Five ways to move beyond a plateau
- Camron Williams
- Jul 13, 2017
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 23, 2021
We’ve all struggled with that frustrating phenomenon where we are putting in the hours but not seeing any progress.
Practice can be frustrating and it can feel like you're on a treadmill at times but there are always ways to solve this.
Here are five tips to help get you moving forward again.
1. Shake things up a bit
According to the experts on optimal practice: the best way to move beyond a plateau is to challenge your brain or your body in a new way.
I’m always mixing up the routine I do at the gym - I’ll usually do about 6 different exercises in a session but it’s never the same set of exercises because I have many to choose from.
In terms of singing, maybe you could try to explore a new artist or two for some inspiration (or even try a whole new genre).
2. Take a break
Maybe your brain just needs a couple of extra rest days (or a week) to process all the information you’ve been feeding it before you attempt to challenge yourself again. We all need rest and recovery in order to grow.
If it’s a physical plateau you’ve reached, maybe your body just needs a bit of a break to fully recover and solidify the changes you’ve been asking it to make.
Likewise, a break could be the time your subconscious needs to solidify a new pattern. If you take a break, you won't be consciously working for the time being but your subconscious will be, and it will be working on digesting all the inputs you've been feeding it lately.
The breakthrough you’ve been pushing for might now be the breakthrough you need to “wait” for.
3. Take a step back
You could be extending yourself too far: We know that progress is only made by stepping out of our comfort zones but it is possible to step too far out of our comfort zones and “be in too deep” or “in over our head”.
So maybe you need to break up the problem you’re working on into bite sized chunks to make it a little easier to chew on.
You could also try something slower, less technically demanding, or break up a technically demanding piece into simple, manageable sections.
And of course, it's always good to revisit the fundamentals - have you been neglecting any?
4. ...or do the opposite of number three
Maybe you aren’t fully aware of where your weaknesses are, so you’re practicing without any real direction.
If you really challenge yourself by doing something too difficult for your current abilities, you're likely to expose a weak spot. This is a good thing, as you now have a better sense of what needs to be done.
For example, a sports person might face an opponent much better than themselves to make their own weaknesses much more obvious.
You could sing a song that is in a key higher than you would normally sing in order to see where your voice breaks down first. You can then dial it back a bit to something more comfortable (but still challenging enough) in order to focus on the issue.
5. Perform
If you’ve been practicing without performing for a while, it might be a good time to have a gig or just perform for a few people (any scenario that will make you nervous).
Doing this sort of thing has always been the best way for me to get an often necessary wake up call about how well, or not-so-well I might be doing.
It’s easy to fall into self delusion when you practice alone for extended periods of time. So beware of lacking perspective.
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It may be tricky to identify which of these you need to do, so it’s always a good idea to have a lesson or assessment with a decent teacher who might be able to see what you can’t see yourself.
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Some great resources for better practice:
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