practicing music

Dukkha · Post by **Dukkha** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 8:32 pm

From this Time article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... 38,00.html

When the scientists compared the TMS data on the two groups--those who actually tickled the ivories and those who only imagined doing so--they glimpsed a revolutionary idea about the brain: the ability of mere thought to alter the physical structure and function of our gray matter. For what the TMS revealed was that the region of motor cortex that controls the piano-playing fingers also expanded in the brains of volunteers who imagined playing the music--just as it had in those who actually played it.

This is awesome! So when my reed dies on my chanter, I can just imagine myself playing.

Chiffed · Post by **Chiffed** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:15 pm

It's the thought that counts, really.

rh · Post by rh » Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:22 pm

One of my violin teachers in college recommended spending some time "practicing away from the instrument"; by this she meant reading through the score and just mentally focusing on things like fingerings, shifting, etc. I have to say it did help when the time came to pick up the instrument and play the piece i'd been spending time with.

chas · Post by **chas** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:39 pm

I've often found that when I take some time off playing -- within reason, it might even be weeks or months, but not years -- I find that I pck back up not even where I left off, but where I would have been had I played during the layoff. This only happens when I've hit a wall, when I've felt that I needed a break. I think about what the problems were and sometimes mentally conquer them.

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:41 pm

rh wrote:One of my violin teachers in college recommended spending some time "practicing away from the instrument"; by this she meant reading through the score and just mentally focusing on things like fingerings, shifting, etc. I have to say it did help when the time came to pick up the instrument and play the piece i'd been spending time with.

I do this constantly. Always have. Even when I played saxophone, I'd go through my music in my fingers when I was walking down the hall or between bites at dinner, whatever. I know it probably looks funny wagging my fingers all the time. People might think I have some sort of disorder or something.

I.D.10-t · Post by **I.D.10-t** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:48 pm

rh wrote:One of my violin teachers in college recommended spending some time "practicing away from the instrument"; by this she meant reading through the score and just mentally focusing on things like fingerings, shifting, etc.

Strange, when I look at sheet music, I try to hear the notes. If I can do that, my lips and fingers seem to interpret what I hear.

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:48 pm

chas wrote:I've often found that when I take some time off playing -- within reason, it might even be weeks or months, but not years -- I find that I pck back up not even where I left off, but where I would have been had I played during the layoff. This only happens when I've hit a wall, when I've felt that I needed a break. I think about what the problems were and sometimes mentally conquer them.

I've had that happen. When I've practiced something until I just can't do it anymore and get disgusted. Leave it alone. Come back later and there it is!

gracietwin · Post by **gracietwin** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:51 pm

I think this is why my piano teacher used to make us memorize "fingering" and practice it in our heads - today I can still play "The Entertainer," "Fur Elise" and "Music Box Dancer" just by singing in my head (Music BD) 3-3-1-3-5-3-5-(7)-3....(as I sit here drumming it out on the counter, and yet I haven't had a piano in 20+ years... )

rh · Post by rh » Sat Feb 03, 2007 5:00 am

Congratulations wrote:
rh wrote:One of my violin teachers in college recommended spending some time "practicing away from the instrument"; by this she meant reading through the score and just mentally focusing on things like fingerings, shifting, etc. I have to say it did help when the time came to pick up the instrument and play the piece i'd been spending time with.
I do this constantly. Always have. Even when I played saxophone, I'd go through my music in my fingers when I was walking down the hall or between bites at dinner, whatever. I know it probably looks funny wagging my fingers all the time. People might think I have some sort of disorder or something.

I had it a bit differently though -- no finger wiggling, just thinking about the music and the physical motions. It helps sometimes to reduce repetitive strain while still keeping mentally focused. Muscle memory is important, of course, but the object of the exercise i was given is more about mental preparation and working through fingering problems, etc, by thinking them through.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 9:00 am

Vocalists have a practice called "marking," which is very similar.

TonyHiggins · Post by **TonyHiggins** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 12:44 pm

To play the devil's advocate, I'd say that physically playing includes making mistakes and making corrections from the feedback that allow for improvements. That element would be missing from mental practice. I'm not refuting the researchers' findings- they were describing changes in brain structure, not improvement in playing. Think about all the feedback you get while playing- finger position on the instrument and how it effects tone, not to mention breath control, etc.

I'm just suggesting some benefits that mental practice couldn't provide.
Tony

Charlene · Post by **Charlene** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:24 pm

Gee, it's Professior Harold Hill's "think system!" (Rewatch the movie "The Music Man" if you don't know what I'm referring to.)

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:40 pm

Charlene wrote:Gee, it's Professior Harold Hill's "think system!" (Rewatch the movie "The Music Man" if you don't know what I'm referring to.)

Yes, exactly what I was thinking!

But hey, you saw how it all came out for them. Maybe there is some truth in it all

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:13 pm

and yet I haven't had a piano in 20+ years...

I would truly die. I say this having just given up practicing tonight in disgust, because my 40+ year old piano is giving out it's last dying gasps

and I'm faced with buying another.. gulp. Life without a piano is unthinkable for me.

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:20 pm

cowtime wrote:
and yet I haven't had a piano in 20+ years...
I would truly die. I say this having just given up practicing tonight in disgust, because my 40+ year old piano is giving out it's last dying gasps and I'm faced with buying another.. gulp. Life without a piano is unthinkable for me.

Delightful statement.

Got a video camera?..ever heard of YouTube?...get my drift?..

Slan,
D.