Approaching a new piece for the first time can feel intimidating. It should be stimulating, but not daunting. If you have a clear method every time, you have a template for success. The whole process happens in four steps.
1. Read
Make sure you understand what the page is telling you. Writing down sound requires many symbols and signs to convey all the intricacies with clarity, and this "vocabulary" grows as material becomes more challenging.
The question: Can the student read, interpret, and translate everything on the page to their instrument without help?
2. Learn
This is the act of completely memorising a piece. Some teachers argue this robs the student of reading skills — I argue we use and practise those same reading skills to memorise. Also, if you are looking at the page, you are not looking at your instrument, which means technical mistakes happen and get repeated.
The question: Can the student play the entire song with a closed book?
3. Practise
Practise always means correct repetition. At first this is slow — but if your movements are accurate and with the right fingers, speed doesn't matter. Only correct repetition. This repetition strengthens the brain-to-fingers pathways, signalling the body to coat nerves with a thicker layer of myelin, making the signal travel faster.
I have students play along with a slowed-down recording. As they play with precision at a slower tempo, I increase the speed step by step.
The question: Can the student play the piece at full tempo alongside the recording?
4. Perform
The final step — creating music out of nothing, with only your instrument. Something that can never be exactly replicated. A unique moment in time, requiring ultimate presence and focus. I simulate this using backing tracks, which help students listen to when and what they need to play and adjust accordingly. Regular student concerts bring the real thing.
The question: Can the student play the piece with the backing track?
On to the next song.