The Invisible Threads to Stronger Percussion Skills 

 by Rich Viano

“The beginning of a habit is like an invisible thread, but every time we repeat the act we strengthen the strand, add to it another filament, until it becomes a great cable and binds us irrevocably, thought and act.”  ORISON SWETT MARDEN

I am not sure that there are any truer words with regard to habit building.  Practicing is the act of habit building.  As teachers, we tell our kids to practice all the time, but do we ever explain how to practice? Here are a few suggestions about practicing that you can share with your kids and hopefully use yourself.  

Practice needs to be a daily ritual.  I have had kids that think practicing 8 hours in a row on Friday and 4 hours on Saturday equals 12 hours for the week.  Learning good technical habits is at the mercy of muscle memory.  We are training our fingers, wrists, feet, bodies etc., to respond subconsciously.  Read the quote at the top of the page.  I explain to my kids that one rehearsal/session is the equivalent of one piece of thread (an invisible thread too).  If our objective is to make a “great cable”, how many pieces of thread is it going to take?  I use the Golden Gate Bridge to describe the awesome potential of a great cable.  I have found that using this particular imagery is surprisingly effective.  A student will improve faster and more accurately by practicing everyday for an hour, (7 hours in the week) than the student who crunches 12 hours in a weekend.  Feel free to practice longer, just make sure it’s everyday.  

Plan your practice and practice your plan.  Map out an agenda for your kids.  Even the most advanced students have a tendency to lose focus.  They also have a tendency to focus on the things they do well.  Avoiding weak areas is a natural tendency, especially with younger students.   I use a system.  Each student has a daily warm-up program designed to keep his or her chops in shape and develop technique. I establish tempo marking goals as well as musical expression focus.  The second step is assigning an etude or book assignment that introduces a new step in their musical journey, including, but not limited to: sight-reading, theory, new technique, style, genre etc.  (You can apply this to marching percussion too, by using exercises in place of etudes.) The third step is working on a solo. (Show music)   Find literature that is compatible to the etude focus in step two.  Everything in their week will revolve around building great habits.  Don’t spread your kids too thin.  Give them a chance to succeed; one building block at a time.  As the process goes on, the kids will generally increase the amount of material they can handle.  

Have the kids record themselves when ever possible.  If you are teaching an ensemble, you should use video recorders, mini-disc recorders or whatever sonic/visual recording devises you can get.  There is not a more efficient tool than watching yourself play or rehearse.   I have noticed this about kids: when they are at ensemble rehearsal, they are concentrating very hard.  There is a little peer pressure or influence that sometimes creates defensiveness.  I am sure you have given a correction or two to a student and gotten the “who you talking to?” look.  Kids want to be right.  So much so, that they can close their minds to correction because they are being overpowered by false confidence.  

I think talking to kids one on one with a video is a great way to give them the chance to recognize their “needs” on their own.  Have your kids video their personal sessions and bring them in.  Instead of you reviewing the results of the tape, encourage them to analyze their own performance in front of you.  For me, that is a great one. I love seeing the proverbial light go on over their head, when they have figured a few things out on their own.  They take a lot of pride in that.  Once their pride and heart become part of this process, the sky is the limit.  

Patience is the last tool I want to mention.  I tell my kids all the time: “Everything is hard, until it’s easy.”  It’s silly, but true.  Perception of time can be a killer.  I remember being a student (although the picture gets fuzzier with every birthday).  A month can feel like an eternity.  As we get older, we tend to accept time a lot easier.  Keep track of the kids’ progress.  I have my kids keep a journal.  When a student is losing focus or getting frustrated, we look at the journal and tabulate the amount of time we spent on a “success”.  It’s almost always a shorter amount of time than the student remembers.  It can be used as a confidence builder.  These kids need you.  They need your energy and wisdom.  Don’t let them down.  

In closing, I should add that there are many finite details to be addressed with regard to the content of a practice session.  As you are aware, those decisions are diverse.  I’ll leave those up to you.  I hope this perspective stimulates your awareness about habits and practicing.  Understand that I am one man, one mind.  These are devises and approaches that I use and have found to be helpful.  Feel free to use the quote (I did) Good luck with your cables.   

As always, good luck and I hope your season is a success.,

Rich Viano

Rich Viano is the Manager of the Express Music Publishing Percussion Division. He is also the leader of the Village Beatniks at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom and the Percussion Designer/Writer for the Boston Crusaders Drum & Bugle Corps.  Rich was recently published in the Texas Bandmasters Association Journal Volume 3, Number 2, December 2001

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