Sonority Warm-ups
    My teacher, Marcel Moyse, showed me these warm-ups which are variants of the exercises in his book, De La Sonorite.

    These warmups were a lifesaver for me the day that our orchestra flight was delayed, so that we had to go directly to Carnegie Hall with ten minutes to spare before the concert. After ten minutes of playing these exercises up and down the flute range, I felt ready to go on stage.

Daily Exercises
    Every day I practice several pages from an exercise book, such as the classic Grands Exercises Journaliers de Mecanisme by Taffanel and Gaubert, with special emphasis on the famous #4. I try to keep my fingers relaxed and close to the keys and focus on the pleasant sensation of barely moving my fingers, as though the weight of each finger is sufficient to close the key. As an alternative to this book, I move to Exercises Journaliers by Marcel Moyse, Daily Exercises by Julius Baker, Sequences by Geoffrey Gilbert, and The Flutist’s Vade Mecum by Walfrid Kujala.

Scales
    On day one, I practice all of the major scales, on day two, all of the harmonic minor scales, and on day three, all of the melodic minor scales, repeating this pattern every three days with a variety of articulations. I once heard the great Geoffrey Gilbert (teacher of James Galway) say that practicing scales without going into the very high register is a waste of time. I like to practice scales starting on the lowest tonic note within the flute range, going up to the highest note in the scale within the flute range, as in high C# or D. Then I go down to the lowest note in the scale within the flute range, as in low C or B. I end back on the lowest tonic within the flute range. 

    I also like to practice scales in patterns which I make up, such as:

    I practice these with a variety of articulations, and going into the extreme high and low ranges of the flute. 
    I also practice scales in triple-tongued triplets, such as:

    (Jean-Pierre Rampal commented that a fluency in triple tonguing scales is a sign that you’re really in shape!)

Double Tonguing
    I practice the following three excerpts every day, which Julius Baker recommended for building up and maintaining double tonguing speed and endurance: J.S. Bach’s Sonata in C Major, Movement 2 Allegro, Camille Saint-Saens’ Volieres from Carnival of the Animals, and Felix Mendelssohn’s Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream – two measures before letter P to the end.

Melodies
    I play a melody or two from Marcel Moyse’s Tone Development Through Interpretation. Moyse transcribed these melodies, mostly vocal arias from operas which he heard performed by great singers in early twentieth-century Paris such as Enrico Caruso, Amelita Galli-Curci, Luisa Tetrazzini and Nellie Melba. Moyse felt that the singers had a stronger tradition of phrasing, expression, emotion and color than he did as a flutist, so he wrote down and practiced the melodies he heard them sing and used them to try to develop these traits in his own (and subsequently his students’) playing. As I work on one of these melodies, I feel my embouchure waking up. I aim for the flexibility to change the color, crescendo and diminuendo, and play softly especially in the high register without going out of tune.

Upcoming Repertoire
    I really dislike cramming. I much prefer the luxury of learning technical passages over a long period of time. For this reason, I keep a pile of the solo and chamber pieces that I will be playing during the coming year on my music stand. In my first half hour of practice, (before I get to the music, I have to work on for next week’s orchestra concert), I work on just the most technical passages from each piece, slowly and in different rhythms. For example, right now I am working on Valerie Coleman’s Fanmi Imen and Robert Beaser’s Variations. I single out the hardest runs and technical passages and use them as warm-ups. 
    For instance, I have really put time into the quick, tongued quintuplet section of the Beaser starting in measure 4/4, which I find quite tricky. Over a period of several months it is really starting to improve. I also keep in mind the most challenging orchestral repertoire I will be playing in the coming season. In this case, I will be playing Prokofieff’s Classical Symphony and Peter and the Wolf, so I play the hardest parts from these pieces from memory pretty much every time I pick up my flute.
    I remind myself to practice most what I cannot play, rather than what I can already play. I love to practice because I love the sound of the flute. In whatever mood or color or effect I am attempting to create, I always strive to find greater beauty in the sound, and that pursuit makes me happy. As Marcel Moyse used to say, Avec plaisir! or Play with pleasure!    

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Air Speed
    Joseph Mariano, flute professor emeritus at the Eastman School of Music, warmed up with the following exercise. It was played slowly, loudly and with an enormous vibrato. 

    He stretched the intervals as if stretching a rubber band to the point of breaking. It was the first thing he played in the morning before orchestra rehearsals. After I heard him play it the first time, I knew that he was getting the air moving. A constant air stream is necessary to play smooth and articulated passages. Mariano was famous for his comments: “Play on the air.” “Tongue on the air.” The air is the system used to move through notes. 
    Mariano also advocated setting the embouchure not for the starting note of a passage, but for a higher second octave note. (This is interesting because Marcel Moyse used the second octave B for his starting point in the De La Sonorite, p. 6). Mariano said, “You can play low octave notes on a high octave embouchure setting, but not high notes on a low octave setting.” With experimentation you will find many intervals are easier to navigate if the embouchure is simply set for a higher note. 

Playing Out of Time
    William Kincaid suggested that when playing an interval larger than a fourth to slightly lengthen the note before the skip. He also advocated changing the embouchure to favor the next note while still on the first note. He said sometimes he increased the vibrato speed on the note before the intervallic skip. These are excellent ideas, and with experimentation  flutists will figure which concept works best for specific passages. Generally, in skipping to a higher note, make the aperture smaller and in skipping to a lower note, make the aperture larger.

Scales or Small Intervals: 
Whole- and Half-Steps
    These are the easiest intervals to conquer because they are the ones where the fewest fingers move to change the pitch. However, the setup of the notes on the flute pose some problems that many flutists never consider. 
    My first teacher was the legendary Frances Blaisdell who was one of the first flute female soloists and orchestral players in the United States. Time after time as I struggled with a passage, she stopped me and put a small line before a note in a run and said, “Try it again.” It was always perfect after that. I asked her how she knew where to put the line, and she said, “Experience.” Since I had little experience, I thought about the reasoning of where these lines were placed in relationship to the fingerings. Here is what I discovered. 
    Set your flute on a table with the headjoint to the left and footjoint to the right. Start with low C and notice that all of the fingerings for a C major scale start at the right and proceed to the left by lifting a finger until reaching the second octave C. At this point, the fingerings move back to the right and begin again. It is at the point where the fingering changes direction that the small line is placed. The small line slows the flutist’s reading just enough to make the fingering connection. Look at the following C major two-octave scale with the lines placed where the fingering changes direction. 

    Obviously where the lines are placed will be determined by the scale being played. A good studio exercise is to hand out a page of one octave scales and have students place the line in the appropriate places. 

    One time Michel Debost and I were talking pedagogy. I drew the following on a napkin and asked him what he thought it meant. 

    In just a few minutes he said, “It’s a G major scale.” I had asked this question to many flutists through the years, but he was the first to get it right. Accomplished flutists think about flute fingerings similarily to how string players think about the fingerboard. It is mapped out in their minds. Mapping the fingerings for many passages is the way to conquer them. 

    When playing scale like passages at a slow tempo, it is imperative to subdivide. Set the metronome to tick the background beat for accuracy. Also, use a mirror to study your hand position to be sure that the fingers are being used economically and articulately. 

Larger Intervals
    When playing thirds, at least two fingers will move to achieve the next note. (More fingers move as you progress over the bridge from the first octave to the second). This is where coordination comes into play. When ascending, the fingers closest to the top (or crown end) of the flute will move a bit more quickly than the fingers close to the footjoint. Conversely when descending, the fingers closer to the footjoint will move first. The goal is to eliminate any extra notes from sounding that are not written on the page. For example, when playing from an E to a G in the second octave, it is possible to hear the F, if the fingers are not moving correctly. So, when lifting the right-hand two fingers, lift the F slightly before or exactly with the E. Each interval should be examined, and the movement planned if all is to be clean and smooth. Practicing a tremolo between any two notes of a wider interval helps develop coordination. 

Filling In
    I had the privilege of interviewing Robert Willoughby a few years before his death. I told him I could always tell if a flutist had studied with him because they play seamless slurs. He smiled and said, “Yes, I worked very hard on that.” What did he do? He filled in the interval so the flutist knew exactly where the goal note was. The following shows how he worked the interval of an octave. 

    Playing smoothly is something all flutists should continue practicing throughout their careers. After analyzing a passage, having some practice techniques to apply will save hours of doing it again and again and again.

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Benefits of Study Abroad
    One of the best parts of living abroad, especially in Europe, was the ease with which I was able to travel around Italy and the surrounding countries. I learned how I like to travel and navigate cities. Musicians often travel for work, and studying abroad is a great way to become a travel pro. I quickly gained the confidence to explore my new neighborhood and beyond. I was able to hear, meet, and work with many teachers and performers who are not often in the United States. Likewise, I attended many concerts and operas in beautiful venues and heard orchestras in their home halls. Most countries are extremely supportive of students interested in the arts and offer discounted or free tickets to events. 
    I also met students from various institutions in the United States who were part of my program. The friends I made while abroad are people I still regularly keep in touch with.
    While the music events and networking were a large component of my experience, equally meaningful was understanding the importance of the arts in the overall cultures. Museums and concert halls were regularly packed, and it was incredible to see how residents of the different cities and countries valued the arts. Their cultures were intertwined with the arts which motivated me to bring a similar appreciation to every aspect of the arts when I returned home. I have made an effort to visit new museums, hear more performers, and travel as much as possible. 
    Additionally, my time abroad has continued to assist me academically. As a third year DMA candidate facing language proficiency exams and comprehensive exams, I feel I have a huge advantage over my classmates who did not study abroad. My basic understanding of and immersion into Italian has greatly aided me in preparation for language tests. Likewise, visiting places that I had read about in my music history textbooks helped put everything into context and brought them to life. 

How to Apply
    Each school has its own process for applying, and most have a director of study abroad programs who will help you navigate the process. There are usually meetings during the school year that introduce the process and programs offered. At my school, students had to get approval, which meant being in good academic standing and talking to your advisor to make sure you were making satisfactory progress in your degree requirements. After gaining approval, I applied to my study abroad program with help from the coordinator. Many schools will have pre-approved or school-run programs. Other decisions to make include deciding how long a program you want. There are many options ranging from semester- and year-long programs to shorter stays over winter, spring, or summer breaks. If you do not want to go to another country, there are options for programs run in various cities in the United States. 
    While my school was extremely supportive and encouraged my study abroad endeavors, it can be more difficult to study abroad at other universities. If this is the case at your school, I suggest investigating options that take place over the summer, either in an academic program or with a music festival. There are many ways to experience study abroad, so do not be afraid to be creative.
    I chose to use a semester-long program in Italy so that I would have the opportunity to be in a new culture and experience a new university while not missing out on an entire year at my school. The program was not run by my school, but was pre-approved by them. This was critical to me because as a double degree student, I needed to be sure that my coursework would transfer back to my university. 
    As a musician, I also had to make the decision between studying abroad in a music or a gen-ed program. I chose to study abroad for music as I wanted the experience of working with a new flute teacher and collaborating with other musicians. My teacher at my university helped me find a local teacher to work with, along with suggestions of other teachers I should try to have a lesson with.
    The process of applying for a non-music study abroad program is relatively straightforward. It generally involves submitting letters of recommendation, an essay explaining why you would like to study abroad, and your transcripts. Applying for a music program involves all of this, plus submitting an audition, much like one for a summer festival. 
    After being accepted by the program, my study abroad advisor assisted me with choosing classes along with the process of applying for a student visa. I also had to make the decision about where I would like to live. Most programs offer the option to live in apartments or with a local host family. While I originally wanted to live with a family, I ultimately decided to live in an apartment so that I had a guaranteed practice space. I had many friends who were able to practice at home if they lived with a family, so do your research to see if this is a possibility. 
    To ensure that my credits from Italy would transfer back, I was told to keep copies of all syllabi and coursework completed. I also had to make sure to do well in my classes as they fully transferred back with a letter grade. Be sure to check and see if your credits will transfer as pass/fail or with a letter. My advisor also helped me apply for scholarships and grants to aid with related expenses. Many colleges will offer financial support, along with websites like , , and www.
. 

More Tips
    Packing: Try to bring an empty bag or suitcase for the many things you will want to bring back with you. (Be sure to check airline weight allowances for your specific ticket type and flight and  weigh your bags before you get to the airport.) Many friends had to leave behind clothes, shoes, and other souvenirs as they did not have room in their luggage. You generally will be able to find almost anything you need in your new city, so only bring the necessities. Bring some local currency to help you get through the first few days. Try to have bills of various amounts as well as coins. To save space and weight, scan any music you plan to use and save it online.

    Practice your language skills: You will likely be exposed to a new language during your program. I highly suggest practicing the language before you go, as well as when you return home. The old saying “If you don’t use it, you lose it” holds true. There are many language learning apps such as Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, and Babbel that can aid with learning and retention. You can also look for opportunities at your university to maintain your new language. Many schools have language immersion houses or language immersion meals and round tables.

    Stay in touch with your university: While it is extremely important to immerse yourself in your new city, I found it helpful to be in contact with friends and professors at my school. I regularly Skyped friends and family at home to stay up to date, which aided with my transition when I returned. Additionally, I had Skype lessons with my professor about once a month so as not to fall behind.

    Give yourself musical goals: Many music students are hesitant to study abroad as they fear falling behind in their studies. If you plan carefully, you can still get in fantastic practice sessions. My time abroad was one of my most musically productive semesters. Find ways to stay motivated in your studies, whether it is scheduling lessons, preparing a recital, or creating specific technical milestones you hope to reach.

    Blog: You may think you will remember all of the little details, but sadly, things do slip away. I studied abroad six years ago and still reference my blog – whether it is to remember which painting was at which museum or to give a friend a restaurant recommendation in the middle of Tuscany. 

    Take lots of pictures and videos: I am so glad I have pictures that allow me to reminisce about my experience. I also made a scrapbook online. It not only serves as a nice memory and a way to share your trip, but it can also be a great present to give to family. Make sure to not only take pictures of the places you visit, but also have people take pictures with you in them! Additionally, I wish I had taken more videos. Even the minute things such as your commute to school or videos of your accommodations are fun to watch later. 

    Mail yourself postcards: Many people send friends and family postcards to let them know they are thinking of them, but have you ever mailed yourself a postcard? I liked to write down everything I had done in each city I visited, and mail it to my address at home. It was a great souvenir to come home to and also served as a fun way to decorate my dorm room.

    Get advice from the locals: Some of my favorite activities were things I found off the beaten path that I heard about from locals or friends who were studying in that city. There is nothing better than having someone show you around to truly experience a city.
    Going in to college, I knew that I wanted to study abroad. Living out my dream was extremely fulfilling and one of the highlights of my undergraduate experience. If you have even the slightest desire to study abroad, I could not encourage you more strongly to take the leap and go for it! It will be difficult to find any other time in your life when you will have the ability to put life on hold to explore. Take this opportunity to grow, discover, and reflect.

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Facing Fear
    There are not many variances among the different kinds of auditions. People are making decisions that will affect others. People are being judged. There is competition and there is music. There is also a fair amount of fear. At a recent college audition preparation course, someone suggested to high school students that they should not be afraid to audition. That is probably as effective as telling someone they need to love someone they loathe. There are many valid reasons to be afraid going into auditions. Fear of rejection, failure, the unknown, lack of confidence, little understanding of one’s value as a musician, limited awareness of universal standards, physical responses to fear, and the list goes on. Fear is real. Killing one feeling means killing them all in music. 
    There are good reasons to be fearful. A decision about where you could study for the next four years and how much financial support you receive is happening in that moment, and fear reveals that this means a lot. It signals an urgent moment and it tends to crowd out the cozier feelings. 
    One has to learn to function on their highest level while experiencing fear. I have found that by embracing this urgent energy, doors to other feelings take over and completely overshadow the fear without killing it. Fear can be a catalyst to build momentum.     Fear shows that you respect the people you are playing for in the audition. If you own your fear without obliterating it, you will be in full possession of your audition. 
    Musicians deal with varying levels of anxiety while playing. However, when listening to others, we just listen to the music and the way they play their instrument. I don’t often ask myself how this person is feeling. Instead I am pondering how they feel about the Prokofiev Sonata, this excerpt, or a particular phrase. A student’s emotional state during a brief audition is not relevant to the music. I even coined a phrase: “Feelings don’t matter in Classical Music” to jokingly say to young musicians. It means that their feelings are less relevant to a performance of a great work than those of the composer who wrote it. If students learn to identify with the feelings in the music itself rather than their own, they have a better chance of rising above personal frailties at auditions. No one expects a performer to feel nothing about an audition, but consider it to be one of a multifaceted complex system that swells and recedes. If musicians cannot function within their own storm they cannot move forward. 
     Think of one or two words you want the jury to experience as their impression of your work. Some examples might include: unexpected artist, elegant, intelligent expression, compelling, strange beauty, and exciting. Then, project those words into the room through your chosen repertoire. 
     A number of years ago I was evaluating Brevard Music Center auditions and a gorgeous recording from an applicant came up. After listening to it I exclaimed loudly, “you’re in!” This is what everyone wants to hear at the end of an audition, so imagine this result. Visualizing outcomes is a necessary part of turning dreams into reality. 

Playing Preparation
    True grit comes from a tenacious spirit and hard work. There are categories in music making and flute playing where certain standards must be met, and that varies greatly from school to school, depending on teachers’ expectations. Below is something of a checklist for students to conduct some self-evaluation. These are some things teachers may have on their minds during auditions.
 
Rhythm
    Can you calibrate time accurately and in all rhythmic measurements? Do you understand the difference between tempo and rhythm? Can you show rhythm through phrasing by communicating a hierarchy of beats, strong and weak?  

Articulation
    Can you demonstrate a range of strengths in articulation, from gentle and unobtrusive to firm and decisive? Does the articulation come with an extra sound that isn’t flute tone? (It should not.) Is the articulation unnoticeable? Can you double tongue with ease and convincing finger/tongue coordination? 
 
Tone
    Does your tone have a signature quality to it that is your own? Is it varied, flexible, and the vehicle for your expression? Can you play forte and piano with equal beauty?
 
Intonation
    Can you hear harmonic context when you play a single note? Are intervals in tune? Does the return of an individual note in a phrase match the pitch of the previous iteration of that note? Can you match the pitch of a piano, drone, or other instrument quickly? 
 
Vibrato
    Can you maintain tone and pitch integrity while using vibrato in all dynamics? Can you vary the depth and speed to convey the spirit of your music? Does it come with unwanted throat noises? 
 
Left Hand First Finger
    Do you lift it for every middle D and Eb? Every time? 

Trill Fingerings
    Do your right-hand fingers move left to operate the trill and auxiliary keys? Do you lift LH 2 and 3 for Ab to Bb trills and 3rd octave Eb to F? Do you lift RH 2 and 3 for Eb to F trills? Do you know the correct way to trill C/C#-D/D# in each octave? Look at your trill charts. 
 
Breathing Places
    Do you plan each breath for every phrase in every piece?
 
Musical Goals
    Are you clear about how to communicate the length, shape, and structure of basic phrases? Are you a good story teller with your music? What do you want the listener to know or feel when they hear each phrase? Are dynamics planned? 

    These are only some of the specific ideas experienced teachers might bring to an audition when listening to your work. They are really basic areas that should be addressed by students and their teachers in advance. It is common to have strengths in some areas and need work in others. Many students also do not have the ability to accurately recognize a deficiency in one area since that requires a certain level of mastery to determine. When there is a weakness, it usually stems from a lack of awareness that it even exists. Students may also over-inflate a strength that others would perceive as a weakness. Previous praise may have left them with the idea that they were judged above average at some point in their studies, resulting in stagnation. Constant reevaluation and regular feedback from different sources will help overall progress move ahead. 

Repertoire
    In order to be fully prepared for college auditions, students should begin several years in advance with level-appropriate repertoire, etudes, and scale exercises. The etudes and scales develop music reading skills and facility on the instrument. Without them, little is possible. I have found that choosing audition repertoire too early can be musically deadening to young players who whittle away at pedantic details at the behest of their teachers. Often with six months to a year to prepare two audition pieces, students are not encouraged to play shorter, easier but no less wonderful pieces for enjoyment or to develop their music reading skills. Sometimes they skip over a level of intermediate-level works, going from basic to college level, with very limited exploration of intermediate works.
    Motivated by ambition, a need to keep up, or not wanting to be perceived as an unfinished product, students stop developing their creativity by playing less technically demanding pieces. However, there are sophisticated works in the repertoire that cannot be played convincingly without exploring those short, fun flute pieces. Of course, students need to be familiar with their eventual audition repertoire, but not at the expense of losing all sense of enjoyment and confidence. Nothing destroys confidence like spending a year on a piece you daily have to worry about never being able to completely master. Short projects, given week to week, in addition to the big works will help balance that area of growth. 
    To hopefully further take the pressure off, I would hope that students do not feel the need to create a completely finished product while they are auditioning for college. Polishing before developing results in the premature death of the satisfaction of playing music and the ability to share with confidence. I am fairly certain that most flutists occupying teaching positions at schools are willing to accept students on perceived potential and not finished products. A high school student asked me last week how I feel about being handed a resume in an audition. I replied that I would not expect anyone auditioning for college to have built a resume yet. I admire the organizational skills, but the world needs more artists right now. Would you rather I read your resume or listen to your playing during the audition? I can’t do both at the same time.     

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Answer: With a bit of self-awareness and a journal you can take greater control of independent practice and see more progress in your playing between lessons. First, it helps to understand how your brain works and develop a better understanding of your natural learning capabilities. 
    Playing the flute requires many types of thinking. Flutists have to be emotional and expressive, technical and analytical, physical and athletic. Every thought and action moves at lightning speed and in perfect harmony. When learning a new skill, people integrate new information and form mental connections by generating myelin. This is the fatty substance that wraps itself around neurons in the brain and strengthens the electrical impulses transmitted throughout the nervous system. Learning a new skill grows myelin, and more myelin strengthens the ability to learn.
    There are five different levels of consciousness or brainwaves that we experience throughout the day. While reading this article, your brain is vibrating at 13-80 cycles per second in the Gamma or Beta wave. Right now you are conscious, awake and alert, processing information and performing daily functions; your thinking tempo is Allegro. You might think that the most productive time to practice is when your brainwaves are the fastest. Well, think again! 
    The next three brainwaves are slower and more restorative: Alpha (daydreaming), Theta (drowsy, pre-sleep), and Delta (unconscious, dreaming, sleeping). These waves are dancing between Moderato and Largo on the mental metronome. It is difficult to practice when your brain is in the drowsy Theta wave or completely asleep as in Delta wave. The daydreamy Alpha state offers some interesting possibilities. Think about all of the times you have floated away on a daydream – it feels good, comfortable, creative, and easy. When people ride an Alpha wave, they process four billion bits of information per second, compared to only 2000 bits of information within the faster Gamma or Beta waves. 
    The next aspect of deep learning to explore is called metacognition; this is the ability to think about your thinking. People do it all the time, yet unfortunately don’t always take full advantage of this inner awareness to make lasting change in their playing. 
    Amanda Leon-Guerrero describes metacognition as a self-regulation process and summarizes it perfectly by stating, “Self-regulation is the process of assessing progress in a given task, deciding what strategy will improve performance, implementing the strategy and evaluating again to determine if the set goal has been achieved.” 

Why am I struggling?
    Think about your struggles in the practice room. What is your practice routine like; what mistakes keep happening? Are you struggling to change your embouchure or hand position? What does that struggle feel like and what are you thinking about when you feel yourself begin to struggle?
    Madeline Bruser describes three different types of struggle in her book, The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart. She states that students experience overstated passion, avoidance, and aggression in their playing. Does your tone go sharp every time crescendo through a phrase? Do you notice that you put off practicing etudes until the day before your lesson? Or perhaps, you squeeze the flute too hard during a difficult run or passage? These are examples of overstated passion, avoidance, or aggression. 
    With newfound self-awareness, you can take steps to break old habits and build new strategies that improve your ability to make positive changes to your playing. Look at challenges and struggles not as setbacks, but as gems to show you where to focus your attention and prioritize your practicing. 
    Learning expert, John Hattie describes the benefits of challenge as this:
    Learning is not always pleasurable and easy; it requires over-learning at certain points, spiraling up and down the knowledge continuum…. This is the power of deliberative practice. It also requires a commitment to seeking further challenges – and herein lies a major link between challenge and feedback, two of the essential ingredients of learning.

What’s my mindset?
    Carol Dweck, an expert in learning psychology research, has identified two types of learners. The first type has a fixed mindset; this student believes that the ability to learn a new task is inborn and limited. In contrast, the second type of learner believes that regardless of how difficult the material or problem may be to solve, it can be done. This is called a growth mindset. Dweck further explains: “Students with a growth mindset…view challenging work as an opportunity to learn and grow.… Students with a fixed mindset do not like effort. They believe that if you have ability, everything should come naturally.”

Analyze, Adjust, Repeat
    Next, put this all together by observing your thoughts during your practice sessions. It is important to make a plan that helps you organize your time and choose what to focus on. 

Step 1: Identify your struggle style 
    This might be overstated passion, avoidance, or aggression. Become familiar with your limiting tendencies to better recognize when you are falling into a rut and move yourself back into a more productive zone.

Step 2: Identify an area to change 
    Perhaps it is vibrato, octave slurs, a short technical passage, rhythmic motive, or articulation.

Step 3: Repetition 
    This is where things begin to come together. Set the metronome at performance tempo or slightly slower if needed. By repetitively practicing a small microburst, your brain will move into the slower, more meditative Alpha state, as well as develop a hyper-reflective, metacognitive process to identify and change your performance issues.
    1.    Repetition builds myelin.
    2.    Repetition assists your brain to move into the Alpha state.
    3.    Repetition allows you to metacognitively plan, adjust, and maintain the change you are seeking to make.
    4.    Repetition is a gateway to deep learning and helps you develop a growth mindset.

Step 4: Loop and Group 
   This is a time tested practice strategy that you may have already utilized in your practice sessions and it is how you add metacognition and personal observation to make lasting change to your playing:
    1.    Play a small technical pattern in tempo with a metronome. 
    2.    Rest for twice as long as the technical pattern.
    3.    Repeat.

    During the rest between each Loop and Group, analyze what happened. Don’t worry about getting it perfect at first, just observe. Where is the technical misfiring of your technique? How and where does your technique breakdown? What was the thought you had right before the mistake? Be curious. With the metronome keeping you focused, just observe your thoughts. In the split second before you repeat each Loop and Group, decide on an adjustment and apply it to the next round.
    As you loop this technical microburst over and over (perhaps 20, 30, or even 50 times) your brain slows into the Alpha state and builds myelin that creates the change you seek between practice sessions. You are discovering new thought patterns that help you correct problems and make adjustments in the moment. This process allows you to integrate your cognitive (thinking), sensitive (sight, hearing, touch), and motor skills (physical coordination) into a powerful tool of deep learning.   

Putting it all together
    Finally, track your progress, stay organized, and strategize your weekly goals by keeping a practice journal. Throughout the semester, take time to ask yourself big picture questions and check-in with your progress. This will help you independently create a strategy for improvement, implement the strategy, and finally evaluate performance progress.        

Bibliography
Bruser, Madeline. “Three Styles of Struggle.” In The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1997.
Dweck, Carol. “Even Geniuses Work Hard.” Educational Leadership, vol. 68 (September 2010): 16-20.
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