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Thank you Noa,
I’ll keep trying to find my sweet spot for over learning reps, I agree that sometimes I repeat a chain too many times to the point where it gets worse. Now I’m experimenting with moving on after 4 overlearning reps during for the first 4-6 notes; which are usually easy to get correct, and 8 reps for chains longer than 5 notes.
Yea it does happen sometimes where when I chain a note the notes before get better. I think it’s probably because when I chain the note, it completes a figure that I’ve done before- like if I’m chaining notes C#-F-G# and they’re a bit messy, but when I add C# (C#-F-G#-C#) it suddenly seems ingrained because I recognize it as a C# major arpeggio, instead of a cluster of notes. The opposite also happens though where the first say 4 notes are good but as I add the 5th and beyond it gets worse. I’m thinking it’s probably because my “ideal” version of those 4 notes isn’t ingrained into “muscle memory” and thus if I have to use a lot of focus for the upcoming notes, the previous ones can suffer if they’re not super ingrained.
Since you mentioned thinking about the next note after the one I just chained, at what point would I do that? Should it be before or during the rep. Should I think about it while I’m trying to get my first “correct rep” or after while I’m doing overlearning reps. I feel like it’s a lot to keep in mind at once- having to think about staying relaxed, what number rep I’m on, the goal of the phrase, the tempo, plus the next note after the one I chained. While finding the “correct rep”, should I just think about staying relaxed and the next note after the one I’m chaining? And then once I get a correct rep, focus on the physical feeling and sound of the correct rep?
I’ve also found that whenever I have really fast passages, it seems better to practice them in varying rhythms and chaining by beats instead of note by note. I’ll keep experimenting with this and let you know.
Luca