Practice, and the Journey to Mastery

I’m a strong believer in deliberate practice, life-long learning, sweating the details, and self-improvement. Getting better at something doesn’t come easy — it takes sustained effort. And even the maintenance of an existing skill that involves concentration, creativity, and advanced hand-eye coordination requires a level of upkeep that is crucial, akin to an athlete requiring to exercise to stay in shape.

At Camp MMW in 2008, I listened to the acclaimed trumpeter Steven Berstein talk about how he plays whole notes on his trumpet for a couple hours a day (while reading the newspaper!) just to keep his embouchure and breathing in tip-top shape. Amazing.

Mastery is required to be effortless, and effortlessness is required to be in a state of ‘flow’. Flow is a joyous space where creation is at peak potential, where impediments don’t exist, and making music (or whatever you are doing) happens as naturally as breathing. This state is elusive to many, including myself, and a combination of mastery and proper mindset are required to be in lock-step. A really good read on this subject is Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner (kind of a life-changer of a book if you haven’t read it).

Since mastery is important to me — and knowing truly how much I can continually improve — regular practice always takes first priority when it comes to my musical ambitions.

If I’m presented a bit of free time in the day and I’ve done nothing else musically, I almost always lean towards practicing as my first priority. Besides the benefits of getting better at something, it’s also a way to be completely in the moment — my version of mindfulness.

What does practice look like for me? It’s really such a broad question but one with a simple answer — to focus on something I want to get better at. Some days this may be about building finger strength (scales, arpeggios, exercises), and other days it may be rhythm exercises. Some days I might be focused on learning repertoire, and some days simply playing through blues or jazz changes. And some days I practice on piano, and other days I’ll practice on Hammond B-3, clavinet, Rhodes or synths.

I always try to start my practice with another thing I learned at Camp MMW (from John Medeski of Medeski, Martin and Wood): always start your practice by improvising. Don’t plan it, just let whatever comes to you to naturally leave you through your instrument.

And most importantly, record it. And later, review your recording to help you learn what you need to get better at.

These recordings are only for you, so you don’t need to worry about the classic “recording red light anxiety” and freeze up (or play more conservatively) as if this was a real recording session. Make mistakes, build off them, and keep going.

There are some pretty awesome benefits of recording yourself while improvising. First, as mentioned you can learn what you need to get better at. You also learn how to keep going, even when you make a mistake. Finally, you will almost certainly develop a wealth of ideas that can turned into songs or compositions at a later point.

So…how much do I practice? Almost never nearly as much as I’d like!

If time were no object, I could easily see myself spending 2 hours a day practicing — 1 hour improvising and then warming up, and 1 hour working on a small set of specific focus areas. After that, I’d feel much more equipped (mentally and physically) to tackle to composing, songwriting, recording or editing. (And then maybe get to some more practicing later!)

But with a full schedule of family and work commitments, if I average 30 minutes five times in a given week, I’m doing incredibly well for myself. Certainly not even close to my ideal.

Whether it’s 15 minutes or multiple hours a day, what I’ve learned over the years is that if practice is consistent, and the time is used effectively, it doesn’t really matter how much you practice.

Unless you are cramming to learn tunes for a gig, what matters for long term improvement is consistency and persistence, and that your progress is measurable. Setting a daily routine (consistency), focusing on areas to improve on and ensuring mastery of these areas (persistence), and having a good teacher and reviewing your own playing (measurable) are the foundations of gaining mastery at any skill.

And the most important thing about practice is to enjoy the process while you are at it! Learning and improving takes effort, but can be enjoyable too — like the feeling you get after a good workout.

Now that practice is done, up next…how “Short Stories”, my album of children’s music came to be.