What's Your Mindset While Practicing?

[Stephen Fine]

At the end of lessons I always ask, "Do you have any other questions?"

Almost all of my students always say, "No."  But, I have one who usually has a good question either about repertoire, posture, technique, or practice.

Today he asked me, "What should my mindset be while practicing?"

Obviously, it's a very general question, and, as I told him, mindset shifts throughout a practice session, but what would your answers be to the question?

I rambled for a while while trying to answer his question, but I think the heart of my answer was to "trust in the method, don't allow frustration to dictate how you practice."

[GeorgeH]

4 minutes ago, Stephen Fine said:

Obviously, it's a very general question, and, as I told him, mindset shifts throughout a practice session, but what would your answers be to the question?

Practice is a mindfulness meditation. When your mind wanders from the music, bring it back to focus on just the note you're playing.

[Violadamore]

My ideal is totally blank, channeling the notes from the paper, and/or from muscle/tone memory, much like practicing martial arts.  The farther I deviate from that, the more likely I'll flub something. 

[FromBassToViola]

Of course it's a great thing if one's mindset it positive, enthusiastic, and in fact, finding practicing to be fun!

However, quite often I get frustrated, and I've found the best way to deal with my frustrations is to remind myself that any sort of breakthrough that I've ever made (big or little) has never come after a period of calm, stress-free practising...instead, they have always happened after a period of frustration.....so logically, if I'm feeling frustrated now then I must realize that it's actually a good thing because it means I could be on the verge of some sort of breakthrough!

Obviously this won't apply to everyone as everyone's psychology is as individual as the physiology of their hands, arms etc.

[Mumble D-Peg]

My response in a word would be 'patience.' I'm surprised this word has not yet occurred in the thread.

Impatience is the cause of repeating things wrong.

Nicola Benedetti courageously shows the Internet her obsession with basic technique in numerous videos. There is nothing too simple to practice, even at her level. I have read that Heiftz practiced open strings every day, although I forget where I read that and won't stand behind the claim.

Patience, care, and humility are greatly rewarded. Hubris is detrimental. But, I have to admit that frustration has its place, especially if you are short of preparation time or have hit an impasse, and need to experiment with breaking rules, pushing limits, and doing things differently, even badly.

[Bill Merkel]

9 hours ago, Violadamore said:

My ideal is totally blank

!!!

You have to be focused on what you're doing and what it's for and how to improve it to make the practice useful. Mindless practice is like mindless anything else.

[Violadamore]

5 hours ago, Bill Merkel said:

!!!

You have to be focused on what you're doing and what it's for and how to improve it to make the practice useful. Mindless practice is like mindless anything else.

It's not mindless, it's without subvocalization and visualization interfering with the smooth flow of the music to the fingers, or with the continuous adjustment of intonation based on what you are hearing.  You shouldn't be woolgathering, daydreaming, or internally blithering about your worries, etc. 

[Andrew Victor]

For me it has been total concentration on what I am doing.

However, I recall reading (or hearing) that Perlman claimed to have watched baseball on TV while practicing when he was younger. Whatever he did, it seems to have worked for him!

[Mumble D-Peg]

1 hour ago, Violadamore said:

It's not mindless, it's without subvocalization and visualization interfering with the smooth flow of the music to the fingers, or with the continuous adjustment of intonation based on what you are hearing.  You shouldn't be woolgathering, daydreaming, or internally blithering about your worries, etc. 

I actually really, really don't think I agree. I think practice should be full of visualization and subvocalized instructions. For me these things are switched off only for ensemble practice, dress rehearsal, mock performance or actual performance, (mock performance, however, being an element of daily practice). 

Depending on what you mean by 'visualization,' I might also consider this to be a crucial element of aesthetic guidance, or, if you're talking about purely athletic visualization, a very beneficial practice even in the absence of a physical instrument.

I'm confused about not continuously adjusting intonation, too. No one is exactly in tune even among virtuosi; continuous adjustment of intonation is just a fact of life, although, perhaps I can see what you're saying considering that virutosi are said to correct inaccuracies of intonation before the note is fully formed, without being quite aware of it.

My best teacher often told me to 'pre-hear' pitches the way a vocalist does, (and also to breathe more or less like a vocalist). Perhaps that is one thing that can help make the intonation process more automatic - for I certainly agree that if it is too much the focus of attention, then probably insufficient attention remains for aesthetic goals.

On a deeper note, with regard to woolgathering and...  blithering?  I think interpretation does not come purely out of the text, but rather the interaction of the text with the chaos of the mind.

 

 

[Violadamore]

5 hours ago, Mumble D-Peg said:

I actually really, really don't think I agree. I think practice should be full of visualization and subvocalized instructions. For me these things are switched off only for ensemble practice, dress rehearsal, mock performance or actual performance, (mock performance, however, being an element of daily practice). 

Depending on what you mean by 'visualization,' I might also consider this to be a crucial element of aesthetic guidance, or, if you're talking about purely athletic visualization, a very beneficial practice even in the absence of a physical instrument.

I'm confused about not continuously adjusting intonation, too. No one is exactly in tune even among virtuosi; continuous adjustment of intonation is just a fact of life, although, perhaps I can see what you're saying considering that virutosi are said to correct inaccuracies of intonation before the note is fully formed, without being quite aware of it.

My best teacher often told me to 'pre-hear' pitches the way a vocalist does, (and also to breathe more or less like a vocalist). Perhaps that is one thing that can help make the intonation process more automatic - for I certainly agree that if it is too much the focus of attention, then probably insufficient attention remains for aesthetic goals.

On a deeper note, with regard to woolgathering and...  blithering?  I think interpretation does not come purely out of the text, but rather the interaction of the text with the chaos of the mind.

 

 

On the "not", re-read what I wrote several times, because I have no idea where you got it from.  I continuously adjust intonation while playing.

13 hours ago, Bill Merkel said:

!!!

You have to be focused on what you're doing and what it's for and how to improve it to make the practice useful. Mindless practice is like mindless anything else.

My impression from these two replies is that neither of you have ever bumped into raja yoga, Zen-based meditative exercises, or anything in that neighborhood.  I'm trying to talk about clearing your mind of garbage, and totally being in the moment of what you are doing, instead of having your thoughts skipping around like an untrained puppy, and getting in the way of your performance.   Never mind (pun intended). 

[Bill Merkel]

^Yes we have!  Most of us have, and it was kind of poison for me, but probably because I misunderstood it.  Which means it's a danger.

The more you treat practicing an instrument like any other learning endeavor the better, because it's no different. The more analytical you are the faster the progress.  Maybe you "flub" when you think because you aren't thinking right.  You could try just focusing your mind on intonation and the ringing of other strings and the guitar-like quality of all the strings ringing sometimes.  Just meditate on increasing that resonance as you play and make the adjustments needed.  That's not all there is of course but it's something to use your mind on

[gowan]

I keep telling myself to slow down.  Many excellent players and teachers tell us to practice slowly.  It helps me to enjoy things such as hearing a good tone, making a good bow stroke, playing a double stop in tune, etc., while playing very slowly.  I teach myself by listening to myself, even when playing very slowly.  I aim to have an open mindset to hear objectively what I am playing.  That way doing something right imprints a positive reward in my brain and help me to learn.

[David Rosales]

19 hours ago, Bill Merkel said:

!!!

You have to be focused on what you're doing and what it's for and how to improve it to make the practice useful. Mindless practice is like mindless anything else.

 

11 hours ago, Andrew Victor said:

For me it has been total concentration on what I am doing.

However, I recall reading (or hearing) that Perlman claimed to have watched baseball on TV while practicing when he was younger. Whatever he did, it seems to have worked for him!

I think it depends on what the end goal is, but I think this is spot on: focus and concentration. I would say those are probably two sides of the same coin too.

 

For me, an amateur playing in a community orchestra with very little time to practice, I really have to focus and concentrate on one aspect at a time, be it fingerings, intonation, bowing, phrasing, difficult passages, etc.   so that I can focus on the conductor his/her vision at rehearsals. 
 

@Andrew Victor I’ve always heard that about Mr. Perlman too. I always believed that going through the motions with little concentration was just the last phase of preparation where a soloist who is playing from memory needs to get the movements to be automatic. 

[palousian]

6 hours ago, Violadamore said:

My impression from these two replies is that neither of you have ever bumped into raja yoga, Zen-based meditative exercises, or anything in that neighborhood.  I'm trying to talk about clearing your mind of garbage, and totally being in the moment of what you are doing, instead of having your thoughts skipping around like an untrained puppy, and getting in the way of your performance.   Never mind (pun intended). 

I liked your martial arts analogy, too.  Also, George H--exactly!  Mindfulness.  Yep.  And the resistance to your clarity in this thread is interesting. 

[Bill Merkel]

46 minutes ago, palousian said:

I liked your martial arts analogy, too.  Also, George H--exactly!  Mindfulness.  Yep.  And the resistance to your clarity in this thread is interesting. 

The only thing sadder than wasting time is getting knocked out.

 

 

[Violadamore]

1 hour ago, palousian said:

I liked your martial arts analogy, too.  Also, George H--exactly!  Mindfulness.  Yep.  And the resistance to your clarity in this thread is interesting. 

Domo arigato. 

 

28 minutes ago, Bill Merkel said:

The only thing sadder than wasting time is getting knocked out.

[Sticks a bokuto (carved from an oar) in her obi, and assumes a relaxed stance, with the sun behind her.]  I wouldn't know, Grasshopper. 

[Bill Merkel]

 

[matesic]

On 12/10/2022 at 10:03 PM, GeorgeH said:

Practice is a mindfulness meditation. When your mind wanders from the music, bring it back to focus on just the note you're playing.

Not just the note but the phrase, the music.

[GeorgeH]

22 hours ago, Andrew Victor said:

However, I recall reading (or hearing) that Perlman claimed to have watched baseball on TV while practicing when he was younger. Whatever he did, it seems to have worked for him!

I tend to judge where I am in learning/practicing using these 4 phases of learning:

1) Unconscious incompetence - You don't know what you can't do.

2) Conscious incompetence - You know what you want to do, and can't do it.

3) Conscious competence - You know what you want to do, and you can do it when you consciously focus on it.

4) Unconscious competence - You know what you want to do, and you can do it without thinking about it. 

Getting to "4" is where you can watch baseball while practicing. 

[Mumble D-Peg]

16 hours ago, Violadamore said:

On the "not", re-read what I wrote several times, because I have no idea where you got it from. 

 

I stand corrected on that point.

But I still do not understand how visualization and subvocalization are "garbage," or how we improve our technique and our musicality if we attempt to relinquish the mental tools to do so.

I also have reservations about why progress in e.g. kendo is much slower than it has to be. With only a few years of experience, you won't beat a western fencing master either, but he will be less reluctant to tell you exactly why. He might even be quite vain and petty about it, but not less sublime in what he demonstrates than a Shaolin monk. 

[violinnewb]

On 12/10/2022 at 1:54 PM, Stephen Fine said:

I rambled for a while while trying to answer his question, but I think the heart of my answer was to "trust in the method, don't allow frustration to dictate how you practice."

I really, really like this Stephen.

There are virtually unlimited things that you can focus on during practice.  I always say, "today, I am focusing on ___________." My feeble, wandering mind can never allow me to end with the same focus I started with.  

On a more big picture approach, I tell myself, and my students, that when you practice, you should accept that you will almost never perform a piece as well as you did in practice.  With that mindset, the goal is to close the gap between practice and performance.  For example, last week I practiced a passage containing several arpeggiatic runs, eventually, I got it and it sounded great.  If I can do that 99% during chances are, I will stick the landing when time comes. 

[violinnewb]

Another thing I tell myself while practicing, "aim small, miss small."

I tend to have grandiose delusions that as an amateur violinist, I can practice in 4 hour chunks on the weekends and get soooo much done.  Reality it, I start with scales, and after a few, I just "screw it" and move onto etudes.  Then after half a page of etudes, I say "whatever' and move onto repertoire.  After practicing the runs or difficult passages, I say "I want to play the pretty parts."  

My point is, I have to force myself to practice in smaller time and substance increments.  So, Lately, I set aside 15 minutes for scales and 30 minutes for etudes. Take a Netflix break.  Practice only highlighted passages from my solo work for about an hour.  Then continue NEtflix.  I go back and practice the "fun parts." Then eat.  Then I try putting the fun parts together with the nasty parts.  Rinse and repeat.  

[cellopera]

To even get to a mindset, one needs to follow certain steps:

1. Have a space dedicated for practice only.

2. Turn all electronics off (except the iPad if used)

3. Have a well defined technical routine — Open strings, Scales, Arpeggios/Doublestops 

4. After solving technical aspects of the piece (fingerings, bowings, dynamics, phrasing), play it many times through, just like on the stage.

(optional) Use a timer, e.g. 50 minutes at a time, plus a 10 minute break

[Zeissica]

Listen to how you are sounding - not just to what you imagine it sounds like - this is quite difficult. Concentration is very important, and true "in the moment" concentration isn't always available for every type of practicing all the time. If, for instance, my mind is to tired to concentrate adequately on difficult passage material, I might take a step back and just play scales or even son file to concentrate on bowing smoothness, or tone generation. And, after a challenging session of detail work, I might just "play Bach" and try to be as musical as possible, letting go of some details. 

[Mumble D-Peg]

On 12/11/2022 at 6:57 AM, Andrew Victor said:

However, I recall reading (or hearing) that Perlman claimed to have watched baseball on TV while practicing when he was younger.

I have it on good authority that Ling Ling practices while playing baseball.