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Hi

Over the last 6 months I have developed a card based practice system, which was inspired by when I was learning Latin for my degree about 8 years ago.

I have a large pile of index cards, and on each card is written something that I want to practice. It might be a written out piece, it might be scales and arpeggios in a particular key, or it might say improvise something from scratch etc etc.

So if when I sit down at the Piano I don't have anything in particular I want to practice, I shuffle the cards and pick randomly from the pack.

I find it works quite well, though as I have scales and arpeggios in every key (one card for each key) and a lot of Jazz scales in every key, and less actual pieces or tunes, I'm more likely to get a set of scales than anything else. But I'm slowly adding more cards with lead sheet songs and things like that as time goes by.

Doing it this way I don't feel like I have to practice one particular thing every session, and it works well for me; especially when I pick a 12 bar blues in C...

Has anybody else done anything similar to this?

Cheers

I've used this type of a flash card system to learn tunes. It helps eliminate any personal bias so that you can work on everything euqally.

You can also use it to learn "most requested" tunes or gigs that you may not ever want to spend time practicing.

Also, the flashcard app for the iphone works well in place of paper cards. It gives a lot more flexibility.

I also find index cards very useful for practice. Like you said, you don't have to worry about practicing only one or two things, eventually you cover everything.

For scheduling, I set up a Leitner system in a cardboard box so I can effectively return to and review items. The front of the box is the 7 days of the week, followed by 4 weeks, followed by 12 months.

For speeding up memory recall, I use a flash card app for random drilling. I swear by this - it really forces me to know material well - and it tells quickly tells me what I don't know as well as I should. Good way to step up your game.