Brooke TC intro, ch. 1-2

Brooke's Summary-

Those who are great and amazing at what they do did not one day wake up and become great it is a process. Introduce Clarissa a non remarkable musician who did something remarkable. She did a months practice in six minutes. The book goes on to tell us about that remarkable thing. Clarissa would make a mistake, stop, go back, and then fix it through singing, slowing down, she allowed her brain to stumble and then to learn. 

So how do people become great? It has all about the way they practiced. This particular way of practicing is called the sweet spot. “Purposefully operating at the edge of our ability”(VT) They will make mistakes but yet that is helping them become better musicians. Making mistakes and seeing those mistakes is called deep practice. It all has to do with brain chemistry. There are these little cross sections of nerves called myelin. When the brain cells fire over and over again in a selected part of the brain then the myelin multiply, making the nerve or cell fire faster and stronger. It is then that we get better in that general area, so much so that this process happen automatically and we no longer notice it and no longer have to try. In a sense it creates an illusion that this ability is natural. 

Key Concepts-

Myelin is very important in the process of bettering a skill. It is when we observe our mistakes, stop rewind and fix it that it grows and that our ability grows. 

Key Terms- 

Sweet Spot

Deep Practice 

Myelin

Connection-

My practice for years has been going through the song over and over just ignoring the mistakes. This sadly hurt my memorizing skills, as well as any technique because I didn't stop and give my brain time to fix mistakes. I tried just half an hour of letting myself struggle in my practice this morning. That half hour was probably the best practice I have had in about a year. I came out knowing the piece better and knowing my technique better. Knowing the process of how to practice well has helped me already in just my half hour of practice. What would happen if I did this sort of practice for weeks? Months? or years? Well I am eager to find out.