When you think of practicing your instrument, what are some of the first words that come to mind? Are the words “fun” or “playful” anywhere on your list? 🤣

For most of my life, practicing felt an awful lot like memorizing my multiplication tables. A lot of mind-numbing repetition, and not much fun.

We know that mindless drudgery doesn’t make for very effective learning, of course - but what is the alternative? What might more playful practice actually look like?

Enter today’s guest, Graham Fitch. He’s a pianist, but the ideas and concepts that he shares with us in today’s chat can be applied or translated to any instrument.

So if you haven’t been learning music or improving overall as quickly as you would like, or your practice has felt stale or stagnant, I think today’s episode will help to revitalize your practice and scooch it a few notches in the direction of fun. 😜

Get all the nerdy details on memorization, slow practice, fast practice, metronome practice, hands together vs. separate and more, in this month's episode:

​Graham Fitch: On Playful Practice and Muscle Memory You Can Trust

Additional Resources

Graham mentioned chaining and interleaved practice. Here's more on both of those concepts.

How to do chaining: Jason Sulliman: On Why Fast, At-Tempo Practice Can Be More Efficient and Effective Than Slow Practice

How to do interleaved practice: Why the Progress You Make in the Practice Room Seems to Disappear Overnight

More from The Bulletproof Musician

• Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
• Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
• Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
• Live and self-paced courses