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MENC The National Association for Music Education
Teaching Problem Solving in PracticeAuthor(s): James L. ByoSource: Music Educators Journal, Vol. 91, No. 2 (Nov., 2004), pp. 35-39Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.on behalf of MENC: The National Association for MusicEducation
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2/6
Teach ing
r o b l e m
S o l v i n g
n
r a c t i c e
By
James
L.
Byo
dexterity.
They
practice
to maintain
good perform-
ance,
to
sight-read
better,
to
memorize,
and
simply,
to
enjoy
music
making.
There are other motivations
for
practice,
but
one,
more than
others,
is a
catalyst
for
consequential
change
in
musical
development-practicing
to
solve
performance
problems.
This article
examines
problem solving
in
instrumental music
practice
and
is
based
on the notion that too
many
students,
too
much of the
time,
look and feel
inadequate
when
they attempt
to
problem
solve.
Consider,
for
example,
two
practice
scenarios.
Student
1
finds the music
in
measure
12
awkward,
and
every
time
he reaches
the
measure,
he slows down or
stops.
He should drillthis
measure-and
only
this measure-but left to his own
devices,
he
ignores
the
problem
and moves
on;
or he starts from the
beginning,
even
though
he can
play
the first eleven measures
flawlessly;
or he
drills
the measure
by playing
it over and over-six times incorrect-
ly,
the
last time
correctly.
Then he
moves
on,
convinced that he is
doing
the
right
thing.
He identified a
problem,
and he
repeated
the
section
until he
got
it
right-but
six times
wrong
and
one
time
right
is not
the kind of
repetition
that
will
make
him
successful.
..
CD
CD
Improving ractice echniques
will lead to faster
learning nd more enthusiastic tudents.
Teaching roblem-
solving
kills
and
testing
hose skills
withassessment
tools
can
help young
musicians
ecome
moreeffective
practicers.
James
L.
Byo
is
professor
of
music education
at Louisiana
State
University
in
Baton
Rouge,
LA.
He
can
be reached
at
jbyo@lsu.edu.
NOVEMBER 2004 35
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3/6
Student
2,
on
the other
hand,
rec-
ognizes
measure
12
as
a "work
place"
because a
pattern
has
developed;
every
time
he
plays
this
measure,
he
hesitates,
stops,
or
thinks
"it
just
doesn't sound
good."
He
knows
that
by
devoting
extra
time to measure
12,
he
may
not
get
through
the entire les-
son or
etude
during
this
practice
session-but that's acceptable. The
student slows
down
and finds an
errorless
starting tempo.
With a
metro-nome,
he
plays
the work
place
twice
in
a row
with no
mistakes,
ignoring
the slur
and the
crescendo.
Before
increasing speed,
he
plays
the
measure with
expression
and
no
mis-
takes twice
in
a
row.
Next,
he
increas-
es the
metronome
four
beats
per
minute and
plays
the measure with
expression
and
without
mistakes
twice in a row. When he inches the
metronome
up
another four
beats
per
minute,
he has trouble
playing
the
measure
correctly,
so he reduces the
difficulty
by
isolating
the
two
prob-
lematic
notes within
the
measure.
He
plays
them
very
slowly,
thinking
about his
finger
movement.
He
rehearses the
movement
silently
until
he feels
ready
to
play
the entire meas-
ure
with the
metronome
twice
in
a
row without
errors.
Finally,
he
puts
the measure
back into
the
music,
playing
it with
the measures
that
precede
and follow
it.
He
plays
this
larger
section
twice without
errors,
marking
this
tempo
in
his music.
The
Accomplished
Practicer
Music teachers who
try
to envision
students
solving performance
prob-
lems
as described above are
doing
what
expert
teachers
do when
they
plan
for
instruction.
Expert
teachers
ask,
"What
do I
want
my
students to
look like as
accomplished learners?"'
Expressed
differently, hey
ask,
"What
do
I
want
my
students to know and
do when
they
take the test?" Music
teachers
might
ask,
"What
do I want
my
students to look like as accom-
plished practicers?"
In
this
case,
the
"test" is a home
practice
session six
weeks from
now After six weeks of
instruction,
will a student left to his
or her own
devices choose to
problem
solve,
and
if
so,
what will the
prob-
lem-solving process entail? Expert
teachers ask
these
questions before
Figure
I. Work
Place
Practice Protocol
U Level
I.
Choose
a "work
place"
(a
section of music that
makes
you
hesitate
or
stop,
or
just
doesn't
sound
right).
Professionalmusi-
cians do
it.Why
shouldn't
you?
U Level 2. Slow down
Find
a mistake-free
tempo.
You'll
probably
have
to slow
down more
than
you
think.
O Level
3. Set
the metronome.
The metronome
is the
"truth
machine."
U Level
4.
Play
the
work
place
two times
in a row
mistake free.
The
optimal
number
of times
depends
on the
nature of the
challenge,
but
twice
in a row
is a
great place
to start.
U Level
5.
Play
the work
place
expressively
two
times
in a row mis
take free.
Including
he
expressive
elements is a new level of
difficulty.The
goal
is to
play
or
sing
beautifully
lways,
not
just
as the audition
nears.
O
Level 6.
Inch forward.
Increase
difficulty
n small
steps.While
you
might
feel like
leaping
orward,
remember
that it takes a concerted effort
to
change your
thinking.You
re
teachingyour
mind and
body.
Don't be in
a
hurry.
Give
it
a chance
U Level 7. Leap back. Sometimesyou haveto decrease the level of diffi-
culty
to
jump-start
correct
repetition.
U
Level
8. Put
the work
place
back
into the
music. This can be
a new
level of
difficulty.
U Level 9.
Record the
final successful
tempo.
Document
the
tempo
for
tomorrow.
Practicing
n
consecutive
days
is
always
a
good
idea.
instruction
begins.
They
work
hard to
develop
a clear
answer,
even
if
it
involves some
struggle
in
revising
and
refining
ideas
that
are
initially
incom-
plete
or
unclear.
Finally, they
set
out
to
make it
happen
with their
stu-
dents.
Music eachers
might
ask,
'What do
I
want
my
students
o look
ikeas
accomplished
racticers?"
On the
surface,
the
guidance
on
problem solving
in
practice
that
many
music teachers offer their students
looks
much
like
the
approach
of
Student
2.
They
urge
students
to
iso-
late
and
simplify
difficult
passages,
caution
students about
incorrect
rep-
etition,
and demonstrate
proven
practice
techniques
in the
hope
that
students
will choose
good
problem-
solving
strategies
when
practicing
at
home. This
approach
is
clearly
well
intentioned,
but it
lacks
an overarch-
ing
structure
and
precise
definition.
Further,
it
focuses
on what
the
teacher
does
(urge,
advise,
demon-
strate)
rather than
what
the student
does
in
terms
of
practice.
It
leaves to
chance
how the student
will
practice
away
from the
lesson.
The Work Place Practice Protocol
shown
in
figure
1
is one
example
of
an
overarching
structure
in
problem
solving
that can
be
adapted
for
use
by
students
of
any
age
or
maturity
It
provides
a
starting point,
an
ending
point,
and
a
sequence
of in-between
steps
that
address common
questions.
When does
one set the
metronome?
After
a
mistake-free
tempo
has
been
found.
When does
one
play expres-
sively?
Before
the
inching
forward
process begins. Students need to
know that
this structure
can and
36 MUSIC
EDUCATORS
JOURNAL
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should
be
applied
to
difficult
passages
in
all
music,
not
just
to the
particular
piece
being
studied.
Ifproblem
olving
n
practice
s
important,
hen
it
must
be a
planned
part
of
the
lesson.
Students
benefit
from
being
taught
precise
meanings
of
the words
"iso-
late and
simplify,"
"slow
down,"
and
"repetition."
"Isolate" s
a
process
that
extends far
beyond
the
admonition,
"Take a
small
section of
the
music
and work
on
it."
Teachers
should
define
"isolate"
in
specific,
what-to-
do
terms.
By
defining
"slow
down"
as
slow
enough
for
errorless
perform-
ance and
by
defining
repetition
as
repeating
a
section
correctly
before
increasing
the level of
difficulty
in
incremental
steps,
teachers
set the
stage
for
students to
reap
maximum
gain
from these
techniques.
But defin-
ing
is one
thing;
getting
students to
do
these
techniques
is
another.
By
working
on
the
techniques
during
the
lesson,
teachers
can teach
students
to
value
efficient
problem
solving
as a
practice
priority.
Teaching
Problem
Solving
in
Practice
Teaching
problem
solving
in
prac-
tice
begins
with
answering
the
ques-
tion,
"What do
I
want
my
students to
look like
as
accomplished
prac-
ticers?"
A
teacher
need
not
adopt
or
even
agree
with
the
approach
to
prac-
tice
explained
in
this
article.
Herein
lies
the
beauty
of the
question;
answers
may
vary.
Teaching
problem-solving
skills
involves
an
initial
heavy
investment
of lesson or rehearsal time-perhaps
as much
as
half of
the
total
time
in
the
early
stages Strategies
should
include
advising,
urging,
and
demon-
strating,
but
the focus
should
be
on
student
decision-making
in
practice
with
students
demonstrating
the
practice
techniques.
If
problem
solv-
ing
in
practice
is
important,
then it
must be
a
planned part
of
the
lesson.
Students
must
show
that
they
are
able to problem solve in the presence
of the teacher.
If
they
are unable
to
do
so,
there is little
reason to
expect
them to
problem
solve
away
from
the
lesson.
Subsequent
monitoring
and
testing
of student
practice
is less
time
intensive
but no less
important
because
it
helps carry
a
well-defined
"practice"
theme
across all
lessons
and rehearsals
and connects lesson
or rehearsal
activities with
home
activities.
A
short-term
decrease
in
repertoire covered is minor when
compared
with
the
potential
for
long-
term
gain
A
program
of assessment
can
facil-
itate the
teaching
of
problem
solving
in
practice
in a number
of
ways.
The
tasks
and
assignments
with
assess-
ments shown
in
figures
2
through
7
structure
opportunities
for
students
to
practice practicing.
The
experi-
ences teach
students that
certain
approaches
to
practice
have
pre-
dictably positive results, which create
feelings
of
accomplishment.
The
assessments
provide
information
about
how students
are
doing
with
the instruction
and
experiences pro-
vided.
This
information
helps
the
teacher
determine
pertinent
correc-
tive instruction.
Testing problem
solv-
ing
in
practice encourages
students
to
view
both
problem solving
and
the
process
of
problem
solving
as
priori-
ties.
The tasks and assignments in the
figures
feature
problem-solving
opportunities
that are
increasingly
Figure
2. Practice
Protocol:
Lesson
Task
Level
I.
Choosing
Work
Places
During
he Lesson
I.
Play
he
assigned
piece.
2.
Identify
a
work
place.
3. The teacher
will evaluate
your
choice of work
place
and
the
amount
of
isolated
material.
4. The
teacher will use
this
opportunity
to discuss
your
choice
of
work
place
and its
length.
Grading
Novice:Your
response
is not that of an
accomplished practicer.
Developing:
our
response
is that of an
accomplished practicer
at
times.
Distinguished:
our
response
is
that of an
accomplished
practicer.
Figure
3.
Practice Protocol: Ensemble
or
Lesson
Assignment
Level
I.
Choosing
Work
Places at
Home
I. On
practiceday
I,
tape
record
yourself
as
you practice
the
assigned
piece.
2. Ask
yourself,"Where
do
I
make
mistakes?Where does
it
sound
wrong?
Where do I
stop
and start
again?
Where
do
I
hesitate?"
3. On
your
music,
neatly
circle two of these work
places.
4.
Rewind
the
tape
to the
beginning
of
the
first work
place.
5.
Label he
tape
with
your
name.
Grading
5
points:Tape
ubmitted on
time,
rewound,
and labeled.Choice
of
work
place
and
amount of isolated
materialare
appropriate.
3
points:
Tape
submitted on
time, rewound,
and
labeled. Choice
of
work
place
and/or
amount of
isolated material
are deficient.
0
points:Tape
not submitted.
NOVEMBER 2004
37
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Figure
4.
Practice Protocol:
Ensemble
or
Lesson
Assignment
Level 2.
Finding
Mistake-Free
empo
I. One time this
week,
tape
record
yourself
as
you practice
the
assigned piece.
2.
Choose
a
work
place.
3. Find
a
tempo
at which
you
can
play
he work
place
mistake
free.
4.
Play
he work
place
twice in a row without mistakes.Ask
yourself,
"Am
I
playing
he notes
correctly?
Am I
playing
he
rhythms
cor-
rectly?"
f
you
make
a
mistake,
practice
until
you
can
play
t twice
in
a
row without mistakes.
5.
Find his
tempo
on
your
metronome
and
write
the number on
your
music.
6. Rewind
the
tape
to the
beginning
of the work
place.
7. Label he
tape
with
your
name.
Grading
5
points:
Tape
submitted on
time, rewound,
and
labeled.
Choice
of
work
place
and
amount
of
isolated materialare
appropriate.Work
place
was
played
wo times
in
a
row without mistakes.Metronome
tempo is written on the music.
3
points:
Tape
submittedon
time, rewound,
and
labeled.One or
more of the
following
is
deficient: hoice of
work
place,
amount of isolated
material,
rrorless
tempo,
or documentation of
tempo.
0
points:Tape
not submitted.
Figure
5.
Practice
Protocol:
Ensemble
or
Lesson
Assignment
Level 6.
Inching
Forward
I.
One time this week,
tape
record
yourself
as
you practice
one solo
piece.
2.
Choose
a
work
place.
3. Finda
tempo
at
which
you
can
play
he work
place
mistakefree.
4.
Play
he work
place
twice
in a row
without mistakes.
If
you
makea
mistake,
practice
until
you
can
play
t twice
in
a row
without
mis-
takes.
5.
If
you ignored
the
expressive
elements,
put
them back
in
now,
and
play
t twice
in
a
row without mistakes.
6. Inch
forward
in
four beat
per
minute increments and
repeat
the
above
steps
until
you
reach a
tempo
of
twelve beats
per
minute
faster than
your
original empo
or the
optimal tempo
for this
piece,
whichever comes first.
7.
Find
his
tempo
on
your
metronome andwrite the number on
your
music.
8. Rewindthe
tape
to the
beginning
of the
practice
piece.
9. Label he
tape
with
your
name.
Grading
5
points:
Tape
submitted on
time, rewound,
and labeled.Choice of work
place
and
amount of
isolated material
are
appropriate.Work
place
was
played
expressively
twice
in
a row
without
mistake.
Process
was followed
to
an
increase of twelve
beats
per
minute
or to
the
optimal
tempo.
Metronome
tempo
is written on the
music.
3
points:
Tape
submitted
on
time, rewound,
and
labeled.One
or more of
the
following
was
deficient: hoice of work
place,
amount of iso
lated
material,
rrorless
tempo, expressive performance,repeti-
tion at
increased
tempos,
or
documentation of final
tempo.
0 points:Tapenot submitted.
more advanced.
They
break down the
practice
protocol
of
figure
1
into
its
various
steps
with
each task
focusing
on
a
single step
of the
protocol.
Some
tasks
are
designed
for
private
instruc-
tion,
others
for the
ensemble
experi-
ence. Some
are intended for use
dur-
ing
the
lesson or
rehearsal,
others for
students
to
"take home"
experiences
begun in the lesson or rehearsal for
continued
study
Figure
2
shows
a
task
that
provides
opportunity
for novices to
practice
choosing
work
places
during
the les-
son
in
the
presence
of
the teacher.
Figure
3
presents
an
assignment
that
similarly challenges
the student
in
choosing
a work
place,
but
in
the
home
setting,
where the student
audiotapes
his
or
her
practice
for a
record of
what
happens
when the
teacher is not present. Figure 4 is a
more
advanced
assignment
because it
assumes
the
student is
able to choose
an
appropriate
work
place.
The
objec-
tive
is to
find
a mistake-free
tempo.
The
assignment
in
figure
5
covers the
"inching
forward"
tep
of the
practice
protocol.
The
lesson or rehearsal
task
shown
in
figure
6 involves
a
simple
yes/no
evaluation form.
Students
go
in a
predetermined
order
to a
practice
room
where audio- or
videotape
equipment
records
each
practice per-
formance.
One student waits "on
deck" outside
the
testing
room
ready
to
enter
immediately
following
the
previous
student.
When
students
are
taught
to exit
and
enter
the rehearsal
set
unobtrusively, testing
can occur
with
minimal distraction.
Figure
7 is
a
paper-and-pencil
test
that asks
the
student
to list the
problem-solving
steps.
To be
independent
in
using
the
process,
students must know
the
steps
in the correct
order.
Grading
criteria are
provided,
allowing
students to know from
the
beginning
what is
expected.
For
the
sake of
illustration,
various
grading
options
are
provided,
though
teachers
may
have their own
preferences
for
grading.
It
is also
important
to
note
that
while this article addresses
prac-
tice
focused on
targeting
and master-
ing
difficult
passages,
the
problem-
solving process
is
applicable
with
minor variation to other
skill-develop-
ment areas,such as embouchure,hand
position,
air
support,
and
tonguing.
38
MUSIC
EDUCATORS
JOURNAL
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6/6
Figure
6. Practice Protocol:
Ensemble
or
Lesson
Assignment
Level 7.
Lesson/Rehearsal
Practice
Challenge
You will be
presented
with
a
work
place you
have not seen
before.
You
will
practice
it for four
minutes,
and then
your
teacher will
evaluate
you
based on the
following questions.
Did
you
I.
find an errorless slow
starting empo
on the Yes No
metronome?
2.
play
he work
place
two times
in a
row with
Yes
No
out mistakes?
3.
play
he work
place expressively
wo times
in
Yes
No N/A
a row without mistakes
f
you initially
ignored expressive
elements?
4. inch forward
in
four beat
per
minute incre
Yes
No
ments and
repeat
the above
steps
until
time
was
up
or
you
reached the
optimal
tempo?
5.
decrease level of
difficulty,
f
necessary?
Yes
No N/A
6.
write the final
empo
on the music?
Yes No
Figure7. Practice Protocol: Ensemble or
Lesson
Assignment
Listthe Work Place Practice
Steps
in order.
Conclusion
The
path
to
solving
a
performance
problem
need
not be
mysterious.
Students
need not feel
inadequate
when
they
attempt
to
problem
solve
in
practice.
There
are
paths
that lead
students
to
experience
tangible
progress
in
the
short
and
long
terms
as well
as more
frequent
feelings
of
accomplishment. One such path is
suggested
in this article.
It entails
ask-
ing
what an
accomplished
practicer
is,
devoting
significant
lesson or
rehearsal time
to
teaching
students
how to
problem
solve,
and
developing
a
program
of
assessment-even a
very
modest one-to
enhance
instruction.
Notes
1.
Robert
A.
Duke,
"Intelligent
Assessment
in
General Music:
What
ChildrenShould Knowand (BeAble to)
Do,"
General
Music
Today
13,
no.
1
(1999):
12.
2.
James
L.
Byo,
"Designing
Substantive
Playing
Tests-A
Model,"
Music Educators
Journal
88,
no.
2
(2001):
39-44.
0
o
m
w
O
23N3Vd
MENC
Resources
The
following
MENC resources cover various
practice
techniques.Visit
the
MENCWeb
site
(www.menc.org),
call
800-828-0229,
or check
with
the
reference librarian t
your
local
college
or
university
ibrary.
"
Growing
ourMusician:A racticalGuide
or
Bandand
Orchestra
arents,
by
Tony
Bancroft. 004.
#1678.
Includes
wo
chapters
on
practice,
"What Is
Practice?" nd "PracticeSmart:
Strategies
for
Young
Musicians."
"
Brooks,
Ricky
W."Mental
Practice and the
Musician:APractical
Approach
to Practice."
UPDATE:Applications
f
Research
n
MusicEducation
3,
no.
2
(1995):
4-8.
"
Kenny,
William.
"ThinkingCritically
n
the Practice
Room."Music
Educators
Journal
5,
no.
I
(1998):
21-23.
"
Pedrick,
David."Effective ractice MakesSuccessful
Performance."
Music
Educators
ournal
85,
no.
2
(1998):
33-35.
"
Peterson,
Beth."Three
Ways
to Practice More
Creatively."
Music
Educators
journal
88,
no.
3
(2001):
46-50,
71.
ccess
dvocacy
Materials
t
aoSS
NOVEMBER
2004
39
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