Obsessive playing from the beginning no matter the circumstances
This extremely common practice syndrome can lead to many related issues down the road. When students are just beginning their piano studies, starting at the beginning each time they practice a piece will not make a big difference, as most of their pieces will only be a few lines long. As their pieces grow onto a second page and beyond, however, starting at the beginning each time will have a greater and greater detrimental impact on a student’s practice.
By playing from the beginning each time, the first few bars get the most practice while the ending gets the least. The student’s concentration and mental clarity will also be strongest when they begin playing; students with start again syndrome will therefore always be practicing the end of a piece in a less focussed and present way than the beginning.
At its most extreme, start again syndrome can mean that if the student makes a mistake in a performance, they will have to go back to the beginning. If the only place they’ve ever started is the beginning, that’s the only place they will be confident starting from, which can be disastrous in a performance situation.
Symptoms
Prescriptions
At Sixes and Sevens
In lesson
This is the perfect solution for a piece that a student has been playing for a while already and has developed start again syndrome with.
Pick six strong starting points in your student’s piece and number them. Roll a die (or use a random number generator) and ask your student to start from that point, and play until the end of the piece. Repeat this process seven times. The randomisation will help her to feel confident starting at different points, and the way it is set up is biased towards the ending, so this section will get the most practice.
At home
Assign your student ‘At Sixes and Sevens’ practice of her piece for this week. Ask her to put a tick in pencil beside the section number each time she starts from that point. This will not only give her a way to track her progress, but will give you a subtle way to check if she follows through on this practice method at home. Download ‘At Sixes and Sevens’ tracking charts at: www.pianophysician.com/bonus.
Back It Up
In lesson
This method is not for the faint-hearted, but it is the most thorough and reliable cure for students with severe start again syndrome. You will need to commit to the process as this solution will need to be administered fully in the lesson and will take a large chunk of lesson time.
Ask your student to play the last bar (measure) of her piece. Once she has played it successfully, she should play the last two bars, then the last three, and so on until she reaches the beginning.
At home
Once you have been through the whole ‘Back It Up’ practice with your student in the lesson, assign her this practice at home also. Tell her that she is not allowed to start at the beginning until she has backed it up completely, but if she does have less time on certain days she can ‘Back It Up’ 2-3 bars at a time.
Related Diagnoses
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