The Inside-Out Practice Technique

the inside out practice technique

The Inside-Out is a practice technique that I came up with, myself. If someone else came up with it before 2016, then I’m not aware of it. I use it as a secondary practice technique – a safety net, if you will. Hopefully it will help you just as much.

When to Use the Inside-Out Practice Technique

One example of when to use the Inside-Out practice technique is if you tried practicing backwards and you didn’t learn it as well as you wished. You know that your brain needs to spend more time in puzzle mode, but practicing backwards again would just be tedious.

Another example is when there are two lines of 16th notes coming up. You see them, and you hope you can play them. You get to that section, and you fall apart. It wasn’t that you weren’t prepared to play it, you may have even gotten the first couple of notes from that section, but you were so overwhelmed by it that your eyes didn’t know what to do with it.

How to Use the Inside-Out Practice Technique

Here’s a step-by-step guide to using this method.

Step 1: Find the Middle.

It could be the middle page, measure, or note. Count through to find it. Don’t estimate because as you’re counting, your subconscious mind is reading the notes.

What about if it’s an even number? Let’s say you’re going by measure, and there are 8 measures in the scary section. If the last measure looks harder than the first measure, then #5 is the middle. If the first measure looks harder, then #4 is the middle. That way the harder end of the section is played twice.

Step 2: Play Only the Middle.

This is as simple as it sounds. Only play the middle page, measure, or note. See? It’s not that scary.

Step 3: Add On, etc.

In this step, you add the note/measure/page on either side of the middle and play it. You keep doing that until you get to both ends.

My Experience

For myself, I use the Inside-Out practice technique when practicing backwards wasn’t quite enough. I know that I need to practice the whole thing backwards again, but if I do, it would be really frustrating for me.

When I’m teaching, I use it in these situations:

  1. The student needs help practicing and they already know how to practice backwards.
  2. The student’s eyes glaze over when sight-reading a new piece as they crash and burn (overload).
  3. I assign to alternate between practicing backwards and inside-out, every other day, for the week. I usually do this after they’ve gotten the bones of the piece down, but need to spend more focused time with it.

Conclusion

The Inside-Out practice technique is a unique tool for your toolbox. For me personally, I use it as a secondary technique. It’s my safety net for when my favorite doesn’t work as well as normal. Some respond to it better than practicing backwards and use it as their favorite practice technique. How about you?

Author: Tarah

I started playing flute in 1988 and piano in 1991. In 1996, my high school chose me to teach flute and piano to a partner grade school. I was chosen for a similar program in college. Tarah Schoell has always loved sharing her music and guiding others to learn new things. Because of this, she went to college to be a music teacher and has a B.S. in Elementary Education with a Concentrate in Music from Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN. Tarah uses her music education degree to teach from her flute and piano studio, play in various professional and community ensembles, and run a blog on practice techniques at thequarternotes.com. She is active in the Omaha Music Teacher’s Association because she likes to support her fellow music teachers and use the monthly continuing education opportunities.

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