Maximise Brain Power | Spaced Repetition in Piano Practice

[@PabloGambaccini]

I do another type of interleaving, but with the same idea. I usually learn/teach a piece, following the piece order, but interleaving the semi phrases, like semi phrase A, then B, then A B, then C, then D then C D, then ABCD, and then go to the next section. It's usually very efective in order to memorize pieces. For repertoire I use flash cards to organize my study. When I revise pieces I study the one that comes in the top of deck, then if after playing it I feel it still needs work, I put it after the next one on the deck, if it was ok, in the middle of the deck and if it was easy at the bottom of the deck, in that way I guarantee the spacing of the repetition and I give the more difficult pieces more frequent study. 💪

[@TommysPianoCorner]

I think I use a similar system for some pieces. I think the ‘right’ way to practice a piece very often depends on the piece itself. I showed how I interleaved this particular piece, but for others I would apply the same principle, but execute slightly differently. What you describe makes perfect sense - I’ll definitely see how I might incorporate that into my own practice !

[@ThinkPositiveEnglish]

Very interesting! Spaced Repetition Systems are widely used for memorising information and I always advise my English learners to set up a Spaced Repetition System for learning vocabulary. I'd come across interleaved practice before too but I haven't used it quite as forensically as you have outlined here. With SRS, the idea is that for the things you can remember, you leave a wider time before revising them again; things you can't remember get less time between revisions. However, I have not tried this with piano learning, only vocabulary learning! You've given me something new to think about with my piano playing, thank you!

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Yes, I have also found it a helpful approach with language learning too. I think the more difficult we find something, the more forensic we need to get. This particular prelude has so much going on within it that it was as much about brain training as finger training (for me at least). Another interesting twist is to sometimes leave enough space that we ‘forget’ (at least on the surface) and need to ‘relearn’ . This I find especially helpful with problems I’m struggling to fix.

[@ThinkPositiveEnglish]

@@TommysPianoCorner Definitely! Some pieces of music I can learn in bigger chunks, others, the hard ones, need to be chunked right down to tiny bits!

[@LiliVG]

Super helpful! Before listening to this video I started doing something similar but granted, haphazardly because I wasn’t sure it would work. I will now proceed but in a more disciplined way. Thank you!

[@TommysPianoCorner]

I think we often start haphazardly as we try to work out ways to progress more quickly or reliably. As we start to see results, we tend to get more methodical. This has been my experience anyway. Let me know how you get on!

[@LiliVG]

I will, thank you. Lili

[@thekeyoflifepiano]

I can't remember the source, however the music psychologist Noa Kageyama had a blog article where he talked about interleaving is the more effective practice technique (compared to not interleaving) , despite the fact that it feels less effective from the point of view of the learner.

[@TommysPianoCorner]

I think from the learner’s point of view it can feel like a lot of bother and we often just want a ‘simple hack’ that will do the trick. I think that often (although perhaps not always) complex problems will need a rather more sophisticated solution. Where I find the real value here lies is on limiting the amount of material used so that we can ‘boil water’ so to speak

[@ThinkPositiveEnglish]

Yes, this is where I heard about it too!

[@SeaDrive300]

Very helpful, thank you! 🙂

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Delighted to hear it. I hope ie works well for you

[@PleasurableLearning]

Very interesting to see spaced repetition and interleaving practice applied to more procedural domains such as piano. I am an expert of spaced repetition and close to an ignorant about piano. Do you use any app to schedule the repetitions such as Anki or Supermemo? (I know some people for the latter and it is excruciatingly rare)

[@TommysPianoCorner]

I don’t use a specific app. Piano practice contains many elements - memorization, physical coordination, musicality etc and so the best way to use spaced repetition likely depends on the task in hand. For example, some skills if practiced for too long at a time can be injurious and so this needs to be taken into account. Different levels of pianism can mean any one person will have different thresholds of concentration etc. I think the basic approach needs to take this kind of thing into consideration at an individual level

[@alisongray6786]

Quite by coincidence I just looked at this prelude for the first time today, its been on my wish list for a while and I recently got the score. I'm not sure if I'm going to work on it yet though as have multiple other pieces on the go, but when I do I might try your approach as I tend to just work methodically from beginning to end so it could be an interesting experiment.

[@TommysPianoCorner]

I’m actually planning to record a tutorial on that prelude in the next few weeks so hopefully that will be available in time for you. Let me know if this ‘interleaving’ approach works for you. I too used to just work methodically (generally from the end forwards), however I find this approach naturally encourages me to devote more time to those parts that need it. It will be interesting to see if it works for you :-)

[@jayden6361]

I just discovered your channel through this video. I really like the concept and will try it - so thank you for the video. Apologies if this is addressed in another video, but would you do this multiple pieces at once? For example, if you were going to practice for 1-2 hours, would you do 20 mins (to use you the example in the video) on this piece, then move to another and apply the same technique?

[@TommysPianoCorner]

I’m pleased the idea interests you. I tend to work on several pieces at the same time as I practice for around 3 hours most days. I do use this technique with all of my pieces now. If I’m trying to finish a piece for a deadline, then I’ll often interleave it by practising it for 20/25 minutes, move on to some other pieces and then come back to it on the same day. Once you get into the habit, you’ll likely find that you just sort of do it without really thinking about it :-) Let me know how you get on.

[@mariaqi7950]

Useful video. May I ask what you use for a practice app?

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Thanks. I created my own app in fact. It runs on my iPad.

[@homamellersh8446]

Thank you for the advice.

[@TommysPianoCorner]

You’re very welcome. Let me know if it works for you too :-)

[@homamellersh8446]

@@TommysPianoCorner yes thank you , have just been practicing one bar that had a big jump, which produced better results, so now I’m going to leave that bit till tomorrow,and see how well ,it has penetrated the black hole in my tiny brain 😀 .

[@TommysPianoCorner]

@@homamellersh8446 it always helps me

[@thenewninja4726]

i tend to get dissatisfied and stuck on one thing not liking my results. i guess ill start boiling less water

[@TommysPianoCorner]

It’s certainly worth a try. My experience has been always go with less than you initially think you can manage. Sometimes, a tricky passage can boil down to a single note - it can be worth just focusing in on that note rather than keep trying to get the entire passage :-)

[@hungryformusik]

I‘m learning Jazz Piano which is a completely different thing with almost no sight reading involved. Nevertheless, I have experienced that pausing frequently during a practice session gives better results. Having seen this excellent video, I will now try to practice something different instead of pausing, and see how this turns out. By the way, I‘m also using an App to monitor on which topics I‘m working. It‘s called Toggle Track and it‘s free for what I‘m using it.

[@TommysPianoCorner]

@@hungryformusik from what I’ve heard, jazz pianists also spend time working on different tasks so it might be an idea you can incorporate - let me know how you get on :-)