Say you could practice without your instrument (if you need to be quiet or don't have access to your instrument), and still make serious gains? Heck freaking yeah!
Well that is a real thing: it's called mental practice!
In this episode, we dive right into the what, why, and how of mental practice so that you can start honing your brain for better performances! Let's up our practice game with this strategy.
Say you could practice without your instrument (if you need to be quiet or don't have access to your instrument), and still make serious gains? Heck freaking yeah!
Well that is a real thing: it's called mental practice!
In this episode, we dive right into the what, why, and how of mental practice so that you can start honing your brain for better performances! Let's up our practice game with this strategy.
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Speaker 1:
Say you could practice just you and the music, without your instrument, so you could practice when you say you need to be quiet, or you just don't have access to your instrument, or you can't play it right now and still make serious gains without ever actually touching your instrument in the process. Heck, freaking, yeah. Well, guess what? That's actually a thing. It's called mental practice, and it is so beneficial. I recently put out an Instagram poll asking you if you love it as well, and there are a ton of answers saying I don't know it or I don't know how to use it or what even is it. So this episode is exactly for you. Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing Podcast. I'm your host, eleanor, and after countless practice sessions, a ton of Birkenreads and seven different music school acceptances in three different countries, I have learned a thing or two about savoring your practicing, becoming your best practice companion and actively working towards your musical goals, and I want to share this with you because I want you to become your best musical self. Are you with me on this? Let's get started. Hey there, and welcome back.
Speaker 1:
We're just gonna dive right into the how, why and what of mental practicing. So let's start off with what is it? When you play your instrument? The reason why it makes noise is because of you. You are the catalyst to that. Think about it. If you just put your instrument on the floor and wait, it won't make music. You have to make the music. So you are the real instrument. The sound actually comes from you before it goes to the instrument and ends up in the world. So your instrument is a way to make that music, but the actual musicality, the actual music comes from you. So with mental practice, you just take the instrument out of the equation and you focus on you, because you're the most important factor and the brain power is coming from you. So mental practice is an opportunity to just hone in on that.
Speaker 1:
So, for instance, I was recently practicing the Vaughan Williams oboe concerto through mental practice and my goal was to understand the relationship between the long notes and the rests, because I was trying to memorize it. I sat down, I put my hands together, and this changes for different instruments. You can put your hands on your knees, you can put like whatever it is, but I put my hands together and I kind of mimed playing the oboe. So I put pressure on the fingers that you know, were making the notes in my head and I just mimed through in my head all of the different notes. But as I was doing that, I was counting out loud so I could understand where each note was placed in the phrase and how the rests pulled into that. And I couldn't have done that with the oboe, because with the oboe you can't really count out loud. So it was really helpful.
Speaker 1:
Let's dive into why we need it. Number one to focus on our brain and get things in our head. For instance, if you're struggling with a tricky passage, slowing down and mentally going through it can be the best thing to do in that situation. I cannot tell you how many times I have struggled through passages and I just put my oboe down and I just do how I was doing. I put my hands together and I kind of mime through it, but very, very, very slowly, and I'm focusing on my brain. I'm thinking, okay, this is how we're doing this, then you go to this note, then you go to this note and it's very slow and that can be so beneficial because then I can pick up the oboe and you know, sometimes it's so much better. So we need it to focus on our brain and also we need it.
Speaker 1:
If, say, you have to stay quiet for some reason or you don't have access to your instrument right now, maybe it's in a repair shop or something, or maybe you've played too much on your instrument right now. Maybe it's in a repair shop or something, or maybe you've played too much on your instrument lately. As musicians, especially as busy musicians we are constantly trying not to overplay, overpractice, because that can lead to injury, which is not something we want. So, especially if we have so much to practice, but we've already practiced so much already and we're like I don't want to keep practicing. I don't know if I I don't know if that's a good idea. I've already practiced so much today. Mental practice can be so helpful for that.
Speaker 1:
Now just a bit of a PSA. If you need to rest and your body's telling you I don't want to practice full stop, Like I need to rest, like we've we've done a lot and I need to rest, then let yourself rest. And if you want to learn more about resting, there are two episodes that you should definitely listen to. The first one is episode seven Embracing the Pulse three crucial lessons from my musical break. And the next one is episode 13, how to make time for you while preparing for auditions. Both of those will be linked in the show notes in the description, so make sure you go check that out.
Speaker 1:
But if we need to practice and we can't practice on our instrument, at that point mental practice can be so beneficial. For that I cannot tell you how many times I have mental practiced on like transportation, you know, getting someplace, or if I'm in a meeting and I'm kind of bored, I'll mental practice. It's great, it's really great. So now let's dive into some ways to do it, because it's really different for everyone and you need to kind of find your own way of doing it. But here are some ways that I find helpful. The first one we have kind of looked at already, but we're going to really dive into it now which is the meditative way, and that's just my title for it, but it's really helpful.
Speaker 1:
So this is where you sit on the floor or somewhere comfy. For me that's the floor. You can close your eyes, put your hands together. For me, I put my hands together. You can either put your hands on your knees It'll change depending on your instrument. For me, with oboe, hands together is really helpful or hands on your knees and you just mime the notes. So you just put pressure on the fingers that have to do with those notes and basically you're focusing on the feel of it and how your brain is with it. You also focus on your breathing as you do this. This is very like calm meditative. So you focus on your breathing in and out and you kind of just mime the music, mime the notes and slowly put pressure on your fingers, the ones that are used for each note, and you're going so slowly, like this is not at the main tempo or the normal tempo at all. This is not at the main tempo or the normal tempo at all. This is so slow and the focus is to get your brain to kind of stay in tune with it and make sure that you know it goes into your brain. Basically, you're strengthening brain waves, strengthening the connections in your brain.
Speaker 1:
The next way, which I don't really have a name for it, I just call it the other way, but if you want to call it something, then go ahead and this is kind of the complete opposite of meditative. Meditative is like very focused and looking inward and stuff like that, and I mean, I guess this is also looking inward, but it's not as quiet. This is for when for me, when I'm trying to memorize, this helps or understand where my part fits in with the orchestra or accompaniment. This helps. So for me it could be I put my music out on the floor and I'm clapping along to the beat and I am singing my part, and this can be helpful for knowing how it fits with the accompaniment. So maybe I'm clapping and I'm singing my part, or I'm snapping the beat and I'm singing the rhythm or whatever it is. I might even have a recording of the piece that is playing and I'm counting out loud so I can hear the accompaniment. This can also be great when you're maybe trying to memorize a piece.
Speaker 1:
I kind of did this with Yvonne Williams in a way when I was trying to memorize it and we talked a little bit about that at the beginning of this episode. So just kind of it's more of an outward thing, but it still focuses inward, because you're just strengthening those brain connections. You are singing your part, which strengthens your brain connections. You're not using your instrument, you are clapping the beat and you're listening to the accompaniment. It is kind of just piecing things together. It's like a puzzle. So those are my two ways. You know, as I have struggled and worked through these audition seasons, I have tested out and collected strategies for all aspects of the auditioning process, including mental practice. Because, let's be honest, we have just scratched the surface in this episode and this is to go in a special guidebook, just for you. So there's a link about this in the show notes, in the description, so make sure you go check that out.
Speaker 1:
Let's do a quick recap. So you are the real instrument in this. You create the sound. It comes from you, then it goes through your instrument, then it goes into the world, but it comes from you. So this whole thing is to focus on you. Why it's helpful for your brain. It's helpful if you need to be quiet or maybe you don't have your instrument or you can't play it right now. It's so helpful to really just connect those brain waves because your brain initiates this whole process.
Speaker 1:
Ways to do it we have two ways. The first way is more meditatively doing it and that is really focusing on your breathing, very much, slowing it down, really focusing on how it works and how it feels and how your brain is kind of working through it. The other way, which I don't have a name for, it's just the other way that is more out loud. You are clapping the beat, you are singing the rhythm, you are listening to the piece. While you do it, it's a whole party. So those are our two ways.
Speaker 1:
I invite you to try mental practicing and it might need some getting used to, but I'm gonna tell you right now. It is so helpful, oh my gosh and it's so important to find a balance between mental practicing and practicing with your instrument. So try and find that balance. Experiment a little bit. It's great.
Speaker 1:
And if you have a fun way of mentally practicing already, let me know. I'd love to hear about it. You can DM me on Instagram, at eleanorobo, or you can email me at eleanor, at confidentmusicianingcom. I'd love to hear all of the ways that you mentally practice. All right, that's about it for today. Thank you so much for listening. As always, all the stuff to do with this episode will be linked in the show notes, from the blog post that goes with this episode to the link for episode 13, how to make time for you while preparing for auditions and episode seven, embracing the pause the Paws three crucial lessons from my musical break, as well as the link to the audition guide. Make sure that you go check that out. You know, make a habit of doing yourself a favor and looking at these show notes, looking at this description, because there's some good stuff in there. If you want to show your love and support for the Confident Musicianing Podcast, make sure you give it a follow and I will see you in the next episode. Bye-bye.