Last week, the final (I’m assuming?) season of Cobra Kai came out, and if there’s any field that focuses heavily on repetition until it’s engraved in your body and you can do it instinctively, it’s martial arts.
I also came across this Youtube video of a girl who wanted to learn martial arts in 30 days. Due to her practice and dedication, most of which was repeating the motions inside and outside of lessons, she didn’t just get a belt promotion, but a double belt promotion!
The thing about repetition is that it requires real discipline. I don’t think anyone really loves doing the exact same thing over and over again, especially if they’re already good at it, but it’s such an essential thing as one grows as a musician.
We too need to develop muscle memory, especially if we plan to record or perform. Things may be fun and easy at home, but once people are watching and listening, once you’re in a new environment and time is counting down, it’s normal to get anxious and you’re more prone to mistakes.
My Mistake As A Young Musician
I say this because I’ve learned from my younger self. I played a lot of instruments, sure. I loved learning to read music, yeah. But I was always a more casual musician.
I’ll play in band class and I’ll learn a song when I’m feeling inspired, but that was it. I wasn’t practicing and developing my basic playing skills, I was only learning songs when the time called for it.
If I had a performance coming up, I’ll cram and all. I guess I always chose a song so mistakes were easy to make. I also didn’t have much time to prepare (less than a month), so the muscle memory didn’t have a chance to kick in.
I recall two times playing piano on stage. Once was at school. I was supposed to learn the full song for ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ for Black History Month as my choir was singing it. Guess it was way out of my skill level so I only had enough time to learn the intro. I think I did well? But I was definitely nervous.
Another time, I was playing around with a piano in a church room. A member saw and said she wanted to play for one service. I got to choose the song and I decided to play one by ear. There definitely wasn’t much time so I definitely didn’t master it before the performance.
I tend to get clammy hands when doing precise things, like playing piano. I’m also only used to playing on a keyboard, so the transition is hard. Our church is quite big so there’s definitely nerves oh goodness. I definitely messed up a few times, and I started speeding up which made it worse…ayee. I got through it, but I was definitely a bit embarrassed.
My better performance would be playing Every Heart on viola at school. A teacher taught violin and viola after school for a semester or so, and I had the bright idea of taking it home and learning a song for multicultural assembly. Considering I’m still pretty new, it did require a lot of tweaking just to make sure my fingers are in the right place, my bow angles are good, and that I’m not squeeking.
I only hit one bad not in the performance, but I had to focus very hard. There was a lot of background noise, I’m sure I bored some people as well, it’s always nervous playing in front of classmates, but I definitely know, if I had more time and I played it many times, every time everyday, it would be a different experience.
Point is, my error was that I didn’t use my downtime wisely to really develop certain skills. I didn’t run through scales on piano nor really like mastered songs, so I was prone to mistakes and would forget what I worked on.
Repetition until perfection was just something I’ve never practiced in the past. I only played when I felt like it and if I wasn’t performing something, I’d just play a song until it was ‘good enough’ or I get through it once without mistakes.
My Focus On Repetition With Guitar
When I picked up guitar as an adult, I wanted to be proficient. I didn’t want to rely on the 5 easy songs I played since childhood to impress people, I wanted to be able to learn and play new songs easily, improvise, write, and just be a well rounded guitarist. So once I got it, I practiced almost daily my first 8 months (before my 2 year break).
When I picked up guitar again, I tried Guitar Tricks and got more into rhythm. While I have a good sense of time due to my past, guitar requires so much coordination between chords and strumming so that took a lot of practice to develop.
I learned how to read tabs, and with Songsterr, they have note tags like sheet music, so I was able to focus a lot on strumming patterns as I learned, ensuring I was playing things right. It can be tempting to slack off when learning a song, doing what’s easy, skipping little details etc, but I made sure I learned it as written no matter how difficult.
After getting through the peace, I’d practice playing it as written from beginning to end. Once I ensure I’m playing it right, I’ll memorize and get off the tabs asap. And usually for the first few weeks after learning a new song, I’d practice it daily, usually a few times a day if anything went wrong.
This is definitely different from who I was. Back then, I’d just practice until I could get through it well one or two times, but I was definitely on edge as I was prone to mistakes. But now, I was playing and practicing until I can play it perfectly almost every single time.
My main goal with guitar was to play with a band onstage, and you only got one shot. I didn’t want to feel the same anxiety and uncertainty as I did with piano. I needed to make sure that the one time it really counts, I can deliver without issue.
In the video below, I’ve gathered some clips from the journey, mistakes and errors included. If I made a mistake during a run, I’d keep playing that part or the piece until I can play it right. Since I’m beginner, sometimes it takes days or weeks to do that, but I keep working on it hoping to get to that point where I can do it without really thinking about it, like martial arts!
Remember: Music Is A Social Art
If you’re someone who is serious about getting out there as a musician, repetition is so important. Maybe you already knew this but it’s hard to build that discipline isn’t it? You’d rather just play what you feel, improvise, or cover songs the way you want, but we should always remember that music is a social art.
In a band? You got band members. In a choir, you got other singers. Singer? Someone had to write and create your tracks. Rapper? You probably have a producer. And let’s not forget the people in the background, the sound guy or AV team, the host and organizers of events, the owners of rehearsal and recording studios etc. Go farther back, and you even have the teachers and the people who create your instruments.
All that to say, if you’re selfish and you only think about what you want to do and play, you’re not going to get far. You need to be able to make connections and get along with people. You also need to be willing to work hard and practice your piece well so that they will want to keep working with you and you can get farther together.
If you’re playing with anybody, they need you to be consistent and predictable so you guys can all look good together. The bigger your group, like if you were in an orchestra, there really is no place for freestyling. You’ll actually sound like the bad one if everyone else is together while you’re making mistakes or deviate from the piece.
I wrote an article earlier this year when I stumbled across Kyoto Tachibana SHS band and was mesmerized. They’re just high schoolers, but there’s usually 80+ of them playing really well while doing full dance routines. They’re all really insync and it’s so satisfying to watch.
When I did more research, turns out a lot of them having been playing since elementary or at least middle school. Their band practice is daily, and they’ll still spend time practicing alone before and after school. Since they instruments are loud, they can’t really play at home since they’ll bother neighbours.
They have to learn these routines in a short amount of time (ie a month or two) since every stage is physically different, and sometimes they’ll partake in a march. So learning and mastering their parts is only part of the equation. They need to learn the dances, positions, and build the endurance to keep blowing throughout a sometimes 30 minute set…all while still attending school.
No one really cares who’s the most talented player or who can bust out a cool solo. What matters most is being part of the group, not standing out. People love how insync they are. Very few could do what they do, and it’s because of that why they’ve gotten so much attention worldwide.
Sadly, many rock people have an ego and think the world revolves them. They play what they want to play, not what people want to hear. They rely on their talents and freestyling skills instead of being consistent and reliable, and that can often cause trouble for everyone else.
As the video below says, talent is nice, but if it makes you lazy, people would rather work with the one who’s going to work the hardest…and usually, those are the ones who aren’t as talented and will practice harder to make up for it.
Conclusion
Some may find repetition boring, but to many others, there is peace and enjoyment in being able to play a piece well and with confidence thanks to that practice.
That’s not to say you could never freestyle and improvise, but in general, if you’re learning a song or creating something with your band, then you should aim to play your part well and also be someone who is consistent so they can rely on you and not be messed up by you.
For me, since I’ve never had high confidence at past instruments, I really didn’t want to feel anxious this time around. When my band finally debuted on stage, I didn’t get my usual pre-stage nerves, nor got high on adrenaline like I may have in high school.
Playing with a band on stage has been a dream of mine since middle school, so you’d think I’d be extremely emotional, but I had a sense of calm. “I know my stuff. I’ve practiced hard for this. I’m going to perform the way I’ve been rehearsing the last few months and give a great performance”.
I had a deeper confidence with myself on the guitar than I have on any other instrument, even though I’ve played keyboard for over 15 years. Honestly, the only difference between then and now is that I would play a piece repeatedly until mistakes were rare and I could even play some with my eyes closed.
While being able to play freely is an admirable skill, in most cases, people would prefer someone predictable, and that can only happen through repetition.