The Art of Practicing One Beat at a Time

One beat at a time—that’s all it takes.

Musicians of all backgrounds often attempt to sight-read an entire piece before learning it.

This approach isn’t necessarily bad, but it often comes with a caveat: the expectations may be too high—and disappointment is near.

Next time you’re practicing a piece of music, fall in love with every beat of every measure. Slow down the process of putting the notes and rhythms to the instrument. Let the muscle memory of the instrument take over on its own and have zero expectations of perfection.

Students often think repetition is practice—but repetition without a detailed process is a reinforcement of errors.