Force Learning and Strong Memories

Written by Charles Cook
Published: March 15, 2015 at 9:59 AM [UTC]

The goal to practice is to create strong memories. When we have strong memories, recall of the memories (technique or notation etc..) becomes easier. When we do a number of repetitions of something, our mind takes this new information and processes it(stores or formats it)
How to develop strong memories recipe:
Repetition + processing time = easier recall

The challenge is how many repeats are required to get the mind to process the new information, and the how much processing time is required between practice sessions. Surprisingly the number is very low for repetition: 3-6 times. Processing time can be 4-8 hrs for new memories, and 20min. for well learned memories, or you can think of it as: easy things to do require 20 min. of processing time, and hard things to do require 4-8 hrs of processing time. Some memories require 8 hrs. of sleep to be processed.

Example:
Teacher is going away for a month, while she is away she wants Lisa and Chista to learn the B flat 3 octave scale with the arpeggio.

Lisa spends 45 min. practicing the scale on the first day, then 3 days later she practices the scale for another 30-45 min.. She continues this way for the month: 30-45 min. practice session 2-3 times a week; total practice time for week, 2 hrs. max.

Christa has a different practice method. She spends 5-10 min. in the morning playing the scale, then 5-10 min. in the afternoon, then 5-10min in the evening. She does this for the month: 5-10 min. short practices 2-3 times a day 4 days a week; total practice time for week, 2 hrs. max.

At the end of the month Lisa and Christa played the scale to the teacher. Christa play with good intonation and timing and was able to play the scale at different speeds and got an A :). Lisa rushed through the scale and arpeggios, and when ask to play them again at a slower speed, because of too many mistakes, she wasn't able to slow down. Lisa got an F:(

So why did this happen?
They practice for the same length of time, 2hrs a week, but if you were able to analyze the minds processing time, it would total approx. 16-24 hrs. a week for Lisa, and approx. 48 hrs. for Christa. That's more than double for Christa.

What also happen to Lisa, is what I call "Force Learning". Force learning is when you over repeat something in an attempt to learn it, but the practice is counterproductive. What ends up happening is the mind becomes over stimulated and hyper active. Once its in this hyper mode it becomes difficult to do something well, and mistakes are made, and if a mistake is made to often(more than 3 times) the mind will process this mistake. The mind should be able to learn this 'hyper mode' also, and if you are practicing this way too often, then this mode could automatically be applied at any unwanted time.

Symptoms of force learning:
-inability to slow down and focus
-practice without improvements
-constantly making mistakes
-frustration and anxiety

Cure:
- shorter practice sessions throughout the day, or 2-3, 1/2-45min. sessions in the evening compared to 1, 2hr. session
- limit the amount of repetitions of bars, phrases, scales etc...
- repeating something more than 10-12 times can become counterproductive, 3-6 times is better.
-meditate when you notice you are in hyper mode, frustrated or unable to play cleanly
-diet and exercise
-creative practice: variations, composition, create one's own exercises etc...
-stop practicing and play something that has already been learnt.

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