The Process Of Learning A New Song

Approaching a new piece for the first time can be intimidating. It should be stimulating, but not daunting. If you have a clear way to approach a new piece every time, you have a template for success—every time. The whole process happens in four steps. This oversimplifies things, but it gives us a quick overview.

These steps are:

• Read

• Learn

• Practise

• Perform

Let’s review each of these steps in more detail.

Read

This is where we make sure the student understands what the page is telling them to do. Writing down sound is a significant undertaking. This means that we need many symbols and signs to convey all the intricacies with clarity. This “vocabulary” also grows as educators introduce new, more challenging material.

The criteria for ticking this box would be: Can the student read, interpret, and translate everything on the page to their instrument without help?

Learn

Although some teachers would argue with me on this point, it is the act of completely memorizing a piece. They would argue that this robs the student of learning reading skills. I argue that we use and practice these same reading skills to memorize a piece. Also, reading can become so automatic that the student stops benefiting from it.

Another point that I like to make is that if you are looking at the page, you are not looking at your instrument. This means technical mistakes happen. If they keep happening, you will learn and repeat them.

To tick the box on the Learn phase, the question is: Can the student play the entire song with a closed book?

Practise

Practise will always mean repetition - correct repetition. At first, this is slow. But, if your movements are accurate and with the right fingers, speed does not matter. Only the correct repetition. This repetition strengthens the brain-to-fingers pathways. It signals the body to coat the nerves with a thicker layer of myelin, a neuroconductor. This makes the signal travel faster. The fingers twitch quicker, using less mental effort. Once you establish this efficiency, you can start working on increasing your speed.

I encourage this in my students. I have them play along with a slowed-down recording of the piece they are learning. Many will say it is hard. Playing at a slow pace requires more control than playing at a rapid pace. This is your body finding the best path for the impulse to travel. As they can play with precision at a slower tempo, I increase the speed step by step.

Before I tick the Practise box, I ask: Can the student play the piece at its full tempo alongside the recording?

Perform

The final step to mastering a piece is to perform it. The process of creating music out of nothing, with only your instrument. Judging what you hear yourself play and adjusting it to your perception of the present moment. Something that can never be exactly replicated. A unique moment in time, requiring ultimate presence and focus.

Although I would love to put all my students in this position, it is not always possible on a regular basis. So, the best we can do is to put them in a similar situation. A simulation. I do this by using backing tracks. This is a recording of all the other instruments playing, with the part they need to play removed. This helps the students listen to when and what they need to play. It helps them adjust, as they would in a performance. They must pay attention to the other musicians. Not a perfect scenario, but as close as one can get. I recommend regular student concerts. They will let students experience the real thing.

The final box to tick is: Can the student play the piece with the backing track?

On to the next song.