PRACTICE TIPS #7: Monitor Yourself

[Brent Hugh <bhugh@griffon.mwsc.edu>]

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PRACTICE TIPS is an occasional email newsletter with practical

piano practice tips and ideas, by Brent Hugh



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PRACTICE TIPS #7: Monitor Yourself

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I came across an article the other day that has some very interesting 

applications to piano practicing.  In the article, psychologist Robert 

Epstein suggests some powerful ways to change habits and behavior.  And 

what are we doing when practicing the piano, if not changing our musical 

habits and behavior?



One of Epstein's best ideas is to use "self-monitoring".  Here is how 

Epstein explains it:



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Monitor Your Behavior

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I've been reading research studies on self-monitoring for 20 years, and 

I've conducted some myself. To be honest, I still don't fully understand 

why this technique works, hut it does, and remarkably well for most people. 

The fact is, if you monitor what you do, you'll probably do better.



Weigh yourself regularly and you may well start to lose weight. Keep a 

record of what you eat and you'll probably start eating more wisely.



Use gizmos. If you say "you know" too much, wear a golf counter on your 

wrist, and press the count button whenever you catch yourself saying "you 

know." I'll bet you say it less frequently in just a few days. If a wrist 

counter is embarrassing, then make a small tear in a piece of paper in your 

pocket each time you say "you know." The result is the same: you become 

more aware of what you're doing, and that makes you perform better.



If techniques like this sound silly, keep in mind that the power of 

self-monitoring has been demonstrated by a variety of research conducted 

over the last four decades. . . .



A . . . study by Canadian researchers Thomas McKenzie and Brent Rushall 

showed that teenagers arrived more promptly at a swim practice when they 

were given an attendance sheet to record their arrival times. Working with 

emotionally disturbed children, Sonya Carr of Southeastern Louisiana 

University and Rebecca Punzo, a New Orleans teacher, reported that 

self-monitoring improves academic performance in reading, mathematics 

and  spelling.  Recent research even demonstrated that students will 

compose better stories given a simple checklist that includes elements of 

good writing. Dozens of studies have similar results, all spurred by 

heightening our awareness of our behavior. . . .



(From "Change Your Bad Habits to Good", by Robert Epstein. Original article 

in _Treatment Today_, reprinted in _Reader's Digest_, October 1998.)



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How can you apply the idea of self-monitoring to you piano practice?  There 

are literally dozens of ways--but I'll let you think for a week and come up 

with your own ideas, before I give a few of my own ideas in the next issue 

of PRACTICE TIPS.



Happy Practicing!



--Brent



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PRACTICE TIPS is by pianist, teacher, composer, and internet nerd

Brent Hugh.  Brent knows about practicing mostly because he *does*

it, and in fact is toddling off to do some of it just about now . . .



Several people have asked about PRACTICE TIPS archives.  World-wide

Web Archives of PRACTICE TIPS ISSUES are planned, but it may be a

few weeks or months before they become a reality.  I will announce

the archives here when they appear.



Responses to PRACTICE TIPS articles are welcome, as are your ideas

and thoughts about practicing--part of the idea of PRACTICE TIPS is

to establish an online community of people who are interested in

interesting and innovative approaches to learning music.  So I

welcome your responses and ideas and may use them (with due

credit given, of course) as the basis for future articles. (Private

responses are welcome, too--just mark them clearly "Private Response".)



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