Building up intellectual stamina...

[bernadette60614]

I"m a rebounding student who resumed lessons approximately three years ago after a 30 plus year hiatus (that pesky earning a living and having kids...).

I adore my current teacher, who is patient, kind and demanding.  I've asked her to teach me as if I were preparing to enter a degree program in piano performance.  Many times, I'd like to retract these words, but this is something I know I would like to achieve (not necessarily entering a program..see earning a living and kids), but would be ready to achieve.

This requires me to practice in a more focused and detailed way.  I find I can practice 90 minutes a day if I chunk it down to 30 minute practice sessions (session one is now done, session two precedes dinner, session three before bed.)  How do I keep my intellectual "edge" when I practice?

I do a practice plan for each session and set goals with my teacher at each of my weekly lessons.

Thanks so much, everyone.  And, happy belated Schubert's birthday anniversary.

[dogperson]

Hi
I'm not sure what you mean by 'intellectual edge'?  Is this in the context of keeping the 3x 30 minute sessions or extending the time of each???

Personally, I find that 30 minutes (or shorter) is about right for each practice session.  I would recommend that you develop enough 'small' goals for each session that you are able to vary what you work on.  It might only be the first two notes of measure 3, followed by  HS for measures 10-11, and the fioritura in measure 70.   Work on more than one repertoire, if necessary to keep it varied. 

Not sure this answers your question..... 

[bernadette60614]

Thank you...that is helpful.

By edge, I mean that optimal alertness.  Maybe because I"m an adult with adult responsibilities or as a byproduct of the information age, I find my mind wandering.

One technique I'm employing to combat this is to go for 5 repetitions of a section perfectly, and if I flub a repetition, I start again at the first repetition till I complete 5 perfect repetitions.

Realistically, I know that I can't be optimally alert every moment, but I'd like to employ whatever techniques I can.

[keypeg]

If you are working in a truly mindful way, 15 minutes can be both effective and exhausting - even 10 or 5 minutes can be.  So what you do is work that short amount of time on the thing you are focusing on, then take a break or switch gears or both.  That is during the learning phase as your body, mind, and nervous system acquire new things.  When you actually perform or later run through a larger section of the music you've been practising this way, you will be using what you acquired.

[outin]

I think what you are talking about would be better described as "cognitive" than "intellectual" stamina. Some studies suggest that focus and intellect don't necessarily go together. A wandering mind can create great things. Doesn't work that well on practicing basics though...Your ability to focus on tasks is partly based on your individual brain chemistry and while you can practice it I am doubtful how much you can change it fundamentally, especially as an adult. I have noticed maybe tiny improvement on my ability to do repeated practice (if before I could do 2 times before losing focus I can sometimes now manage even 4), but I am not sure if my ability to keep focus has increased or if I simply started using the method in a more interesting way.

Anyway, as long as I vary what I do I can keep my practice useful for at least an hour, but if I need to focus on just a few things, I am better keeping it short.

Also what I have noticed is that this ability is very much affected by monthly hormonal changes. Which means some days it's quite useless to try to focus better. As a female you probably know what I am talking about.

[lostinidlewonder]

By edge, I mean that optimal alertness ....I find my mind wandering.

One technique I'm employing to combat this is to go for 5 repetitions of a section perfectly, and if I flub a repetition, I start again at the first repetition till I complete 5 perfect repetitions.

Realistically, I know that I can't be optimally alert every moment, but I'd like to employ whatever techniques I can.

This is a good game to play with yourself to make the repetitions without mistake or start the count again, I do it often to cue my students attention if it wanes in lessons.

It might sound crazy but photocopy your music and cut out the chunks you are working on and paste it onto a single page of some exercise book. Use some colors to highlight patterns you see in the notes or fingering, write comments or ideas which helped you learn the passage or challenges you still face. I often cover up parts of the music when studying with my students or ask them to ignore certain notes it helps draw their attention. Cutting it up when alone forces the segmentation and also helps keep the wandering mind on track as it's the only thing you can see.

If you have no short term goal presented with clear step wise progression of improvement, during practice session your mind has more chance to wander. It is not good enough just to say, ok from Bar x-y i need to get this down and start repeating it over and over again. You need to be aware of the entire process of improvement that you are going through to accomplish it whether beforehand or during your practice sessions. If you have clear sense of the steps you are taking towards your goal then it will limit the mind wandering however if you merely practice bar x-y with countless brute force repetitions it will increase the chance for the wandering mind. So when your teacher gives you the details for practicing you should be aware of the steps you can take towards improvement so that your mind doesn't wander.

[outin]

It might sound crazy but photocopy your music and cut out the chunks you are working on and paste it onto a single page of some exercise book.

Nothing crazy about this, I do it all the time