This one is so obvious, in some ways, that it almost doesn’t seem like a technique. But it’s also so obvious that it’s easy to miss its power to help you progress. And it’s one of the most important practice techniques we have:
Simplify until something difficult becomes easy.
No, it’s not cheating! Because the intention is to add everything back eventually. But to reach something you can’t do yet, you need to start with a version of it that you can already do.
This may mean simply slowing it down. Or changing a few straightforward aspects, then gradually returning them one by one. Or in extreme situations, it may mean substantially reworking the passage, re-composing a temporary practice version that bears little surface resemblance to the original.
However much or little you simplify something, the basic principle remains the same: to look at aspects of a passage one by one, and to discover things about it that would otherwise remain hidden from your understanding. By removing the multiple layers of difficulty, and looking at them one at a time, your task becomes much easier to understand and accomplish.
Examples of How to simplify:
For almost any situation:
Slow down the tempo
If complex rhythms are distracting you from being able to learn other aspects of the notes:
Remove all rhythm entirely: go note-by-note, at no particular pace
Even out the rhythm(s): turn everything into quarter-notes or eighth-notes
If complex bowings make learning the notes difficult for the left hand:
Simplify the bowings: make a regular number of notes per bow, or a regular number of beats per bow
Change the bow stroke: for example, play on the string instead of spiccato
If you need to focus intensely on one hand or the other:
Practice one hand at a time: left hand only (no bow, silently) or right hand only (open strings)
If the register or position is awkward:
Change the register (to a lower or higher octave) or position (to a lower position on a higher string) so you can train your ear to hear the correct pitches
In very tricky passages, it may be necessary to simplify several aspects at once before you reach a version that is easily mastered. Once you’ve mastered some simplified version, it is essential to rebuild gradually, until you’ve returned to the original passage, and it represents a challenge that is easily conquered.
What other strategies do you have to simplify a passage? What’s worked well for you? Let me know in the comments below!
I’m a violinist and private teacher in the Chicago area, and in a previous musical life I was in a professional string quartet. Teaching violin and chamber music are dear to my heart. Send me a note or leave a comment on a post — I’d love to hear from you.
