Renowned violist, teacher and former mathematician, Matthew, presents this unmissable seminar on the most important aspect of every musician’s development - what you do in your practice room.
Every moment of every practice session contributes to the trajectory of your potential, your career, your future - and yet mystery often enshrines the art and science of what we should ideally be doing.
Head of Chamber Music at the Guildhall school, teacher of the Alexander Technique, yoga and meditation, and with a solo/chamber discography of 25 recordings, Matthew has been presenting seminars and workshops on the art of practice around the world for more than 20 years.
Matthew will cover these four main principles:
Concepts
The fundamental principles that transform our practice immediately: Pareto’s Law (the 80/20 principle), stress vs. productivity, goal-setting and productivity theories, variety and awareness of helpful methods to enhance efficacy of practice including Alexander Technique, mindfulness, yoga and meditation.
Planning/organisation/preparation
How to prepare for and start your optimum practice session: physical preparation, warm-ups, stretches, posture, balance board use, minimising distractions, mental attitude, timescale awareness, how to set goals in effective ways tailored to your psyche, physicality and instrument.
In the practice room
Mixing physical and mental practice, designing the balance of styles and difficulty levels in your practice, indirect vs. direct practice, “spotlight” practice, logical grouping of activities/sections, tailoring technical work specifically to the requirements of repertoire, cultivating constructive feedback, the hows, whys and whens of recording yourself.
Keeping creativity and spontaneity in your practice, mind/body/mood awareness and when/how to design your practice accordingly, quantification in music practice, blocked vs. random practice, how to use a metronome optimally.
Bridging the gap between practice and performance
Enhancing practice with mental rehearsal and visualisation techniques, clarification between practice mode and performance mode within your practice room, memorisation techniques (muscle, visual, aural and structural memories), recommendations for further exploration.