Perfect Practice Rule #2

(...please see my blog from last week if you missed rule #1)

I heard a saying once that has stuck with me: "An amateur practices until he plays it right. An expert practices until he can't play it wrong."

Sometimes I explain this concept a different way for my students. I ask them to imagine a student practicing a line of music over and over again and when they finally play it correctly they think, "Phew! I got it right!" and then they immediately move on to the next line. The problem with this is that they played it incorrectly perhaps 5 times, and correctly only once. So, the next time you get to that line, which way are the fingers more likely to remember, the incorrect way or the correct way? The incorrect way, of course!

As parents and teachers, we need to help students recognize that practice does not end when you play it correctly--that's when practice begins. When you can play it correctly once, you need to keep playing it correctly again and again, until your fingers know the correct way so well, they cannot play it wrong.

Perfect Practice Rule #2: Practice BEGINS the first time you play it right.

Happy Practicing!