A Digital Application for Structural Practice Management

1. Necessities for learning

For my research I used the books ‘Quality Practice’ of Susan Williams and ‘In de muziek’ of Wieke Karsten, two experts in the field of musical training performance and cognition. In addition, I used the book ‘A Mind for Numbers’ by Barbara Oakley, which is also the basis of the online course Learning how to Learn. This book gives a more general view of how to improve your learning in any subject, which I then transfer to music learning. In combination these sources, among some additional, secondary sources, formed a good basis for my own learning development and the design of my application.

First off, before starting to practice, it is important to review some important conditions for learning. If you can change any of the necessities for learning I will mention, they might have a big impact on the quality of your practice.

How to learn: the brain

When looking for books and articles about learning I found that a lot of these talk about how the brain works. This is quite logical since this is the place where learning happens. Knowing about the brain’s inner working can help in understanding what the best way is to learn. Although I will not go very deeply into the technical workings of the brain in this research it is good to mention the basics.

Wieke Karsten explains in ‘In de muziek’ how the brain develops. In a very condensed summary, the brain consists of many (about 100 billion) brain cells called neurons of which most are already made when you are 7 months old. Between these brain cells, connections are constantly made which allow us to learn. When repeating in learning the related connections are strengthened. On the other hand, weak or unused connections may again be removed.1

Barbara Oakley talks in ‘A Mind for Numbers’ about two major memory systems: working memory and long-term memory. Working memory is used when consciously processing information at a certain time. It is believed that we can only hold about four chunks of information in the working memory and holding them there requires a little energy. The long-term memory, on the other hand, is where information is more solidly stored, after (spaced) repetition of the information: the stronger connections between neurons.2

Necessity: sleep

Building new connections requires time, energy, and oxygen. This is one reason why sleep is so important; most of these building processes happen at that time. 3 Another reason is that being awake creates toxic products in the brain. When sleeping, your brain cells shrink allowing for more space between the cells. This allows for fluid to wash past the toxins and push them out. It is believed that the build-up of these toxic products is the reason why you may not be able to think clearly when you are not getting enough sleep.4

Thus, sleep is of vital importance when learning. It is important to recognize this when practicing because learning will be much less effective. It might be a good idea to take a powernap when this happens. It is suggested to nap for about 10-20 minutes. Sleeping for 30 minutes or longer might cause you to go into ‘deep sleep’, which can leave you groggy when waking up during. It is also not suggested to nap too late, since you will have a harder time falling asleep at bedtime. Napping around the halfway point between waking up and going to bed is recommended.5

Interestingly, research has also shown that a 60–90-minute nap with REM sleep can show the same results of learning as a full night of sleep. In this, a 90-minute (full sleep cycle) nap gives a far better chance to get into REM sleep.6

Focused and diffuse mode: the importance of breaks

In ‘A mind for Numbers’ Oakley makes the distinction between two important modes of thinking: the focused and diffuse mode. Focused mode is about focusing your attention to a particular type of problem, and trying to solve this with rational, analytical thinking. Diffuse mode, on the other hand, is used when you relax your attention and let your mind wander. It seems that you frequently switch between both modes, which can help to figure out hard problems. Focused mode can help you zoom into the problem and understand the material, while diffuse mode lets you zoom out again, which might give you new insights to solve the problem.

When trying to figure out something new, the diffuse mode is especially helpful. In this case you will not have pre-existing neural patterns to help guide your thoughts. By using the diffuse mode of thinking you come up with new relations and patterns that were outside of the scope of the focused mode of thinking. This is also helpful when you have taken a wrong turn in your thinking; the diffuse mode helps you see the bigger picture and find a new solution outside your focused region of thinking. Since you acquire new ideas with the diffuse mode it is beneficial for your creativity too, which is of course desirable for musicians.

This is one of the reasons why breaks after a focused study session can be so important. Things like going for a walk, playing sports, taking a shower, meditating, they help you get into the diffuse mode which allows you to continue working on the material in the background. The breaks should preferably be of a relaxed nature. While playing games or browsing social media on your phone might seem relaxing at first, they will switch your way of thinking more quickly into a focused mode leaving less space for your diffuse thinking.7

Moreover, exercising seems to be one of the best ways to improve your memory and your ability to learn. Research has shown that exercise helps create new neurons in areas that relate to memory and also creates new signaling pathways. Although different types of exercise may have subtly different molecular effects, both aerobic as resistance exercise give similarly powerful results.8

One tip in Oakley’s book related to the diffuse mode stood out to me: the hard-start jump-to-easy technique. The example mentions how people in a math test often go for the easiest problems first, to have those out of the way and have more confidence for the harder ones. But Oakley recommends doing the opposite: start with the hardest problem, but only for about two minutes. After that, switch immediately to the easier problems. By having planted some seeds on the hardest problem in the focused mode, you will continue working on that problem in the diffuse mode, when doing the easy problems.9 I thought this was quite cleverly contrived and can imagine this working in the same manner for other areas. For example, in a music practice session, you could start with a hard passage, and come back later after doing some easier sections.

Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy is defined by psychologist Albert Bandura as people’s beliefs about their ability to succeed in a specific situation. According to him, there are four main sources that can help to create a strong sense of efficacy. The most effective way to build this strong sense up, is through mastery experiences. Especially by taking up tasks that are challenging but attainable, you will acquire valuable successes, that will enhance your sense of efficacy.

The second way to improve self-efficacy is through vicarious experiences: experiences that are realized by seeing another person accomplish something. Seeing someone who is similar to yourself accomplish something, will enhance your belief that you can, too, succeed. The third way is through social persuasion; people will have higher self-efficacy if persuaded by other people that they can accomplish something.

Finally, the fourth way is related to people’s emotional states. By reducing your stress-reaction and altering your negative tendencies towards your physical states, you will also improve your sense of efficacy. People who have a high sense of efficacy will more likely view their emotional state as a source of energy, while those with a low sense of efficacy might be more likely to see it as a source of deterioration.10 It seems to me that this aspect can be quite important for the self-efficacy of musicians as a lot of musicians suffer from stress or anxiety. Ways to cope with stress are also discussed in Karsten’s ‘In de Muziek’, in which she advises to accept the stress when performing and use the adrenaline as extra energy for the performance.11

2. Organisation of study sessions >
  1. Karsten, “In de muziek”, 15-17.
  2. Oakley, “A Mind for Numbers”, 41-43.
  3. Karsten, “In de muziek”, 22.
  4. Oakley, “A Mind for Numbers”, 44-45.
  5. Fry, “Napping”.
  6. Mednick, Nakayama and Stickgold, “Sleep-dependent learning”.
  7. Oakley, “A Mind for Numbers”, 11-35.
  8. Oakley, “A Mind for Numbers”, 178-179.
  9. Oakley, “A Mind for Numbers”, 241-242.
  10. Bandura, “Self-Efficacy”.
  11. Karsten, “In de muziek”, 182.