We all experience them: those dry spells in music practice when we cannot seem to see ourselves progressing. But these practice “plateaus” are actually very productive. The trick is to be patient with the process, and, as always, to stay awake, aware, and inspired, in order to learn something from even the the most stuck-seeming phases of our musical development.
Years ago, a flautist friend who habitually practiced eight hours a day confided in me that she felt she was actually getting worse at the flute. “I haven’t made any progress in weeks,” she told me. “I practice well. I learn from my mistakes. I can’t tell what I’m doing wrong.” A month later, she came to me with a different story. She had thought she was getting worse, she said, because she was actually getting better–at listening, and at evaluating her own playing. During what seemed like her most unproductive moment, she was actually growing by leaps and bounds as a listener. What sounded great to her, months before, no longer satisfied her keen ears.
My flautist friend practiced patiently through her plateau, and when she overcame it, she realized what a productive time it had been. She played better: she had listened more closely and corrected subtle things about her playing that she hadn’t even known were there to correct before. And she was more inspired: because inspiration hadn’t come easily to her during this time, she sought new music, recordings, and concerts to inspire her. She had discovered several great flautists she hadn’t known about before, and even learned some music theory from other genres of music.
It is absolutely natural to reach a point with music practice when one simply cannot seem to make headway with a particular technique or piece. Stay with it, and remember that these phases are all part of the learning process. A plateau is not a stagnant time; your mind and body are accumulating new knowledge, even if you cannot see the results just yet. Stay calm, stay positive, and stay curious about yourself and the music you play. You may find that your most stagnant weeks of practice helped you grow the most as a player!
Have you ever had a practice “plateau”? How did you overcome it? What did you learn? Leave a comment here on the Harmonious.ly blog and let us know.
