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I recently had an epiphanic re-discovery of a practice method, in which the order of phrases or passages in a piece are learned or practiced in reverse. The basic idea of this method is to practice a subsequent passage first, before playing the preceding passage leading into the passage just practiced. Junctures between passages and difficult transitions between notes are frequently where hiccups happen, and reversing the order of practicing the segments around the problematic spots will smooth out the rough edges. Somehow. Magically.

My epiphany has to do with why practicing in reverse works—specifically, what it is about skill acquisition and mastery that this practice method promotes in the learning process. It came as I was learning the 4th movement of Chopin’s B minor Sonata, when the re-statement of the first theme returns in a storm of octaves, inner voices, and broken arpeggios flying all over the keyboard. Every measure was a challenge to play, every note a headache to learn. Laboring note by note through the section made me aware of a shortcoming in my learning process: I found it hard to learn and retain in memory what notes come next. The big leaps and ever-changing chord positions didn’t afford me looking away from the keyboard, but without consulting the score, my hands didn’t yet know where to go and my ear didn’t yet know what it needs to hear.

I was already breaking down the passages into the small segments—praciting slowly the individual beats each comprising a group of 1/8th note triplets—but was finding that stitching together the beats and measures one after the other just wasn’t sinking in. After a period of frustrating attempts, I figured I’d shake things up and try something different: I started working backwards through the section instead.

In so doing, I quickly discovered that learning passages in reverse made it so much easier for me to know what notes comes next—how my hands should move and what my ear should hear—simply because I had just done it moments before! The recency of the auditory perception and motor execution meant that it was readily available in my working memory. As a result, learning the piece backwards helped me develop the forward-looking and anticipatory aspect of motor learning and audiation. This is something that the default “start from the top” approach does not facilitate as effectively.

Learning a piece in reverse helps to develop the anticipatory aspect of motor learning and audiation: thinking ahead to the next beat or measure before playing it.

How to Learn it Backwards

To break down in detail how to learn a piece backwards:

1. First, pick a very short segment of a phrase you’re trying to learn. (Let’s call it Segment A.) It can be just one measure long, or even as short as one beat or one note—whatever length that is already comfortable to play.
2. Practice the short segment, focusing on the sounds you are producing, how it looks on the keyboard, as well as the kinesthetic and proprioceptive sensations of the motions that you are using to produce the sounds.¹ Practice this until it’s comfortable to play and is the ideal sound you want to produce.
3. Next, take another short segment (let’s call it Segment B) just before the Segment A from Step 1. Play these two segments through, and while playing the preceding Segment B, focus on what the subsequent Segment A should sound like and feel like, exactly how you’d practiced it in Step 2. Do this until you are comfortable with playing both Segment B and A through smoothly, and (more importantly) are consistently thinking ahead to Segment A while playing Segment B. If it’s still not working, return to Step 2.
4. Backtrack another segment to Segment C just before Segment B. To practice Segments C, B, A through, focusing on Segment B while playing Segment C, then focusing on Segment A while playing Segment B (which you’d already practiced in Step 3).
5. Continue backtracking segment by segment until you’ve covered the entire section that you want to learn. Or apply it selectively to problem spots.

Start with very short segments before progressing to longer segments, and initially taking the tempo slower is fine. Whatever you do, the only absolute requirement when using this method is to be practicing where to place your focus of attention at any given moment (specifically, your attention is on thinking ahead to the next segment).

Anticipation and Manifestation

“Learning it backwards” is now a staple practice method in my toolbox. I pull out this tool whenever I find myself stumbling over certain passages, or when I feel my auditory or muscle memory starting to fade, or if I simply want to review a passage. It is applicable at all stages of learning, whether approaching a brand new piece for the first time, or when putting a final touches on the piece. I’ve also found it excellent for the many times I’ve had to re-learn new technique and un-learn bad habits!

For all the talk about auditorily and kinesthetically anticipating what comes next, why is thinking ahead in this way essential when playing the piano?

Anticipating the music means that you are focusing your attention on a desired musical outcome in order to manifest it. With audiation, the auditory imagery that is evoked is an abstract (or distal) form of attentional focus, and the ability to turn imagery into physical reality is the hallmark of mastery. You hear in your mind what the next measure will sound like. You know the piece so thoroughly that you can envision with precision the harmonic constitution, the contrapuntal lines, the tone quality of each and every note to be voiced. Your hands are an extension of your mind, such that they intuitively understand what to do and how to move, to produce your envisioned sound.

This point was really driven home as I was writing my last post about audiation and hearing music in one’s mind. Don’t we all have an awe (and maybe envy) for improvisers who can play anything by ear, or composers who hear masterpieces in their mind and can’t write them down fast enough? These god-like talents illustrate what superior audiation skills can achieve.

While I am resigned to the fact that that level of auditory genius is beyond the reach of the rest of us mere mortals, I still believe it’s worthwhile to design our learning processes to strengthen our audiation “muscle” in whatever way we can, and incorporate it into our piano playing. For the humble music student and learner, developing audiation skills will help to build a strong mental picture and deeper understanding of the music: pattern recognition and structural awareness of the musical content, memorization through auditory recollection and movement internalization/muscle memory, and command over the tone, color and inflections of the music being played. Getting to know the piece inside out in this way is a necessary part of “perfecting” the piece.

Footnotes

1. Besides the auditory imagery and motor memory, I also try to incorporate music theoretic detail (e.g., tonality, chord progressions, inversions, sequences, etc.) as well as visual and photographic memory. ↩︎