Navigating the Practice Jungle

I’ve been reading Molly Gebrian’s book “Learn Faster, Perform Better.” It’s excellent, and it unpacks a lot of the neuroscience behind many of the things we know to be true while debunking a few myths in the process. I’ve been able to share some of her scientific insights with my older students, but it’s somewhat difficult to explain the “process by which the hippocampus guides the reorganization of the information stored in the neocortex such that it eventually becomes independent of the hippocampus”1 to 8 year-olds.

But that’s my job, so here goes:

Practicing is finding a path through the jungle.

In performance, we lead our audience through the piece. We introduce them to its twists and turns. Sometimes we take a leisurely stroll, pointing out moments of beauty or introducing them to new and interesting sounds. Other times, it might be a wild ride down the rapids, or swinging on vines from tree to tree. Regardless, our job is to be the best tour guide we can be, and that means knowing the path in advance. Figuring out that path is what practice is.

The Beginning

We can begin a piece in a couple of different ways. Some like to have a look at a map or read a bit about the wilderness they’re getting ready to enter. These are the people that like to analyze pieces first. Others (like myself), just charge in with machete in hand, eager to face the jungle mano a mano. This is called sight reading. Some people can whip through the jungle first try, no problem. But sometimes, the alligators eat you. Hoping the alligators don’t eat you this time is not a practice strategy.

Blazing the Trail

Once you’ve made that first step, you have to figure out how to blaze a trail you can follow again. Some things are simple - figuring out the best place to enter the jungle (finding your starting places.) Other things might need a bit more thought. Maybe there’s a particular thorny patch you have to navigate, so you figure out the best way to turn or chop some weeds out of the way (fingering, hand position.) Maybe there’s a particularly lovely flower you want to highlight, so you find the best angle and light for viewing (voicing and tone.)

Back to the Science

Here’s where the science comes in. It’s hard work forging a path through the jungle, so it’s important to take a break now and then. Sometimes you need a short break, sometimes you need a full night’s rest. Two things happen during breaks:

1. The knowledge of the jungle starts to sink in. Our brains process all the things we saw and did, and the wilderness becomes more familiar and less scary.

2. The jungle starts to grow back. The path is still there, but animals scurrying around and plants growing back might make it a little less clear the next day.

Continuing the Journey

As we continue, some of the work stays the same. There might be a particularly difficult weed that keeps growing back. Or maybe we keep forgetting that we have to turn right at that one tree instead of turning left. So we stop and make notes in our music, or work on our technique so our hands learn how to make that right turn. Regardless, the important thing is to stop and be patient as we work through the underbrush. If all you do is walk the path (play through the piece), the path doesn’t get any easier, those thorns are still going to be there tomorrow.

The Analogy Isn’t Perfect, But it Works

The jungle analogy isn’t perfect. It doesn’t capture a lot of the nuances inherent in the research. But it does give me a way to talk about some important aspects of practicing. It helps students understand how practicing is a process, and even though the weeds grow back, the path does get a little clearer each day. And I can introduce concepts like interleaved practice by saying things like “let’s go check on this fern and we’ll come back to the river in ten minutes.”

You can also tailor the analogy to the piece. If the piece is about a circus, then you’re a tour guide at the circus, not the jungle. If it’s a dance, then you’re teaching someone the steps so you can dance together. Or if it’s a sonatina, invent a story that you tell. The point is to find ways to introduce kids to effective practice techniques that make their time at the piano feel impactful and purposeful.