Isolation, Integration, Improvisation

Isolate —> integrate —> improvise.

I mention this skill-building strategy in How to Be Better at (Almost) Everything.

Ideally, one should bring a skill into integration quickly. This means playing songs, sparring opponents, writing articles. Improvisation is taking something one step further, removing cushions and restraints; it’s composition “on the fly.” Now you’re jamming.

However, it’s difficult to integrate (and impossible to improvise) if you don’t have the raw material to work with. This is where isolation comes in. Practice the scales, put propositions into their logical form, perform a thousand and one roundhouse kicks.

The way to do it? Isolate just those techniques you need to integrate — that is, generate a particular outcome — as quickly as possible. If my goal is to play Back in Black on the guitar for Grandma Jones, then I need isolated practice of certain chords (E minor, D major, and G major, respectively; I don’t, notice, need to practice Eb13, because that isn’t relevant to AC/DC. Ever.).

Once I have those chords down pat I should practice them in the context of the song (= integration), transitioning from E to D to G according to the famous Back in Black rhythm. Once I have the rhythm sections down, I can isolate parts from the lead, integrate those, and eventually begin to improvise.

One mistake people make is spending too much time isolating and not enough time integrating. In music this means learning endless scales (or modes) but not learning enough songs; in exercise, it means practicing exercises (or workouts) but without putting them into a program. Etc.

You have a goal. That goal has component parts. Learn those component parts (isolate) and then integrate them QUICKLY. If you get stuck, isolate the problem section and practice it until you can re-integrate. Integration (the outcome) should inform isolation (component practice).

TIP: An hour long practice session should have 20 minutes of isolated work, 20 minutes of integrated work, and 20 minutes of creative improvisation.

Two examples:

For martial arts — 20 minutes practicing a particular strike, 20 minutes integrating strikes into combinations, and then 20 minutes sparring or rolling.

For music — 20 minutes practicing a passage to a metronome, 20 minutes playing that passage in context, 20 minutes open jam.