jL | In Practice - Effective Rehearsing

In the classroom:  This is the time of year when I have to be especially intentional about balancing my desire to check everything off my rehearsal to-do list with the need to make meaningful progress. There’s so much material that it’s easy to equate completion with success and to feel stressed when every box isn’t checked. In reality, the work only matters if we’re making meaningful progress and helping performers understand how to carry that improvement into their individual practice.

To be clear, I’m not advocating against planning. My most effective rehearsals are always rooted in even a few minutes of focused score study (see below). What I have to continually remind myself is to never confuse motion with action. I learned that lesson the hard way. Our ensemble grows the most when I allow myself to go “off script,” as long as something tangible improves and the students see how to apply it in other situations.

Behind the scenes: It often doesn’t take as long as I think. I’m prone to putting off important tasks because I convince myself I don’t have enough time to do them well. More often than not, that hesitation is really a defense mechanism, an insecurity about the project itself. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the idea of score study, try this: set a five-minute timer and commit to doing nothing else for just five minutes.

You might be surprised how much clarity you can gain in five minutes. Many times, that small investment is enough to spark momentum, and I’ll find myself carving out “just five more.” Even on the days when I stop right on time, rehearsal is noticeably more productive because I took a moment to organize my thoughts before we started.

Remember:  Rome wasn’t built in a day, but as James Clear likes to point out, they were always laying bricks.