Quality First, Quantity Second! In other words: Study First, Practice Second!!!
In other other words, physical repetition is important… but only after (emphasis after) you have studied the music using all four musical intelligences… EARS, INTELLECT, EYES, MUSCLES!!!
Let’s take them one at a time and how they relate to the quality of your practice habits…
Ears (Aural Musical Intelligence)
Quality means doing more than just playing symbols (S Y M B O L S). You want to play SOUNDS that you are hearing in your minds’ ear. And you want to do more than merely play accurately. You want to play expressively! It’s amazing how having a crisp and clear musical intention will transform the quality of your performance.
Intellect (Analytical Musical Intelligence)
Quality means using your knowledge of music theory to discover the patterns in the music you are learning. Instead of just brute force note-by-note memorization, you will understand what you are playing as meaningful musical chunks.
Eyes (Visuospatial Musical Intelligence)
Quality means having a clear visuospatial image of the arrangement and sequence of notes on the keyboard in you mind’s eye… seeing not just one-note-at-a time, but as a complete musical pattern.
Muscles (Kinesthetic Musical Intelligence)
Quality means using a fingering that is both mentally and physically easy and experimenting to discover a natural, musical choreography that accurately expresses your musical intentions. Only then should you do mindful repetitions in order to make that choreography automatic.
Gentle Reminder: The quality of your performance is absolutely determined by the quality of your study and practice habits. In other words, the gift is not talent. The gift is love. If you love what your are doing, the discipline will follow!
learn more… Practice Habits
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