April 22
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There once was a master bank robber. He robbed banks again and again for over 20 years before he was caught.
(If I ever find the book I read this in, I'll come back and mention who it was, exactly.)
The reason he succeeded so many times and didn't get caught was simple.
He did the drill work.
The master bank robber and his crew would rehearse a heist over 100 times on an empty building before going through with the real deal. They had everything down so well that it was a guarantee they would get away with each robbery.
They went through it so many times, it wasn't a matter of luck anymore.
It was a matter of skill.
They knew exactly what was going to happen.
Succeeding at music requires a lot of repetition work. Small sections, lots of times in a row without errors, rinse and repeat.
This is the less exciting part of practicing. The part they don't show in the movies about musicians.
I sure wish I could skip it and go straight to sounding awesome.
But then, if it were so easy, then everyone would be playing the piano wouldn't they? It's like a rite of passage in that way.
When I ask students if they practiced in sections, methodically, the answer is often something like...
Yeah...kinda. (translated - "no" - or, alternative translation - "I did the repetitions, but with lots of mistakes left uncorrected.")
Is it a surprise, then, that when the pressure is on for a performance (the "heist" commences, so to speak), things get scary?
Interestingly, students have no problem with drills when it comes to sports. I would imagine kids of all people would prefer to just go ahead and play the game.
It comes down to the same thing. Drills.
Drills equal predictability. Drills equal skill-building. Drills mean you know what's going to happen when the ball comes to you at this weekend's game.
In sports, the kids meet as a group and have a coach. When learning a musical instrument, the opportunity is there to develop the same work ethic on a personal level and make magic happen.
When in doubt, do the drills.
Don't question it.
You can always question it later.
Whichever you decide, I will leave you with this. The students who did the drills never regretted it after the fact.
100% of the time.
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For parents, students, and anyone else who believes that music can and should be a meaningful part of everyone's life.
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