How to be your own practice coach
It was one of those practice days that went so badly that it sucked the will to keep playing right out of me. Nothing sounded good. Passages that felt effortless the day before fell apart under my fingers. Mistakes multiplied, and with each one, tension radiated through my arms and into my fingers, making it nearly impossible to play anything well. Yes, I’ve been playing the piano for almost all of my life. Yes, I played professionally. And yes, this bad practice day happened just a few months ago. Even experienced musicians know that it’s a mystery why some days we play beautifully and other days everything feels impossible.
Musicians aren’t the only ones who suffer from this frustration. Many professions—especially sports—know how challenging it is to be at our best each time we show up to work. Even the best athletes hit slumps. They, however, are surrounded by coaches and sports psychologists who help them find ways to diagnose and fix problems that are affecting their performance. Musicians are rarely lucky enough to have full-time practice coaches. We may get encouragement and guidance from an instructor or fellow players, but these people aren’t there to guide us every day when we practice. That’s why one of the most important skills we can develop is to learn how to be our own practice coach.
We’re all capable of diagnosing problems and giving constructive advice when we’re helping another person. Most of us fail to be as effective when working with ourselves. Where we’d be kind and encouraging to another, we tend to be harsh and judgmental to ourselves. Where we’d gently help another learn to stop glossing over problem areas, we make excuses for ourselves. But what if we could identify all the great things we offer other people and then coach ourselves the same way we’d coach a friend? My own practicing has taught me that it’s possible to be my own practice coach; I only have to choose to analyze what works best when I help others and offer myself the same guidance.
In my experience, good coaches practice tough love. They see and appreciate the whole picture rather than zeroing in solely on the mistakes. Good coaches consider the circumstances, the individual, and the instrument when analyzing the situation. They know the difference between excellence and perfectionism. They know they’re working with human beings, not machines, and they help these people find the best in themselves. How do we coach ourselves on days when it seems everything is going wrong at the piano? Here are some ideas that work well for me.
What’s beautiful? What’s working?
I’m one of those people who feels she’s failed at the entire piece if I mess up a couple of measures. This is why it’s critical for me to remind myself what was beautiful in what I played and what felt easy to execute. Once I start from this perspective, the problem spots feel much more manageable and I have the energy and enthusiasm to strengthen the areas I’m not playing well.
Video yourself
Every elite athlete spends hours studying film of their sports outings. Why shouldn’t we? I may be a former piano teacher but many times I can’t see the bad physical habits that have slipped into my playing until I watch myself on video. Warning: try not to be distracted by extraneous things such as how you look at the piano or cringe at the mistakes you’re making. Look instead at how you’re sitting and how you’re using your body. Are you flattening your fingers or tensing up your shoulders? Study each part of your body (from the feet up) and see if a bad habit may have crept into your playing.
What’s keeping me from being able to play the rough spots well?
When I was younger, I dismissed certain passages with the excuse that I just couldn’t play them well. With age, I’ve learned to dive into those passages and analyze every single movement, no matter how small. Most of the time the problems stem from one or two very small things—a fingering error, or not breathing in the correct place. When these things are fixed, the passage falls into my hands. Instead of saying, “I can’t play this passage,” tell yourself, “I can’t play this passage today.” Give yourself the grace of knowing that with time and practice you’ll one day be able to play that spot musically.
I’m still working on the art of being a good practice coach for myself. The job is one that requires patience and conscious effort every time I experience a messy practice day. Some days I’m able to put my frustration aside and let my internal practice coach find solutions to the problems I’m facing in the score. Other days I’m too short tempered to let that practice coach do her job. That’s OK because I’m a piano “lifer” and this is what I know after decades of playing:
Being a pianist isn’t just for one practice day. For those of us who love the instrument, playing is a lifelong journey. Some days are full of distractions and interruptions (physical and internal) from the rest of life. We can’t separate the music we make from the very things that make us human. Our lives and our true selves lie in the messiness of real life. Perhaps, by reminding ourselves that we’re flawed humans we can forgive ourselves for a less-than-perfect practice session.
Photo by Tim Mossholder, courtesy of UpSplash