🎻 What kind of practice do you do, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]?

Hi Reader!

I've been reading back over this fantastic book called Peak by K. Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool -- it's all about achieving excellence in any field of our choice and the steps it takes to get there.

In the book there are three types of practice: naive, purposeful and deliberate. Since this is an Irish fiddle newsletter, let's look at each type of practice as it pertains to practicing your instrument.

Naive practice is when you play your tunes over and over again and assume that the action of sitting down to play through your tunes means you'll have to get better at it eventually because you're putting in all those reps.

It's also counting going to your local trad session as your practice for the day.

Purposeful practice is when you give a goal to your practice sessions. Instead of "I'm going to play Miss Thornton's reel 3 times in practice today," (naive) it's "I'm going to play Miss Thornton's reel 3 times in a row without breaking rhythm or missing a note today."

This kind of focused practice will help you improve. Yet, according to our authors, it's not all there is to the situation.

Enter Deliberate practice.

Deliberate practice is pretty much the entire rest of the book, so I highly recommend adding this to your reading list! In a nutshell, deliberate practice entails breaking down a skill into small, manageable steps that you practice repeatedly (i.e. play all five notes of a roll, insert rolls into jigs, then reels and hornpipes, then start putting these in on your own without guidance, and so on...).

It also involves getting feedback and reflecting regularly on your practice so you are focusing on the best next step to get you to where you want to go.

I will admit, Reader, I have committed all three forms of practice in the past. ESPECIALLY complacent, naive practice where I'm just going through the motions but staying pretty static when it comes to improving my playing.

We lead full, packed-scheduled lives, which makes it easy to coast and go through the motions of playing our instruments every day.

So this is NOT to shame you if you're in the same boat!

Peak just happened to light a fire in my soul.

After reading this book, I am committed not only to deliberate practice in my own fiddling (doesn't matter how skilled you get, there's ALWAYS something you can improve), but also to being the kind of instructor who gives students the tools to be deliberate practitioners themselves.

If you don't already know, when I'm not teaching or playing fiddle, I work as a customer support specialist for MemberVault (which is the tech platform where I host my fiddle courses). A major part of that role is problem solving and looking at peoples' individual situations to help them come up with a plan that resolves an issue...

... Which, when you're an Irish fiddle teacher also really comes in handy!

So, Reader, if you're feeling stuck in a practice rut with styling your tunes, and you want a plan + feedback on how to reach your next playing level -- come join the very first cohort of Style your Trad Tunes!

And in the meantime, happy (deliberate) practicing!

~Hannah

Hannah Harris I help aspiring Irish fiddlers find their lilt and get the real feel for the music. ​ New Style your Trad Tunes membership available for mastering your approach to bowing tunes! You can also take a private lesson or pop into the Tune Library! ​ Have fellow Irish fiddling friends? Please forward this email to them! 🎻 Was this email forwarded to you, and you want more? Sign up here. ​ 👇 Are we connected on social media, Bandcamp, Spotify, etc? ​​​​​

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