Until The Practice of Practice, there hasn’t been a book on practice written for musicians who aren’t interested in the school musics (band, choir, and orchestra). The good news is that this book is also valuable for those folks, too. It’s useful whether you’re into Bach, Rock, or any other kind of music.
I interviewed world class musicians and studied hundreds of research articles to create the book. The Practice of Practice was written to be valuable for any musician of any genre who wants to get better. (free US shipping from the publisher, or get it from Amazon in the US, UK, Australia, Spain, France, Germany, Canada, India, Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, Mexico)
Here’s what readers have been saying about The Practice of Practice:
- “Your overall musicianship will improve and practicing will be more fun.” —
- “Very interesting book, well written and funny too.” —
- “For teachers and students, professionals and amateurs, this book will give everyone some useful insights into the process that so many of us struggle with. I have changed my practice routine and am finding it more effective now.” —James Jennings
- “Practical, useful, entertaining and highly recommended.” —David R
Here’s What’s In the Book:
The Practice of Practice outlines 6 parts of practice (47 chapters, 275 pages):
- What (6 chapters): Definitions of what music practice is (and isn’t). Also learn about the neural mechanisms of learning and what music practice does to your brain.
- Why (5 chapters): Motivation is crucial. Learn ways of keeping the flame lit in this section.
- Who (5 chapters): A lot of people (including yourself) will impact your practice. Learn about who they (and you) are, and how they’ll help your practice.
- When (6 chapters): This section covers how much, and what times of the day are best for practice, as well as the development of practice skill over time.
- Where (5 chapters): Where you practice affects how well you practice. Learn to harness the place of your practice.
- How (18 chapters): Three times longer than the next longest section of the book, this section includes information about goals, structuring your practice, as well as specific strategies pros use to get better and effective practice techniques tested by researchers.
Extra Online Content (link) Includes:
video/audio of great performances
interesting and useful talks
interviews on practice
great books and recordings
helpful practice gadgets
many useful practice tools
Link to Research Used for the Book.
The Stellar Musicians Interviewed for the book
Ethan Bensdorf, NY Philharmonic trumpeter (vid)
Bobby Broom, jazz guitar (vid)
Avishai Cohen, jazz trumpet (vid)
Sidiki Dembele, djembe (vid–Sidiki plays first)
Adrian Holovaty, guitar, programming (vid)
Hans Jørgen Jensen, cello (vid)
Ingrid Jensen, jazz trumpet (vid)
Sona Jobarteh, kora, guitar, voice, composition/songwriting (vid)
Om Johari, rock singer, guitar, (vid)
Rupesh Kotecha, Indian classical tabla (vid)
Rex Martin, tuba (vid)
Chad McCullough, jazz trumpet (vid)
Erin McKeown, voice, guitar, bass, piano, drumset, songwriter (vid)
Allison Miller, multi-genre drummer (vid)
Peter Mulvey, voice, guitar, songwriting (vid)
Colin Oldberg, classical trumpet (vid–Colin’s on the left)
Nick Phillips, jazz trumpet (vid)
Michael Taylor, djembe (vid)
Prasad Upasani, Indian classical vocalist, programmer (vid)
Serge van der Voo, upright bass, vocals, foot percussion (vid)
Stephane Wrembel, gypsy jazz guitar, songwriter/composer(vid)
The Practice of Practice 