The Pianist Consultant

[Jeremy Denk; Practice]

Pianist Jeremy Denk on why practice matters CBS News correspondent John Dickerson sits down with the acclaimed classical pianist Jeremy Denk, recipient of a so-called MacArthur "genius" grant, to talk about Denk's new book, "Every Good Boy Does Fine," in which the performer professes love for what many music students actually hate: practice.

[Practice; Myelin]

"During practice sessions the brain fires neurons, sending electrical messages through your nervous system to make certain actions take place such as pressing down a key. At first the process happens only with effort and is relatively slow but as you repeat and repeat the same actions the requisite neural pathways in the brain fire more quickly. Finally, after enough repetition, these neural connections become wrapped in a protective substance produced by the brain: myelin. A coating of myelin means these connections are in effect hardwired into the brain so that in future similar messages will travel through more easily. And the more a pattern of instructions has been repeated, the more the brain produces myelin to hard wire that pattern.

A basic understanding of this process helps to achieve really productive practice."

Learn to have a brain like Einstein’s! When Albert Einstein died, scientists looked inside his brain expecting to find abnormal numbers of neurons but were perplexed to find instead that it contained a greater than normal amount …

[Preparing for an Audition]

https://www.businessinsider.com/my-11-year-old-son-auditioned-at-juilliard-2017-5/

My 11-year-old son auditioned at Juilliard, and we both learned a lot about how top performers practice Effective practicing is an art.

[Piano Practice; Brain]

All the stuff that goes on while you play the piano.

Full infographic here: http://classfm.co/Ap0mKy

[Practice Tips]

Practising every day for 20 minutes is much more effective than practising for two hours just before class.

Ten Tips for Productive Practice Concentrate on quality, not quantity.

Practice tips from Wynton Marsalis.

http://www.openculture.com/2017/04/wynton-marsalis-gives-12-tips-on-how-to-practice-for-musicians-athletes-or-anyone-who-wants-to-learn-something-new.html

Wynton Marsalis Gives 12 Tips on How to Practice: For Musicians, Athletes, or Anyone Who Wants to Learn Something New Practicing for countless hours before we can be good at something seems burdensome and boring. Maybe that's why we’re drawn to stories of instant achievement.

[Deliberate Practice]

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/03/can-children-get-better-at-anything/

"The practice he advocates is not hitting 100,000 golf balls or spending 10,000 hours doing scales on the cello, even though it was his work that Malcolm Gladwell used to popularize the 10,000-hour benchmark in Outliers (incorrectly, Ericsson argues). Instead, Ericsson, a psychology professor at Florida State and author of Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, believes that anyone can get good at anything if they engage in “deliberate practice,” a very specific kind of training that, among other things, is really unpleasant."

Is talent important, or does practice makes perfect? K. Anders Ericsson shares his advice on becoming good at anything.

[Practice, Practice, Practice]

[Deliberate Practice]

"Now try a thought experiment — practicing with a coach. That coach allows you to stand by the net, ready to do your backhand volley — and then makes it increasingly more difficult. Eventually, he forces you to run up to the net to do it and then embed it in regular rallying. You can improve your performance more in those one or two hours with a coach than in 5 to 10 years of regular practice with your friends."

https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/06/01/forget-talent-why-practice-is-key-to-most-prodigies-success/

Forget Talent: Why Practice is Key to Most Prodigies’ Success In the age-old fight between hard work and talent, researcher Anders Ericsson says it's no contest. Practice wins the day.

[The Exacting Nature of Piano Playing]

"Okay, now do it again."

http://euge.ca/2016/08/20/lesson/