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A Metronome Q & A for Students and Parents

5/13/2016

Every player, young and old, must make friends with the metronome at some point in their learning. However, a metronome (fondly known in my studio as “Mr. Click”) won’t magically solve all of your counting problems. Before using a metronome, it’s important to understand when and why to use one.

What is a metronome?
A metronome is basically a clicking device, programmable by you to click steadily at various speeds of your choosing. The numbers used for each level of speed stand for how many clicks, or beats, the metronome is making per minute (commonly known as beats per minute, or BPM for short). Basically, a metronome is a time-keeping device.

Can a metronome help me count?
The short answer here is…no. A metronome isn’t a counting device. It’s a TEMPO device. So, this device won’t help you if someone tells you that you need to work at better counting. Working on knowing your counting (I’ll explain later) is up to YOU. What a metronome WILL do is help people who already know how to count well keep a steady beat, and help them to develop a sense of tempo and pulse.

So, if a metronome doesn’t count for me, what is it for?

A metronome helps you develop a steady sense of pulse. Playing along with a steady click can help you to figure our where you are rushing and where you might be slowing down. It can help fix bad habits such as speeding up drastically on the longer, "easier" notes. You must already understand how to count first!
The metronome is a good practice tool to help you achieve the required tempo of a piece, whether slow or fast. It will help you speed up if you're a bit of a slow-poke and it can help you speed demons learn how to play at slower, more moderate speeds.
You can use a metronome to measure and challenge your progress for everything you play from scales to etudes to solo pieces.
The modern metronome can be set to indicate a variety of different rhythms to help with more advanced practice and subdividing.
Metronome apps can be "programmed" to click in a sequence of different clicks for practicing difficult pieces in mixed meter. Apps can also be programmed to slow down and speed up gradually to help with those accelerandos and ritardandos in your music.

When am I ready to practice with a metronome?
This is the part I get really excited about. With young students, I don’t introduce the metronome right away, at least not on a regular basis. Instead of using the metronome, I might clap, march, or have students march along with the music to feel the pulse. So we do keep time, but we do it on our own. When we do decide to use the metronome regularly at home and in lessons, we always check to see if the following concepts are already in place:

You can keep a pulse and keep it on your own while playing.
You have an awareness of pulse. In other words, don’t be listening for your teacher’s clap or the click of a metronome before you play each note. Be able to FEEL when the next beat is coming. Can you feel the pulse in your body? Can you bounce along, march along, or tap along with your own music? Can you really feel it? If you can, you are probably ready.
You know your subdivisions. One thing that might help you with feeling the pulse is to know the little notes inside of the bigger ones. The little notes that when added together equal the bigger notes are known as subdivisions. They are the parts that make up the whole. Know them really well. Know your “note value family tree.” Be able to do music math without having to think twice about it.

Know which little notes fit inside of the bigger notes in every combination possible!

What does knowing my subdivisions do for me?
It makes you ready to use the metronome for what it’s REALLY for. It helps you be able to play more steadily on your own, even without a metronome. It helps you be as steady as possible even without something clicking for you. Here’s why: if you can substitute each longer note with the smaller notes that fill it up, and you sometimes do that during practice time, the note is guaranteed to be held out for the correct length. First you play the actual subdivisions out loud instead of the long note, and eventually you just think them while you play. Feeling, hearing and practicing subdivision are more important than anything else when it comes to being steady and accurate.

OK, OK, I know my rhythms. I can subdivide. Am I ready?
YES!! Now the fun part can begin. If you can already figure out and feel when the next beat will come, and know which notes should land on the beat, now you can use the metronome for what it’s really meant for.

So I just listen for the click and then play, right?
Be careful! You should already pretty much be able to feel when the next click will come. Your job is to pick a speed that works for you, play along with it, and notice whether or not you are matching the click. You will notice if you are ahead of the click or if you are falling behind. And you will adjust. If the click is too fast for you, then go ahead and choose a lower number of beats per minute. Very important: Don’t wait to hear the click. Just play, and NOTICE whether or not your playing is matching WITH the click. :)

I tried to play with the metronome and it's driving me crazy. It’s impossible to play with.
Well, you are not alone! Most people who don’t like using the metronome either don’t know their basic rhythms as well as they should or they just haven’t done it long enough or often enough. As with anything, you have to get used to it. Playing with a click can be distracting at first. But if you do it every day, pretty soon it will seem pretty normal to you. Ask your teacher to help you during lesson time.

Don’t give up, and good luck!

Please let me know if you have any questions!

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If Your Teacher is Playing...Go!

5/12/2016

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Reprinted in this forum from my original blog.

I have a bit of advice for students out there, young and old: if your teacher is a performing artist, and your teacher invites you to see a concert, GO. I have been teaching students of all ages for 25 years. I can pretty much count on my fingers and toes the amount of times I've had students of mine come to see and hear me perform. Keep in mind that I've given a heck of a lot of performances during that time frame. When you compare the number of fingers and toes I have (and I do have all of mine) to hundreds upon hundreds of performances, you can see that this is an incredibly low number of times that I've looked out into the audience and seen the face of one of my students there.

Why is this? When given an opportunity to attend a performance by someone who exemplifies what you are striving for on your own instrument, you should jump at the chance! Especially those of you who are studying music in college. For you, missing hearing your teacher play is like skipping class. Attending your teacher's performance should be absolutely mandatory. It is an indispensable part of your education. You need to go.

A big reason for your lack of attendance could be that your parents don't feel like taking you (if you are school-aged). Or they want you to stay home and do your homework. I get that. But you can ask, beg, cajole...get them to drop you off and pick you up...there are ways to get there anyway. In high school, my teacher was not a very active performer, but she not only used to invite me to go hear concerts that she felt would interest me, she would also offer to drive me there and back. My parents always told me that if I was invited and I was available, I should go. Maybe I just had weird old-fashioned parents. But they believed that one should absolutely honor an invitation with one's presence. There were times when I felt a little bit awkward about it, but each time I was surprised at how enjoyable it actually was. I will never forget those incredible opportunities. I also got to know my teacher better and discovered she was a really great person.

Another reason you don't go may be that, at the moment, it just doesn't interest you that much. You might have to just pull yourself by the ear on this one. It's always easier to "just stay home," but if you love playing your instrument and you enjoy your lessons, you owe it to yourself to get there. Your teacher invests a lot of time and effort toward your progress. You could invest an afternoon or evening in support of your teacher.  You will likely be more than surprised at what you hear and see.

Why does your teacher invite you? The reasons are many. The number one reason is that, when you are learning an instrument, seeing and hearing a performance LIVE is the best way for your mind to model what playing your instrument should be like. Yes, there is YouTube. I know. You can look up anything on there. It. Isn't. The. Same. It really isn't. There is no comparison. End of story. Your teacher knows this, and this is why you get invited to get out and see the real deal.

Why else? Music can touch you. You can literally feel it at times. You cannot feel music through YouTube the same way that you can through a live performance. You will learn by watching and listening. It's an easy, relaxing way to jump-start your advancement. You need to just go.

I could go on and on, but I won't. The bottom line is, if your teacher offers you FREE tickets to a concert, take them. Go. Learn from the masters. People pay a lot of money to go see these concerts, and I have been saddened time and time again that I've offered valuable comps to all of my students and there have been absolutely no takers.  Ask yourself this: if it were free tickets to a sports game or a performance by a pop icon instead, would you find the time to go? Would you get your parents to make an exception for this?  If the answer to that hypothetical question is yes, then there really is no excuse. If you would be able to make it if it were "something else," then you can make it to a music concert. Go.

One last thing: Students may feel that they "hear" their teacher play during lessons already. There is really no comparison between what your teacher does during your lessons and what your teacher does on stage.   You won't believe how different it is in the heat of performance when he or she is "in the zone." You may be flat-out shocked at how amazing your teacher REALLY is at what he or she does. You have to experience this. Go. And you will also be supporting your teacher and showing him or her that you are willing to reciprocate the efforts your teacher spends on you.

Here's hoping that when I look out and tally up familiar faces in future performances, I'll run out of fingers and toes with which to count them.

Yours truly in the pit with my menagerie of instruments.

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Practice Journals (for Older Students)

5/12/2016

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NOTE: this post has been reposted here from its location on my original blog, so that all teaching and learning resources can be accessed in the same forum. :)

I am continually surprised that so many students, including those at the college level, can be reluctant to fill out practice journals or charts. I’m not surprised that perhaps an individual feels he can keep track of what he is doing during practice time without journaling, because I am one of those people. I am also not surprised that there are people who have a thorough well-thought-out practice regimen for whom journaling may be redundant.

I am a person who has not regularly kept practice journals so it may seem surprising to you that I am writing about this right now. However, I have used journals in the past and will continue to use them in the future, as needed, with great results. I also know from a pedagogical standpoint that they are a great way to teach people how to organize their practice.

What surprises me more than anything is when a student is required to keep a journal as part of her lesson regimen…and she doesn’t. The first question is: why would you not do what your teacher requires? I don’t believe in flat-out refusing to do something with no explanation other than an “Oh I forgot,” or “I practiced but I didn’t write anything down.” The second question is: why on earth would you jeopardize your grade when it’s so easy to scribble a few things down on paper now and again?

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty here. There are multiple issues at hand when this happens:

By not completing your assignment in the way the teacher requested, you are not being 100% respectful of your teacher's knowledge. Without realizing it, you are sending the message that what your teacher asks/offers is not important to you; that you’d like to do it your own way. (I’m not saying that your way might not be perfectly functional for you if indeed, you are a thorough and regular practicer…but see the next point below.)
You are not giving a new perspective a chance. How do you know that keeping a journal won’t be helpful? Show eagerness to adopt new ways and to better yourself using new techniques. Willingness to be adaptive to other perspectives and methods is a great trait and will help you in the future no matter what you do with your career.
You might not want to face reality. You may not even realize fully that you are NOT doing these things because they will serve to outline the fact(s) that: you may not be practicing enough, that you may not be practicing the right things, and that you may be glossing over issues. At the heart of the matter could be a defensiveness of the fact that what you write down makes what you have or haven’t done “official,” and you may not really like to put that in writing.
You might be being lazy. But let’s not even go there, because if you are too lazy to write a few scratches on a piece of paper then opening a flute case would be a huge effort as well. ;)

It may feel a bit tedious to write in a book about what you do. But your journal serves to provide you with data, guidance and goals. A practice journal, at the most basic level, simply charts the frequency or length of your practice. For some of you, this can be eye-opening, especially if you are not in the habit of practicing frequently. At the same time, it can provide impetus to improve and to practice more often.

Your journal can guide you through your progress in a detailed way. It is easy with a journal to itemize the scales you need to practice, the sections of a piece that need to be completed, and the techniques you are trying to implement. It can be quite clear what has been overlooked when reading through a practice journal.
A journal can be goal-oriented. A simple note about future goals, or about what to work on during the next practice can serve to keep you on task.
The journal is also a useful diagnostic. Reading through the journal or chart together can help teacher and student adjust, itemize and reprioritize practice. It can help both teacher and student realize where there is not enough focus, or where perhaps there is too much focus. It can help open up conversations about how to create more practice time when needed. This is the primary reason that I personally will ask a student to fill out a journal. It is not punishment. It is not “busy work.” It is a very useful diagnostic! I want to help, and your data helps me help you! For real!
Your journal can be a simple as a daily chart: just checks on a piece of paper to let you know that you achieved the goal of practicing that day. Seeing those checks can keep you accountable. It can be as detailed as a science experiment with charts and metronome markings and itemization of progress. It can be as personal as a diary, where you write about what you did, your difficulties, your achievements, your “aha” moments, and questions for future lessons.

It is up to you where you want to let the journal process take you. I am personally beginning a journal this month to help me stick to the task of repeating/rotating through specific technical exercises with more frequency. I tend to like variety to the extent that I switch off of something sooner rather than later. I am journaling right now to document what happens when I stick to something for a bit longer than usual.

Think about this journal thing a little. I often tell students that they have every right to reject a particular technique or approach to playing once they have adopted it in regular practice. It is not until you have incorporated something into your playing/practicing life so that it’s done with a fair bit of facility that you can truly contrast and compare the new way with the way you functioned before.

Don’t disallow yourself possible improvement and success because of either defensiveness or ego. Give it a whirl and let me know what happens. I’d love to hear how it works for you.

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The Rule of Seven

5/12/2016

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**This is a repost from my original blog, so that teaching and learning-related posts are all kept in one place.**

I recently read a post on Amy Porter's website discussing useful practice "cures" for technical challenges. There was some great information included in this very useful list! Some of the tips are tried and true warhorses of my teaching and practicing regimen, some I had forgotten about, and some were great food for thought.

One that stuck out in my mind was the "Rule of Seven." In Amy's words: "Do it right seven times. Mess up? Back to one!" This is a great, very effective practicing rule. I use and teach it often (sometimes I use the "Rule of Ten" instead). I'd like to elaborate a little on how to use this Rule of Seven to your best advantage.

There is an old Latin phrase: Repetitio mater studiorum est. It means "repetition is the mother of all learning." It was discovered that the brain needs to hear a new word many times within a matter of minutes in order to learn it. There is also an interesting article I read titled "How to Retain 90% of Everything You Learn," in which it mentions the learning pyramid and the fact that we retain 90% of what we teach, and 75% of what we practice (in other words, what we repeat) while we learn less than 30% of what we try to learn from reading and listening.

The Rule of Seven is also a marketing term. The idea is that a potential client or buyer will need to hear your message seven times before they buy from you.

The idea here is to repeat things. Stick with it. Make sure you can do it right seven times before moving on. Pretty simple. However, there is some pretty good research out there proving that too much repetition can dull the brain through a process called "habituation." This is the reason why, if you practice a piece for months and months, it can get worse. Your brain becomes habituated and no longer retains a sharp focus on the details of what you are doing. You can read an interesting article about this and how to avoid it during practice time HERE on The Bulletproof Musician, one of my favorite blogs.

Habituation aside, let's get to the Rule of Seven and how best to use it (because tricky passages are just the tip of the iceberg!):

Seven Times: When you have a tricky passage, or a place where you don't transition from one phrase to another, repeat it seven times in a row correctly. The key point here is CORRECTLY. If you don't get it right, then begin again. This means you need to be mindful during your repetitions. If you need to insert a pause before a note or put a fermata on a note to avoid playing the next note wrong, this still counts as a correct repetition the first time you apply the Rule of Seven. Inserting some wise "anti-error" techniques will help you avoid having to start over too many times. In subsequent repetitions (maybe at the next practice) have a goal of eliminating any pauses.
Seven Attempts: I usually prefer 10 for this one. If you are trying a new concept (such as a new way of articulating, a new vowel shape in the mouth, etc) that is different from what your body is used to doing, please give it 7 (or 10) tries in a row before you give up on it. During these repetitions, the dust may clear and you may discover that it actually works for you.
Seven Ways: Since we don't want to bore ourselves, it's important to vary the way we practice not only passages but entire pieces: 1. Play it in a different style. 2. Play it with different dynamics. 3. Play it in a different KEY (**I need to do this more often!**). 4. Play it from different sections. 5. Play in different tempi. 6. Play phrases in reverse order from the end of the piece to the beginning of the piece. 7. Play in different rooms and acoustics so you experience "live" and "dry."
Seven Days in a Row: Consistency is always key. You might want to try to practice seven days in a row if you've never done that before. You might want to make sure you rotate through your difficult passages seven days in a row. If you are a person who likes variety too much (like me), you might like to make sure you practice the same stuff seven days in a row.
Seven People/Seven Experiences: If you are preparing for an audition, recital, or anything important, try to seek out seven people to listen to you on seven separate occasions. The repetition of the experience of performing for someone will ease your nerves and help you know what you need to put more focus on during your practice sessions. **this is something I need to remind myself to do more often!!**
Seven Opinions: Along the lines of "Seven People," seek seven constructive opinions about your playing: take masterclasses, play for colleagues and friends, generally get brave and willing to absorb seven new viewpoints. **this is another thing I need to do more often!**
Seven Months: Give things time. If you have a long-term goal to achieve, give yourself seven months in which to do it. Use smaller versions of the Rule of Seven along the way to get you there!
Seven Because You are Flummoxed: I recently started implementing this one in my practice. I was having some fundamental issues that I was not able to solve in my playing. I honestly did not have a clue as to what I needed to do. Everything I knew was not working. So I just started repeating passages while noticing how I felt and what I did until I had an idea of what to do. Sometimes with (mild) repetition, the dust does clear in your mind.

In summary, we all need to give things a go repeatedly before moving on and giving up. Hand-in-hand with this comes a warning that if seven is good, 100 may not be better: don't forget to use variety in both your repetitions and your practice sessions so that you don't get habituated and "turn off."

If you come up with your own new take on the Rule of Seven, please share! Happy practicing!

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