The Only Way You Get Better is By Making Mistakes with Dr. Molly Gebrian

How can neuroscience help us with practice? Why is it necessary to make mistakes when we’re learning? What can we learn about effective practice that might be a new perspective and really different from what we thought good practice was?

Dr. Molly Gebrian is a violist who teaches at the University of Arizona’s Fred Fox School of Music. She is a performer, teacher and has a unique background in neuroscience research as well. I’ve seen Dr. Gebrian speak at a few professional conferences including the American String Teachers Association Conference (ASTA) and the Suzuki Association of the America’s Conference (SAA) and I always attend her lectures whenever I get the chance. She shares great information and delivers it in a down-to-earth, relatable style.

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Three takeaways from this episode:

1. It’s so normal for young students not to love the process of practice. If this is what you’re seeing in your household, please don’t worry!  

2. Once we learn HOW to practice, it becomes so much more motivating to do it.

3. Planned breaks are an important part of effective practice sessions. Visit www.MollyGebrian.com to learn more about Dr. Gebrian’s recommendations and research!

4. Mistakes are an important part of the learning process, and not just for beginners or children.

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Highlights include:

• On loving to practice as a child: “Oh absolutely not, I hated it! I did a lot of things growing up. I actually played violin, cello and Viola as a kid. So I played all three. I didn’t start them all at once, but there was a period where I was playing all three. I did ballet, I did gymnastics. I did theater. I did girl Scouts, like all these different things. And obviously I enjoyed all of them. Otherwise I wouldn’t have done them, but I can’t say that I like loved them. What I loved as a kid that I still love is to read. Like I would just sit and read for hours and hours and hours and hours and you know, all these other things I did, I enjoyed them. Absolutely. But it wasn’t like, “oh, I love this . . . It wasn’t until I was 15, that things really changed for me.”

• “Our brains love games. And so when I teach kids all of these aspects of how the brain works, I tried to turn into games because then the practicing is one much more enjoyable, but also it sticks with you better because it’s, it’s embedded in a game.”

• “It’s important to make sure that you’re breaking it down into smaller steps. And I realized as a teacher that can be really difficult for a student and a student and a parent to know how to break it down. I know that sometimes students and parents, they feel sort of embarrassed to ask their teacher, “Well, how would I break this down?” And I’m always like, “No, that’s the best question. Please ask that question.” So, for parents of younger children, especially, if you don’t know how to break it down in the practice to help your child, like ask your teacher, they will be thrilled that you asked that question.” 

• On making mistakes in practice: “I think it’s also really important to realize that mistakes are necessary for learning…you’re not going to get better if you’re not working on your weaknesses and the things that are hard for you. And that didn’t really click for me until I understood that when we learn something or when we improve at something, there are actual physical changes that have to happen in our brain. And the brain has no incentive to make those physical changes if you can already do it well.”

• On wanting to move on to the next piece before the deep learning is finished: “That’s why in Suzuki, this idea of like a polished piece and like the preview spots that I think is really powerful because then kids understand that pieces can be at different stages of learning.” 
• “There is research that shows that when you’re learning something brand new and you come back to it a couple of times within a day, so you like work on it, say in the morning for a little bit, and then you come back and you revisit it in the afternoon and then you do it once more in the evening, for instance, that works much better for learning it faster and more reliably than just working on it for a longer amount of time for one big practice session”

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Resources from this Episode

Find Dr. Gebrian’s youtube videos on Music & the Brain:  https://mollygebrian.com/music-and-the-brain/

Find Dr. Gebrian’s website: https://mollygebrian.com

Interview Transcript can be requested HERE

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