How to disturb the learning process - Interference

Any form of excitement or a highly emotional experience may disturb the learning process. The brain must be free of other thoughts before practicing can be effective. The same may be true of excitement after practicing. The hard-won material will be lost.

If you learn a relatively large segment of a piece (A) and, without taking a break, learn a second segment (B), you will retain less of the first segment than if you had learned nothing new in the meantime. As a matter of fact, not only is a portion of the first section lost but also a portion of the second segment. The term for this interference is proactive inhibition. Retroactive inhibition interferes with retention of things learned previously.

Even more interference may take place when passages are practiced that are very much alike. Contrasting passages should be practiced after each other. Parallel (similar) passages should only be practiced consecutively when a piece is well learned and an added challenge is needed to check for possible memory slips.

It may also be unwise to memorize something new shortly before a concert. Passages that had earlier been absolutely certain are often difficult to remember under pressure. It is as if the new material had pushed the old material to the side to make room for new!

In fact, it is better to play memorized pieces with the music just before a performance rather than testing your memory right before going on stage. This is especially true for inexperienced performers.
 

It is essential to set practicing goals with your child that are achievable within a short time. As the 100% human concentration span for children lasts approximately 10 minutes, the objective of your task ought to be reached within this time. If your goals are set too high, it will be impossible to accomplish them and the resulting failure will squelch any desire to try the next task. Either one looses the desire to tackle new tasks, or one learns to accept incomplete work.
 

Know your child’s capabilities and don’t, for instance, set the goal of memorizing and perfecting a movement from a new concerto in an hour, unless he really has no trouble doing so.
 

If the first goal is reached, it is important to take a short break of approximately 1 minute. Ideally we should stretch the break up to 20 minutes, as precisely this time span is required for information to be settled in the long - term memory. Of course, this length of time is unreasonable – you won’t be able to get your kid back to “work”!! Also, the disadvantages entail a new warm - up time. This isn’t realistic for our fast- paced lives!
 

The next 10-minute practice period should contain completely different material and be followed by a break (about 1-2 minutes). Avoid doing anything during these breaks that would occupy your child mentally: recommendable would be to get a bit of fresh air or something to drink!
 

I like exercising with aerobic or dance videos! With kids, I have them stand up, walk to the window, stretch toward the ceiling, etc.
 

This practice breakdown can be repeated several times during the day, but it is never advisable to practice if you and/or your child are tired. At that point, more can be won by taking a walk or nap than by mindlessly repeating a passage or doing “finger gymnastics” for hours on end. The times of the day when performance and capability levels are high should be set aside for practicing. Turn these times into a standing habit!

There are certainly many practice habits that inhibit learning. Two common mistakes are 1) always starting at the beginning of a piece and 2) practicing passages that are already perfected. A comprehensive "workout" of a piece by simply playing through it is impossible: the amount of information is simply too immense to “stick” in one run- through. It is a better idea to pick out the most difficult passages in a new piece and perfect them before adding the easier parts. Otherwise, it’s like putting together a puzzle with the most important parts missing.

Everyone experiences the “I’ll do it tomorrow”-syndrome for difficult tasks. That tomorrow often never comes: and it adds to a performer’s anxiety and uncertainty, which in turn compounds stage fright.

Write in the fingerings, bowings, dynamics, and other important markings. Trying to remember every detail is a senseless waste of your practice energy. The mere writing down accompanied by verbalising, is an additional help toward anchoring!

Power Tip
Use “White Out” to get rid of unwanted signs. Don’t make your brain have to continually decide: "Perform this? Yes or no?"!