Musical Craft

Abstract

Many people think that practising mainly comprises repetition. This is based on the assumption that you would ‘get it’ if you repeat enough times. That is how we learned to ride a bicycle or use chopsticks. But we also know that repetition is only one part of it. We learn to speak a new language by repeating and then using it. Understanding what may be said in which circumstance, is a knowledge gained by using it, and not simply by repeating it. Repeating and using are two of many actions, which may also include varying, imagining, understanding, reconfiguring, doing the opposite, experimenting, and so forth. Which actions are happening when you practise, particularly at an advanced level? Instrumental practice at an advanced level may involve complex systems or models giving the practice a character of being a methodology towards attaining excellence. This does not mean that advanced practitioners are conscious of using such systems or models. But the main purpose of practising is maintenance and improvement; and because most musicians use practice as the single most important means for attaining a standard, it suggests a wealth of strategies lying in their practising.