Tedium

Let's face it; a lot of a musician's work consists of tedious repetition. Recently, I've been hammering away at a few sections that simply won't stay learned. The notes won't stay in my brain or my fingers from one day to the next, and it's impossible to increase tempo or move forward when that's the case. My last-ditch effort is the ten-times-a-day salt-mines technique. I isolate a page or three and play it ten times in a row. Every day. For a week. The only change I can make is to increase the tempo with a metronome; otherwise, it must be absolutely consistent.

I call this the salt-mines because it is probably the most painful drudgery I incorporate into my practice. However, with a little creativity, it becomes more fun! I needed some way to keep track of my repetitions, since I'm usually concentrating too hard to count. Someone suggested that I move paperclips from one side of the piano to the other as I go; I found a better way. When you practice in the room with the Lego table, inspiration may strike! If I use ten assorted Legos instead of boring old paperclips, I can build something as I go along! When I finish my ten repetitions, I will have finished my dragon or car or castle or whatever.

The only down-side to this method is that sometimes I like my sculpture too much. I built a little dragon Saturday that I couldn't bear to take apart for my next set of repetitions; happily, there are more Legos where those came from!