Hey, great question!
Here are a few tips on structuring practice, drawn from our notes on our interview with Noa Kageyama:
There’s no universally optimal way to practice, as a lot depends on the individual and other variables. There are, however, several things you can try to help you optimize your practicing, including:
- Try structuring your practice as 3 sets of 3 (or 3 sets of 5) in a particular session, where each “unit” could be a chunk of just a few minutes on one particular passage or practice task.
- Massed vs. distributed practice: it’s better to distribute your practice over time, as opposed to in one big chunk. While it may be less convenient, it’s more effective to practice in three one-hour sessions than one massive three-hour session each day.
- Try the “50 minute hour” (as @element0s mentioned!) — practicing for 50 minutes of each hour, followed by a 10 minute break. (Or do 45 minutes of practice + 15 minute break.) And during the practice periods, not all this time should be constant playing; rest periods between reps of 5-20 seconds can lead to more effective learning.
- When you’re practicing something, try to practice deliberately and keep in mind the idea of “repetition without repetition” — don’t mindlessly repeat the exact same thing each time, but evaluate yourself as you go, and make slight variations, changes, and improvements.
- How much to practice in a day? On the low end, some elite players can get by on 1–2 hours per day. And after more than around 4–5 hours a day you’ll probably see diminishing returns. The quality of your practice time is more important than just the duration, but somewhere in this range may be good to aim for.
You can find more detail on this stuff, including definitions of deliberate practice and random practice and other tips on practice and performance, at his site: https://bulletproofmusician.com/