WAYS TO STAY FOCUSSED ORGANISING PRACTICE TIME

iano practice involves a fair amount of repetition to get our pieces to the stage where we know what we want to do with them musically, and the physical movements involved have become automated (meaning we no longer have to think about them consciously). However, repetition comes at a price. We all know the expression ‘practice makes perfect’, but it turns out only perfect practice makes perfect! If we bear in mind that ‘practice makes permanent’ we can guard against a mañana attitude to practising, where we put off making corrections or improvements; instead of sorting these things out immediately when they arise, we ingrain habits that end up being remarkably difficult to shift later. The danger of repetition is that our practice can so easily become mindless and mechanical – the more we repeat something, the less we respond. This phenomenon is known as habituation, where our brain says ‘been there, done that’ and we stop listening as our mind wanders. Very little can be achieved in this state; the secret is to constantly vary the