How to structure your riyaz (practice) session

(A video recording of the Facebook LIVE session that I did a few weeks back on the same topic)

The audience sits in rapt attention listening to the great maestros of Indian Music. They are awestruck by the finesse with which the musician on stage presents the most delicate nuances of his sound with relative ease and poise. Many wish and hope that they could also someday perform at the same level as the maestro they just enjoyed watching. After all It's just another human being - what makes that person so special?

The differentiator is just one word R-I-Y-A-Z (practice).

To master any art form (especially music - regardless of genre), it takes a lot of patience and endless hours of relentless riyaz (practice). It is this one element about learning music that seems to overwhelm most and perhaps disillusion them as well. The end result is that many an enthusiastic learner has quit on the journey of music.

While Riyaz is of paramount importance when learning an art form (especially music), having some structure around it is equally important. As a musician for over a decade, I will share some best practices that have helped me improve myself over time. While this journey of improvement is a life long pursuit, I will admit without hesitation that my playing style today is vastly better than what it was 10 years ago.

The two most important components of a good riyaz session are:

1. Time (When/How long); &
2. Content (What)

1. Time - If one is not a professional, full time musician, then taking time out for practice is indeed a challenge. One must strive to carve out a small but significant and finite amount of time, each day of the week (preferably the same time of the day everyday, so that the brain slowly gets trained to expect a practice session on that hour). In the initial days, about 20-30 minutes of practice time also feels like much. But as the skill level increases, one must also look to gradually increase the practice time to at least an hour a day. One may have to sacrifice a few things to achieve this but that would  vary person to person.
2. Content - The next important component of a good practice is to decide what to practice? In this area, I would recommend following a structure that looks like this:
• Warm up - Practice a few small but reasonably complex pieces that will prepare the musician both physically as well as mentally for the upcoming practice session. As a tabla player, I like to warm up by playing the below notes on the tabla (they help in improving the sound of the baayan/dagga):
  

    Variant 1:
    GE GE TITA GE GE TITA GE GE DINGA THINA KINA
    KE KE TITA KE KE TITA GE GE DINGA DHINA GINA

    Variant 2:
    GE TITA GE TITA GE GE TITA DINGA THINA KINA
    KE TITA KE TITA GE GE TITA DINGA DHINA GINA

    Variant 3:
    GE TITA GE TITA GE GE GE TITA GE TITA GE GE
    GE TITA GE TITA GE GE TITA DINGA THINA KINA
    KE TITA KE TITA KE KE KE TITA KE TITA KE KE
    GE TITA GE TITA GE GE TITA DINGA DHINA GINA

Alternatively, I also use (this one I showed in the video):

    DHA TIRAKITA TAKA THA TIRAKITA TAKA (Start ekgun and then dugun and then chargun; 1xspeed, 2xspeed & 4xspeed)

• Have a time table setup - When the time is limited and content is more, it makes a lot of sense to NOT practice EVERYTHING EVERYDAY. It may not be the best use of one's time. Instead, try creating a week long schedule where on certain pieces are given more time & attention whereas certain others are practiced one time or just for lesser time. This way, one would be able to touch upon all (or most) areas of knowledge and also keep the interest alive simply because everyday is going to be a different schedule and different stuff to play.

If it's a newer piece that you have learned recently and spend a large chunk of your riyaz session, practicing and perfecting this piece. Let's say you learned a new kaayada (tabla piece), try and structure it like this:

1. Play the Kaayada Face (or the main composition. e.g. DHATI DHAGE NADHA TIRAKITA DHATI DHAGE THINA KINA/THATI THAGE NATHA TIRAKITA DHATI DHAGE DHINA GINA) for 3 minutes.
2. Switch to playing the paltas (or variants of the kaayada) 3 minutes for each variant.
   

In this manner, if there are 10 variants, then you would have effectively practiced the kaayada for 33 minutes. Doing this for 8-10 days will show a marked improvement in playing quality and clarity. Once one does this successfully for 10 days, the next pursuit should be to gradually try and play the same stuff faster. So I recommend increasing the speed of playing by 5% (approximately) every 10 days. I typically suggest my students to start practicing at around 80bpm (lehera) and increase by 5bpm every 8-10 days.

Last but no the least, keep a record of your practice sessions. The purpose is not to show off to others but for a better understanding of your own strengths & weakness. Plus it will also serve as a motivation when you look back at the number of hours that you've racked up practicing and perfecting your art form.

I hope you've found these tips useful. Do share your own tips & tricks that you use for practicing music, in the comments box.