As musicians dedicated to honing our craft, we often operate under the assumption that relentless practice is the ultimate key to improvement. The concept of taking breaks, or even time off, can feel counterintuitive, almost like a sign of laziness within our demanding culture. While consistent effort is undoubtedly crucial for musical growth, research suggests that breaks are not just beneficial—they are, in fact, fundamental to accelerating the learning process in music.
taking a practice break
The science of learning reveals that our brains undergo tangible physical changes when we acquire new skills or enhance existing ones, such as Learning Music. However, these transformative changes don’t occur during periods of intense activity. Instead, the brain requires downtime to process and consolidate new information. Imagine road construction: traffic flow must cease for the construction to take place. Similarly, your brain needs breaks to rebuild and reorganize itself after periods of focused learning. Without these crucial pauses, progress plateaus, and we remain stuck at our current skill level. Conversely, incorporating breaks provides the necessary space for the brain to enact these essential physical changes, paving the way for noticeable advancements upon returning to practice, propelling you to a higher level of musical proficiency.
This understanding reframes the very definition of learning. If learning is fundamentally about neurological changes, then the majority of learning happens not during active practice, but during the breaks that follow. This concept, while seemingly paradoxical, is a game-changer for effective music practice.
Consider the insights from a study on microbreaks, a technique that can revolutionize how you structure your practice sessions. This research, detailed in the video referenced in the original article, explored the impact of short breaks on skill acquisition. For those who prefer reading, the study’s findings are summarized below.
In this experiment, participants were tasked with learning a specific key-press sequence on a computer keyboard, aiming for maximum speed and accuracy. The study involved alternating 10-second practice intervals with 10-second microbreaks. Researchers meticulously tracked performance improvements throughout these alternating cycles of activity and rest.
The results were striking: the primary improvements in performance occurred during the microbreaks, not during the active practice periods. In fact, after each brief pause, participants consistently performed at a higher level than they had before the break. Perhaps the most remarkable discovery was the observation of brain activity during these breaks. Brain scans revealed that during these 10-second pauses, the brain engaged in a rapid replay of the key-press sequence, practicing it at an astonishing 20 times the original speed, and even in reverse – a phenomenon not fully understood by researchers. Crucially, participants were not consciously practicing mentally during these microbreaks; they were simply resting, yet their brains were autonomously continuing to learn and refine the skill with remarkable efficiency.
So, how can musicians harness these findings to enhance their learning music journey?
The concept of microbreaks has significantly improved my approach to solidifying musical passages through repetition. Instead of performing numerous repetitions consecutively without pause, I now practice a passage three times, followed by a brief 10-second break. Then, I resume with another set of three repetitions. If all six repetitions are flawless, I progress to the next item on my practice agenda. However, if any mistakes occur within those repetitions, I analyze the cause of the error and restart the repetition cycle from zero. The aim is to achieve nine perfect repetitions in total, punctuated by a 10-second break after every three repetitions (three reps, break, three reps, break, three reps). Any error necessitates restarting the count from the beginning.
For me, sets of three repetitions followed by a microbreak strike the ideal balance. It’s sufficient to gauge consistency without inducing boredom or loss of focus from excessive repetition. But the true catalyst for effective learning lies in the breaks themselves. Incorporating these microbreaks dramatically enhances the consolidation of my playing compared to my previous practice method without breaks. Furthermore, the knowledge and skills acquired through this method tend to be more deeply ingrained and retained over time, an invaluable added benefit for anyone learning music.
To delve deeper into the science underpinning the power of breaks, explore the video series mentioned earlier. Part 4 specifically addresses the science of taking breaks, elucidating why this strategy is so effective and offering further insights into integrating it into your music practice routine. The complete series is accessible via the provided playlist link in the original article.
Embrace this approach and reconsider the role of breaks in your practice regimen. Far from being unproductive downtime, breaks are indispensable components of the most efficient and effective path to learning music, unlocking faster progress and deeper musical understanding.
