How to Get Better Faster

By Samuel Barsi

I have taught countless drum, brass, and general music lessons over the past 10 years and if there is one thing I've learned it is this: 

The most effective thing a student can do during a lesson or during their own musical instrument practice is play slower! 

By going slow you make it so that your brain develops muscle memory more efficiently. This means you have to practice whatever you are learning less times, make less mistakes on the way, and save time and frustration while you are working on your skills.

After you can consistently play a new diddy you are working on slow, try it faster. I bet you will have no problem going faster after you get comfortable going slow. As you increase speed and repeat more times, you will get more and more comfortable. Your speed will continue to increase. Pretty soon you sound so good that you can hardly believe that it is you playing like that!

During music lessons I always find that students don't want to go slow because they want to sound like a pro immediately. If this were possible I would love to make it so! But that is the challenge of music. Learning can be a bit difficult sometimes, but by staying methodical and going slow you can make the path much easier. 

To all of my musicians in training out there. Keep on the good path. Greatness is coming! ​