Kim Collins, Flutist - Teaching Artist
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Flute Studio Blog

Thoughts, information, and inspiration about playing and learning for students and parents.  

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Willingness to Experiment

12/6/2015

5 Comments

 
In a previous post, I discussed the "Rule of Seven" and how repetition can be of great benefit during practice time.  The key to repeating well is to repeat mindfully, using an approach or combination of approaches that help avoid mistakes.  

With that in mind, this next bit of advice is going to seem in contrast of the Rule of Seven, but it's really not.  There is a time and a place in practicing, most particularly in the early stages of practice, when making many rough or failed attempts is an essential part of expanding our knowledge and comfort.  I have been wanting to write about this for a while, and I was spurred to do so by a recent post on The Bulletproof Musician by Dr. Noa Kageyama.  (I love his blog!)  This post was titled "Perfect Shmerfect:  the Stage of Practicing When More "Mistakes" Could Improve Learning."  The gist of the article (and I highly recommend you take a few minutes to read it) is that, as we are learning to apply something new, we will need some room for error and experimentation in order to figure out which of the infinite possibilities available to us will actually work.

So according to the Rule of Seven, we repeat passages, notes, shifts between octaves, attacks, tongue strokes and the like mindfully many times to try to harness the "correct" feeling on command...but when we are trying to figure out what works in a new situation, how do we do it?

We must be willing to experiment.  We must be willing to step outside our comfort zone, to try new things, to stay longer and longer outside that place which is familiar.  Because outside of our comfort zone is where learning takes place.


One of the key elements in learning is a willingness to ​potentially fail; ​a willingness to mess around with something until the right elements combine together and create success.  It's important to realize that "messing up" is not something to avoid when it comes to learning a new technique.  I often praise students on an attempt to try something new that yields an extremely rough-sounding result, not because of the result, but because, through their willingness to sound rough, they are able to explore their options.  They are stepping out of their comfort zone.  I consider stepping outside one's circle of comfort to be one of the most praise-worthy, most valuable traits in a student and I praise this more frequently than any moments of perfection.

During my horse riding and training days, I stumbled upon a great book by Dr. Stephanie Burns titled:  "Move Closer, Stay Longer."  Dr. Burns has devoted her life to helping people understand the learning process and how our fears and/or discomforts affect our motivation.  I love her authentic, conversational writing style (very easy to read, not too cerebral) and her willingness to use herself and her own fear-based experiences to deliver a sound message about learning.  While this book is based on Stephanie's experience at conquering her fear of certain aspects of horse ownership and riding, her immense knowledge of the learning process comes through with flying colors.  This book has been sitting on the shelves of my music studio for years and I lend it out often.


She writes about moving more often toward the edge of one's comfort zone and staying there for increasingly longer increments of time.  Of course, much of this is discussed in terms of "fear-based" discomforts.  It's easy to say "the flute doesn't scare me!" but it's important to understand that any unwillingness to try and experiment is based on some sort of discomfort (i.e., a fear of some sort).  We are often unwilling to sound bad; to sound as if we have ​failed.  One of the most astounding points that she drives home is that going to the place where things are no longer good is not a failure, and it is not a place to fear; it is the catalyst for our own growth.

She writes (p. 73 of Move Closer, Stay Longer):  
​"When it comes to taking action, humans are notoriously good procrastinators.  Because we are designed to avoid discomfort, pain and fear and because many normal activities related to goals are boring, frustrating, painful and frightening, our brain is constantly engaged in the process of figuring out how to keep us away from experiences that lead to these emotions.  And, never more so than when fear awaits us."

Intrigued?  Read the book!  I promise you will find her strategies really interesting when you translate them to your own flutistic learning process.  Heck, they are interesting even when you translate them to life in general.  After all, this willingness to go toward and retreat from a place of fear or discomfort is how we get to where we want to go.

In a nutshell:  while we must repeat while fully in control to learn to execute certain techniques or passages on command, in order to learn something new or to expand our possibilities, this must be coupled with a healthy willingness to go to that scary place where we are no longer the master and to take some stabs at it until the dust clears and we realize it wasn't so bad to try something new after all.  
5 Comments
Tim Hagen link
12/6/2015 12:26:41 pm

Hi, Kim: what a thoughtful blog! I'm so glad you're out there talking about these ideas publicly. Dr. Bob Duke, the great music & learning guru, says something similar in his courses at UT-Austin: that on a neurological level, learning happens when what we expect to happen doesn't line up with what actually happens (i.e., when we make mistakes). And he talks a lot about the importance of repetition of correct performance trials. Good stuff! His book, Intelligent Music Teaching, is brief but excellent, and I'd highly recommend it. And now I plan to check out Stephanie Burns' book, so thanks for that recommendation.

My only question is about the idea of avoiding mistakes in later stages of practice. I'd be very interested to see you elaborate on that, if you're willing.

Something I've found helpful in my practice comes from William Westney's book, The Perfect Wrong Note. Westney writes about the importance of not avoiding mistakes, since such avoidance often leads away from physical freedom and musical expression. His approach is to always jump into the music, and process and fix every mistake after it happens. I even do this in late stages of learning. Part of what makes this possible for me is trying to avoid judgments based on how I'm playing at any given moment versus where I "should" be. In other words, I don't give a mistake late in the process any more or less credence than one that occurs earlier, and I simply process and fix (and repeat), using the same sorts of strategies you describe in your excellent post.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this and reading more from you in general!

Reply
Kim Collins
12/9/2015 12:18:08 pm

Dear Tim,

Thank you for your thoughtful comments and for your suggestions for reference books.

I agree with all your comments and believe we are on the same page here. I don't think that we should approach music-making with too many restrictions and judgement (but this is difficult for many of us!). The time to play in a way which avoids mistakes is the moment of "reworking" a passage that went wrong whilst played spontaneously, no matter where we are in our progress, early or late. A time of risk-taking that is particularly beneficial is often in the early stages of learning a piece or a technique because this is when we make many discoveries, but later work should involve a sense of freedom and discovery as well, with mistakes dealt with accordingly.

In summary, practice (or my opinion of practice) is a healthy mix of repetition, freedom, and risk-taking, mixed with carefully placed mental and physical balancing points (discovered and implemented through necessary repetition) to help keep things under our fingers. The repetition part of practice should be sprinkled in whenever something needs to be addressed (early or late) so that we can bolster our artistic freedom by being in control of what we are doing.

Hope that makes sense! Thank you for participating via commentary. I love it!

Reply
Justine De Luccio
12/10/2015 11:11:49 am

None of us enjoy being uncomfortable or inconvenienced. However, there is much to learn when outside our comfort zone. That is when we allow ourselves to move beyond what limits us.

Reply
Kim Collins
12/10/2015 11:53:27 am

Yes!! To get where we want to go, we will need to move out of "where we currently are." Couldn't agree more!! Another way I like to put it is:
"If we want change, first something has to actually CHANGE."
I love the comments! Keep them coming! Questions, too!

Reply
Gary Singleton
5/30/2018 01:19:17 am

Ha Ha :) Such a jocular post. Yup, willingness is essential for reaching success. That does not mean every individual must have the preparedness for the same bustle. No way. How will it be possible? Sometimes, it may coincide, but not in every situation. Here, the whole explanation is based on willingness to experiment. I think it is good to experiment prior to making a settlement. And if you do the same with a strong inclination, then the outcome will be good and conducive. A career coach can guide you, but everything is up to you, how you will construct your career. Thus, apart from working with a deft career coach, you must develop the trait of keenness so that you can reach your career ambition. By browsing this page- http://www.reginafasold.com/career-transition-coaching.php you can seek more information about career coaching.

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