Mastery Part 2: Mindful Practice

Today I'll delve further into my concept of 'Mastery' by explaining a concept I call "Mindful Practice". This is a concept I first considered after reading a brilliant book by Kenny Werner called "Effortless Mastery" (check out his concepts here). I'll break down the concept into 2 basic areas:

1. How to Practice in the moment.

2. How to determine when mastery is achieved through practice.

First I would like to talk a moment about practicing. I always tell students that the best method is to develop a regimen and stick to it. To do this, 3 things that must be considered: planning, goal setting, and time management.

First you have to ask yourself, what do I want to learn/improve during my practice sessions? This can depend largely on your level of development. For beginners this is usually determined by a teacher. As one improves and masters the fundamentals, different paths can be taken. Perhaps a person has an interest to learn more about a specific style, so her practice regimen would accommodate that. Working professionals who have been playing for significant amounts of time also have a specific regimen style.

Whatever the specific material may be, it must relate to the person's development level AND interests. This is key. I remember when I was 10 years old I had a school band teacher who railed my technique and insisted that I only work on that and nothing else. I spent 6 months playing rudiments to a metronome. Sure my technique improved, but I also began to hate my teacher AND my instrument. When school finished my drums gathered dust for the entire summer.

This was ultimately counterproductive as my technique got sloppy due to no practice and when I got back to school the following year I sucked! Luckily I had a new band teacher though, and he kept things much more interesting by catering to my interests.

The moral of the story is that whether you're just starting out on the instrument or a touring pro, your practice sessions need to strike a balance between skill sharpening and new, interesting material.

One you determine the proper material to practice, you must develop goals and a plan for achieving them. Your goals should be set-up so that larger goals are broken down into smaller goals. For instance, one of my larger goals is to develop my double-kick technique such that my feet are as loose and fluid as my hands. I have broken down this goal into smaller goals: learn rudiments with my feet, play grooves left-footed, etc.

On top of it all there needs to be a strong element of time management. We all have busy lives and most of us can't afford the luxury of spending 10 hours a day in the practice space, so we must use our time to the maximum efficiency. I recommend a strict schedule to any practice regimen. Again, this can be determined by your level of development and the included material.

For example, I have had students in the past whom could only practice an hour a day, so we would devise a schedule that managed everything right down to the minute. Other people who have more time might prefer a schedule that is a little more relaxed. Sometimes there's too much to fit into a single session so I'll spread it out over 2 sessions.

There are many ways to do this. Just remember that the end goal is to get at all the material you want to work on, and in a consistent manner.

To end my diatribe on proper practice regimens, here's a nice example: my current regimen.

Technique: 1-2 Hours
1. Stone Killer - trips @ 155bpm, 16th's at 125bpm
2. Various rudiments @ 120bpm
3. AOB Graph
4. Triple & Quadruple stroke rolls @ 100bpm
5. Dbl. strokes, 5-minutes nonstop @ varying volumes
6. Rudiments w/feet: para's, flams, dbl. strokes

Grooves: 1 hour
1. Rock, jazz, funk, latin @ 50bpm
2. Rock, jazz, funk, latin @ 100bpm
3. Rock, jazz, funk, latin @ 200bpm
4. Odd-time feels
5. Dbl. bass feels

Book Work: 1-2 hours
1. Portraits In Rhythm
2. Wilcoxon
3. Syncopation

Miscellany: 1-2 hours
1. Tunes to learn for upcoming gigs
2. Soloing
3. Record and analyze


I normally spend 4-5 hours in each session. Sometimes, depending on my schedule, I have to break this up between 2 sessions.

Ok, so you've got your regimen, a set plan, and your schedule. Time to hit the practice room and play, right?

That depends. When you're ready to start practicing, the first thing to do is clear your mind of all distractions. Mindful practice means focused practice. If you're stressed out or scattered mentally, you need to figure out how to calm yourself before beginning your practice session. There are several methods I use - meditation, exercise, rest. Whatever it takes to calm your mind and your body (WITHOUT the use of drugs or alcohol), I strongly suggest you do so before practicing. Otherwise you'll struggle to make progress and retain what you've worked on. Physically it will be a challenge to execute if your body is tense and stiff. Mentally you'll continue to lose focus and eventually you'll get frustrated and end your session without making any progress.

Another thing on distractions - your practice location needs to be free of them as well. Turn off your cell phone. Cover the windows. Remove anything that can interrupt your focus.

Once you start actually playing, always strive to be mindful. What that means to me is to be in the moment and pay attention to how things feel, sound and look. I'll pay attention to how my body feels noting any tension and altering my technique accordingly. I'll listen to how things sound and make small adjustments. I'll even watch myself play in a mirror and note my posture. If I could taste and smell my playing, I'd use those senses too. The point is that mindfulness equals being in the moment and taking it all in. The best way to do this is to use your senses to your advantage.

You'll take in a lot of information if you practice mindfully. Make sure to take notes and keep a journal.

So now that you've got hundreds of hours of mindful practice under your belt, how do you know that all of this stuff is working? How can you tell when you've mastered that crazy David Garibaldi groove in 7/8?

As I explained in my intro article, one of the characteristics of Mastery is when the conscious mind is not engaged to perform the psychological and/or physiological functions required to complete a task. Translating this into drumming, you're not consciously 'thinking' about the rhythmic executions performed around the drumkit.

Obviously one cannot consciously determine whether or not she is using her conscious mind to perform her instrument. It is possible to determine how 'easy' it is to execute something after a period of mindful practice but in my opinion this isn't precise enough to declare Mastery. In order to accurately determine whether or not you've attained this, a test must be performed.

I like to use a technique I created that's called the "Novel Test", named as such because of the steps involved as well as the fact that it's quite a novelty to watch someone do. You'll need several things to perform this test:

1. A tape recorder or other method of recording yourself
2. A novel that you've never read before
3. Your drumkit
4. Material you've mindfully practiced and feel may be Mastered

First, set up the recorder so that you can hear yourself talk while playing your drumkit. You might need to play at a softer volume to achieve this. Next, position the novel somewhere where it is easy to read while you play (I always place my music stand above my hi-hat so I just prop the book there). Ok, ready? Hit record and play through your material repeating it 5 times. Stop. Now start playing again, but this time start reading a paragraph in the book at the same time. Again, repeat the material 5 times and then stop.

Once finished, see how much of the book you remember. Try writing down character names, story details, etc. Also try and remember if you made any mistakes while playing through your material. Then, listen back to the recording. Pay close attention to your vocalizing of the words in the book. Follow along and see if you made any mistakes. Once the recording has finished, rewind it and listen back again, only this time pay attention to your execution on the drumset.

If you've performed the material and read the book precisely, this is as close an indication as you'll get that you've attained Mastery.

What exactly did this test do? In a nutshell, it distracted your conscious mind. Remember how I specified that the novel be something you've never read before? This is to ensure that none of it is memorized, thus requiring full conscious attention. As you perform this test several times you'll begin to notice that you'll remember less about playing the drums and more about reading the novel. This is a clear indicator that your conscious mind is engaged in reading, not drumming, which is exactly what we want.

Experiment with the concepts I've explained here. Everyone finds a slightly different approach and that's fine. Just remember that some of these techniques are difficult to execute at first but give it time. I challenge you to try this stuff out for a month. Keep a journal and record your progress. Once it becomes part of your practice style, these techniques will change the way you learn and progress.

Also, please get in touch and let me know how it is going for you!