Personal Bests and Mini Outcomes: Some thoughts on your pupils’ practice in these unprecedented times

Naturally the first necessity for all of us in these in these exceptional times is a combination of looking after ourselves and those close to us, with an eye on moving forwards towards a better future.

For many younger folk, especially those who would normally be living a highly structured life based around the routine that school or college provide, it is all very strange and different.

But, looking from a more positive perspective, for those who love their music and are learning to play or sing this time can serve as an opportunity to help them progress on an unprecedented scale. 

So, let’s get our pupils practising! Give them some routine, normality and the potential for deep and meaningful engagement, in a world where the usual expectations have, for a while, been removed.

Practice… it’s a heavily loaded word! I’ve never quite known why (for some, anyway) it’s associated with negative thoughts. Let’s set about changing that.

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First there are some background principles we need to take into account:

• Young people are interested in NOW

• The process needs to be enjoyable

• The practical and immediate relevance needs to be clear

• No one particularly wants to do ‘chores’

And also some clear guidelines in how to create the perfect psychological environment.  The practice needs to be:

• Understandable and engaging

• Appropriately challenging

• Fun

• Rewarding

• Imaginative

Whether you’re a computer gamer or not, there are certain lessons we can learn from the world of video games. 

• The process itself is diverting, engaging, focussing and fun

• There is a clear sense of direction: I know what I’m supposed to be doing and why

• The progress is clear: Today I went up 20 (or maybe 200 or 2000) levels

So, how can we apply all this to help our pupils practise?

Put simply, they need to:

• Plan for progress, and

• See that progress when it happens

Practice is often too vague and so pupils simply play/sing through pieces and songs, maybe correcting a few obvious errors along the way.  There’s not much fun in this.  We need to help pupils make a mental shift to more dedicated and goal-orientated practice, rather than filling up time with the brain only just in gear.

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We therefore want to encourage pupils to organise their practice with two particular types of activity in mind:

Personal Bests

(which are generally more directed towards technique)

and

Mini Outcomes

(which are generally more musically based)

Personal Bests are either how…

• …evenly

• …loudly

• …softly

• …cleanly

• …confidently

• …beautifully

• …speedily

• …slowly 

• …expressively

…can I do this thing, or play this note / phrase / passage?

It best applies to a specific technical aspect: the control of a new note; the control of the bow on a string crossing; the crispness of a staccato note or the control of an ornament… the list is endless. 

Or PBs are concerned with How many…

• …times can I tongue this note in 10 seconds?

• …times can I play G major remembering the F sharp?

• …times can I repeat this bar with perfect control?

• …connections can I make within this piece?

• …pieces/songs can I perform confidently at the moment?

Mini Outcomes are little challenges. They are concerned with Can I…? and How can I…?

• …improve the control of that staccato note?

• …play the first bar/last bar/any bar really beautifully?

• …keep my bow really straight in this bar?

• …play/sing this section with really vivid dynamic contrasts?

• …play this scale with really crisp staccato?

• …memorise the first 5 notes/octave of this scale?

In other words, they are asking the pupil to think: Can I do this thing like this…? 

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As our pupils are making their lists of PBs or MOs, we also want to encourage them to think:

• Why am I doing this?

• How am I going to do it?

• What is the result?

Given that there is probably more time available now for practice, you could suggest that pupils practise a number of times a day but each session is quite short and is aimed towards some very specific outcomes. Practice then become a series of Personal Bests and Mini Outcome activities.  Maybe two or three of each. This ticks all the boxes as set out above – it’s understandable and engaging, appropriately challenging, fun, rewarding and imaginative!

In time, pupils will become much better at creating a more positive practice mindset and a more practical way of using the time.

In tandem with this we need to teach pupils how to set up and react constructively and productively to what they do. They will need to look at the music to be practised, think, analyse and ask themselves lots of questions.

That could go a little like this:

In this practice session I’m going to work at this section of this piece, which has some staccato. I want to improve the staccato control and improve my staccato speed.

Mini Outcomes:  Work at staccato. Can I play them more crisply? How can I play them more crisply?  Can I play this bar of staccatos evenly?

Personal Bests: Can I play a really crisp staccato note? How many crisp staccato notes can I play in 10 seconds?  Last PB on staccato was four beats of semiquavers at crotchet = 60.  Today I’ll try crotchet = 61… or five beats at crotchet = 60.  

By the end of that session a lot of very focussed work will have been done.  If something hasn’t been understood, instead of getting frustrated, encourage the pupil to note it down as a question for the next lesson.

Measuring progress

The realisation of a Personal Best is a clear indication of progress.

The successful completion and accomplishment of a Mini Outcome is also an indication of progress.

Pupils have made progress and are aware of the progress they’ve made in each practice session.

It’s very motivating.

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Do let me know how you get on if you are able to encourage your pupils to try these ideas.

I’ll be in touch over the next few days and weeks with some more practical ideas to help you inspire your pupils with their music practice and learning at home…

Have you 'got' it?

It’s great when students get things. That happy moment when the penny drops, the eyes light up and we become enveloped in that warm glow of satisfaction knowing that our teaching has been successful.

But then, oh dear.

Our students return the following week and that new fingering or rhythm seems to have departed from their minds. What they had (and please forgive the usage) gotten, they seem now to have for-gotten. Interestingly, to forget tends to imply that the information isn’t entirely irrecoverable. In saying we’ve forgotten, we generally mean “I can’t remember it at the moment, but it will probably come back.” And that may indeed be the case. 

But it’s often not the case.

I love a particular word that disappeared from common usage many centuries ago. And that word is un-get. This is often what happens after we teach our students something new for the first time. The fact is, it hasn’t been temporarily forgotten. Whatever that thing was that they had got, they have now un-got.  It is irretrievable. It has completely gone! 

But that’s okay, let’s not worry about it. Instead, and with good humour, we simply need to teach it again, to encourage them to re-get it! And how do we do this?

The secret is to teach it again from other angles.

One great way to achieve this is by using the Simultaneous Learning Musical Map of the World (available to download free here) which will give you lots of ideas for teaching the matter in question in different ways and contexts that are linked to the piece you are working on. The key is to alter the order of steps that led up to that teaching/learning moment.  Simply make the appropriate connections in a different order.

This will help us discover what hasn’t quite been understood and is therefore preventing our student from properly getting it. Maybe they are not playing a phrase staccato – although they did last week. The reason they haven’t entirely got it yet might be aural – they are not hearing the staccato in their musical ear – or it could be a technical issue, or maybe it’s to do with dynamic levels or some aspect of their technique.  Let’s explore all these possibilities, vary the order in which we do so and, all being well, our student will eventually get with less likelihood of subsequently for-getting or indeed un-getting.

And so here is my ‘re-’ declining of the verb to get:

I get – which happens sometimes. But often… 

I for-get – which is possible. But more probably…

I un-get – which is more likely!  But that’s okay, because with a good teacher to reinforce the idea…

I re-get! – and it stays!

And that can’t help but make us all feel so much happier…

Paul will be presenting “Are your students really learning?” at the Music & Drama Education Expo, London on 6 March 2019.

Now you're learning!

Considering the optimum environment for effective learning.

Successful learning is something we would like all our pupils to experience. Let’s consider three factors that are central to bringing this about.

As teachers we like to be in control. We know what’s best. We know what works. We have all the answers (or most of them anyway).

But for really effective teaching and learning we also have to go with the flow. Everyone we teach is different. Recognising each individual’s needs, harmonising with their learning speed, acknowledging each response and then responding back appropriately are all key aspects of truly successful teaching and learning. So, be in control… but do also go with the flow. We can balance these two life forces, and applying this balance when you are teaching is crucial. In practice, and in general terms, we do need to know where we’re going with each pupil and have a clear idea of a lesson’s path. But we also need to be constantly adapting. We may well have an agenda, but it must be very flexible. Teach the pupil through the music and the instrument.

We also need to be patient. And so do our pupils and their parents! Appropriate patience in teaching and learning has a lot to do with expectation: learning to manage expectation and being as realistic as possible is so important. Pupils and parents are often impatient, usually because their expectations are unrealistic. If we can bring realistic targets to all teaching and learning situations we will really begin to instil happy and contented learning.

Finally, empathy. In my opinion, the most important quality of the Virtuoso Teacher is an ability to communicate. For really effective communication to take place we have to do our best to understand deeply the person or persons with whom we are communicating.

“When our pupils feel they are understood then they can begin to relax into really productive and secure learning.”

Here, we must do our best to determine their interests, their learning speed, their level of motivation, their natural energy levels and what makes them tick musically – all without them actually realising! When our pupils feel they are understood then they can begin to relax into really productive and secure learning.

So, be in control but go with the flow; set realistic and understandable targets to create a patient approach and empathise with your pupils. You will be delighted to see your pupils becoming truly happy and effective learners.

The Double O Mindset

Simultaneous Learning is rooted in a ‘can-do’ world where activities are always pro-actively set up to flow sequentially and so provide the greatest chance of success and therefore persistent progress and direction.  This continually allows both teachers and pupils to live in in an environment of positivity.  And if we explain carefully how the process is working as we are teaching it during lessons, then pupils learn to use the same process in their practice. 

This doesn’t mean that things don’t go wrong from time to time, however careful we (or our pupils) are in setting up the next thing to do.  Maybe a pupil struggles (in a lesson or practice) to get something technical to work or can’t quite figure out a musical point.  

I’d like to suggest a way to deal with this, and I call it the Double O Mindset.

So often, musicians and others who find they can’t do things, get annoyed and frustrated: “I CAN’T do this” or maybe “Why CAN’T I do this?” they inwardly scream. This often leads to the follow-up thought: “I’m no good,” or worse, “I’m useless.” 

Of course, it’s entirely the wrong reaction; the wrong response. Rather than this aggressive, subjective, and angry riposte, teach pupils (and ourselves if we need to) to go for the Double O Mindset:

Observe and be Objective. 

In other words, we quietly observe what exactly is going on, and then analyse the situation in an agreeably and peacefully objective manner.

Instead of ranting “Why CAN’T I do this?”

We say, gently and thoughtfully,

Why can’t I do this?

We observe carefully what we are actually doing and we objectively search for a slightly different way that may well simply solve the problem. 

The word carefully is important.  When we analyse what we are doing we often don’t delve nearly deep enough.  If it’s technical, try to look, for example, exactly at hand position, use of all muscles involved in the task, exactly at what is being done in relation to the intended outcome.   If it’s musical, is there something not quite understood in the sequence of thought required to be at that particular point.  If our pupil takes this view, they may well solve the problem or realise what it is they don’t get, and bring that with them to the next lesson when, together, we can solve it.

So, do consider the Double O Mindset:  Observe and be Objective. It may well save a lot of time and emotional and misdirected negative energy.