The Central Strategy Expert Musicians Use to Practice Difficult Passages

We all get stuck on problem passages from time to time. And it can be very natural to simply throw more repetitions at it, in hopes that this will eventually unlock something. But in doing so, we end up accumulating more and more incorrect repetitions and reinforcing mistakes. So what’s the alternative? A new study took a rare, close-up, repetition by repetition look at how artist-level musicians practice difficult passages. And it identified some key similarities in how they approach problems and keep making progress - without reinforcing mistakes. The result is a concrete practice framework that any musician can use to guide their practice. You might even argue that this is THE core process that underlies effective skill learning. Get all the nerdy details here: The Central Strategy Expert Musicians Use to Practice Difficult Passages References Killion, M. F., & Duke, R. A. (2025). The central strategy of music practice: A blow-by-blow account. Journal of Expertise, 8 (2–3), 85–128. More from The Bulletproof Musician Get the free weekly newsletter , for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content. Pressure Proof : A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage. Learning Lab : A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice. Live and self-paced courses

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The Central Strategy Expert Musicians Use to Practice Difficult Passages is an episode from The Bulletproof Musician by Noa Kageyama.

This episode is 9:26 long.

This episode was published on Dec 28, 2025.

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