t seem to get. Play the last 3-4 notes, as slow as you need to play it correctly. Add 3-4 more notes. Keep adding notes until you get to the beginning of the section.
If 3-4 notes is too big of a chunk for you, just add one or two notes at a time.
Each time you add a section, you will naturally go a little faster than last time. When you reach the beginning, you won’t have it up to speed, but you’ll have the notes under your fingers. You’ll be able to speed it up easily from there.
Why Does This Work?
Okay, I’m going to get technical, here. If your brain doesn’t work that way, just call it magic, and don’t read on. I’m very careful who I tell why this works.
Whole Song Technique
Music is written so that it introduces a theme at the beginning, then the composer shows how many different ways the theme can be played throughout the piece. Each time the theme is played, it gets more and more complicated until the end.
Since you’re starting at the end, you’re playing the most complicated part of the music first. It feels easier the farther forward you get in the piece because it is getting easier. This forces you to play the hard part more than anything else.
Small Section Technique
This works for two reasons. First, it puts your brain into puzzle mode, using the math center of your brain. This is the part of your brain that solves problems. When you normally play through something, you’re using too much of the language center of the brain to solve the problem.
The second reason it works is pretty obvious. It forces you to practice the same lick a million times. It becomes cemented into your fingers through muscle memory.
I hope you give this practice technique a try. It really helps. What is your favorite practice technique?
