I talk with Arnold Schwartzenegger every day. Ok, really, I subscribe to his newsletter and he’s talking to millions, but the man has a lot to say. And he’s done a lot of things, so I figure I might learn a thing or two.

One of the things he talks about a lot is the last rep. That’s exactly what it sounds like – the last repetition (of anything).

Why is the last rep so important? Because that’s where most of us develop that not so rare disease – imdoneitis (pronounced “I’m done! Itis”). We can see the finish line and with that vision, we peter out. We let that last repetition fall flat, and we’re not even paying attention. Whether we’re lifting heavy things, doing scales, or learning a tune, as we wind our way toward the end, the fatigue of repetition rises, and we just want to get it over with.

But that last rep is the most important – for just those reasons! It can be mind-numbing to repeat anything. We know that because of all the ways we have contrived to ensure we don’t lose count (I’ve heard of using pennies, buttons, cookies, or even an abacus! – because we sure don’t want to do even one single extra rep!).

We do high reps of fundamentals that we have worked so hard to get to the point that they don’t require attention. And that is why the last rep counts for so much! When it starts to get easy, that’s when we need to concentrate and focus even more. When we stop paying attention, we slip and that lets bad habits creep in. And then we’re backsliding!

I get it. Lifting heaving things will make us physically exhausted (a la Arnold), but it’s hard to really drive into the last repetition when we are doing fine motor and brain work. Rather than letting your mind wander, this is when we need to push up our focusing.

You’ll be amazed at how that last time through can be the best (and how it can also be the worst). By paying attention, you’ll not only get a useful rep out of it, but you’ll also gain insight into what is (and isn’t) working so you can focus your next set of reps.

And don’t worry, you won’t get bulky by doing more – you’ll get more streamlined and stronger – but who doesn’t want that?!

Give it a try – lean into your last rep. What do you learn about what you’re working on? Let me know – I’d love to hear about it!

Flexibility

When you think of flexibility, you might see ballet dancers or gymnasts in your head. But flexibility is just as important for us as musicians! Being flexible will not only make us more supple for moving around the harp but will also let our brains be more nimble while we’re arranging, composing, or just trying to get out of a sticky wicket we’re backed into (aka flubbing in performance!).

There are plenty of exercises to do to make your body more flexy but today let’s work on making our minds more agile! For agility, we need to be able to think fast, generate a bunch of options, select the one that will work the best at that moment and execute. And all of that takes practice.

Now you might think that just regular practice should do the trick. Afterall we’re always changing pitches, rhythms, fingers, etc. And yes, that will help you be more flexible, but wouldn’t it be easier to be good at it too? For that, we need specific practice.

Here are a few of my favorites:

For scales, I like playing Russian scales. When that gets easy, shift to Chasing Squirrels. Russian Scales are a piano thing I stole – while RH plays a 2-octave scale (up and back), LH plays a 1 octave scall (up and back) – keep playing until you end up where you started. Then flip (LH does 2 octaves while RH does 1). Chasing squirrels is basically the same except, you change direction whenever you wish while also changing which hand is playing 1 or 2 octaves. You can up the ante by playing contrasting scales (start with C and Am). It’s fun. It’s frustrating. It works!

For reading, I like playing backwards. There are two ways to read backward – the hard way and the harder way. For the hard way, start at the last measure and play each measure as it comes (e.g., play ms 40, then 39, 38, 37, etc. until you get to the first measure). This does take a little getting used to. If you need a real challenge – the harder way is to play it really backwards by reading right to left (last note of measure 40 until you get to it’s first note and then move to 39, etc.) – this is ridiculously hard, but it will keep you thinking! This is one activity I honestly wish I had started when I was new to reading because it requires a lot of mental flexibility which we can all use more of! (honestly, I don’t do this enough)

For rote tunes, I like to mix up the phrases. I do not recommend this for tunes you are still learning, but once you feel like you have the tune, then have at it. If, when you try this, the whole tune falls apart, you’re not there yet so keep practicing the tune straight until it is more learned. Sometimes this falls apart because you’re not thinking about the tune in phrases – not just the order of notes but how the ideas fit together.

All of these things will build your music making muscles! They are all a little bit fun and a little bit frustrating, but the point is to keep engaged and to continue to develop. Because this is a journey (as much as I hate that euphemism). But it’s true, you’re not going to “get there” you’ll only get better, more accomplished, and more comfortable…until the next thing you want to learn!

Give these a try and let me know how they go! If you’re completely lost, email me and I’ll help make it clearer (or send a video).

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