Summer brain drain.
Summer brain drain is simply the loss or decline of skills and knowledge over the course of summer vacation. While this often refers to academic knowledge and skills (reading and math, specifically), I'd like to address it from the perspective of cello knowledge and skills as it's slightly different.
We all need a break and summer is a great break from school and the usual routine. But summer doesn't need to be a break from learning completely.
I always encourage my students to continue taking lessons throughout the summer and, if possible, take more lessons. Here's why:
More time. Summers are relaxed and way more casual. There's less rushing to and from school, to and from activities and this allows simply for more practice time. Also, brains aren't already fried from the school day so practices can be longer and more focused. In general, a lot more can be accomplished! I've see a great deal of progress happen in just 2 and a half months with focused, regular and dedicated practice. More lessons can happen in a week - when I was in high school, during the summers I took lessons twice a week instead of once a week. I learned more that summer than the entire previous school year. A number of students choose this as well, regardless of age or level.
Maintenance & deepening of skills. Even if huge amounts of progress aren't made, at least maintenance, refinement and further deepening of skills can occur with regular practice and lessons. Recall back to why we review - it's the same concept. Just by continuing to practice what you already know, you further deepen and strengthen those skills.
Retention. Similar to maintenance of skills, more retention of skills occur with a regular practice and a continuous lesson routine. It's really annoying and frustrating when 3 months ago you could play Go Tell Aunt Rhody and now you can only play the first few notes. And it's not even your current piece - it's a review piece! You know you know it but it's just not coming back! Regular practice guards against this loss of skills. It's just like lifting weights - you can't expect yourself to lift the same weight previously when you've gone 3 months without lifting anything. Same with musical skills. You can't expect to play Go Tell Aunt Rhody flawlessly when you've not even hummed it in the last 3 months.
Motivation. This is a big one. Regular and continued practice, even just practice not lessons, fosters motivation and drive. I’ve seen this happen all too often not only with students but with myself.
When you aren't able to recall how to play a piece, you lose the drive and inspiration to practice because you've suddenly hit something uncomfortable and frustrating. This repeats a few times. Then you stop trying to practice because the whole idea of playing the cello is not fun. Decline in motivation increases the longer this avoidance behavior continues.
When it is time to return to a regular lesson schedule at the end of summer, it takes a while, usually 3 months, to build back up the lost skills and, more importantly, the motivation. Sometimes, it takes even longer because the whole process is, again, frustrating. You know these pieces but your brain and body can't recall how to do them because it's been so long. It takes a while to get back in the groove of playing, learning and practicing because motivation is low. You don't want to practice because it doesn't feel good, sound good or you can't remember and it doesn't feel good, sound good and you can't remember because you don't practice! This continues in a cyclical fashion.
Motivation is linked to retention in that students are more likely to be motivated to practice and play when they can play pieces because they've retained them and can recall them easily. It's a feedback loop. Retention (and progress) fosters motivation and motivation fosters retention (and practice).
The loss of motivation is a frustrating process especially because regaining the drive and desire to practice requires buckling down and dealing with the problem: lack of practice. This means committing to a regular practice routine. The best way I know to get back into a regular practice routine and be motivated to practice regularly is to establish that routine and stick to it no matter what. Make practice a habit and don't fall out of that habit, even during the summer.
This is also what regular, daily practice is necessary. One, we need it to develop skills. Two, this regular practice fosters motivation and drive. But these also work in a cyclical manner. When you see how quickly you learn things with regular practice, when you see the success you're experiencing, you want to keep doing that thing and achieving that success. Conversely, it's hard to envision that success when you are only faced with frustration and disappointment.
We experience dips in motivation like this in other aspects of life. We get busy and stop going to the gym. Then when we have time again, going to the gym is hard. It's not fun. You can't do the things you could before. It's frustrating. That feeling of weakness is discouraging and you don't want to do anything because you feel behind. But you push through and eventually you can achieve what you were reaching before your hiatus and then some more beyond that. Then your motivation rises again.
Our brains are no different from our muscles. Learning and repetition strengthen our brains. When we don't work them, the neural connections we've developed weaken. Then we have to work even harder to build that strength back up to its original level and then keep going to achieve new levels.
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Summers shouldn't be any different from the school year. In my mind, it isn't any different. Our schedules are a little different. We go on more vacations or have more free time. But learning shouldn't stop and shut down with the arrival of summer. All learning, not just cello, should continue to maintain and continue strengthening our brains.
Keep those brains strong all year long!
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