“To rely on muscular habit, which so many do in technique, is indeed fatal. A little nervousness, a muscle bewildered and unable to direct itself, and where are you? For technique is truly a matter of the brain.”
–Fritz Kreisler, violinist
(quoted in, Kato Havas, Stage Fright, p. 125)
When Kreisler said that technique was “of the brain,” I assume that he was referring to the mental processes via which we musicians direct our execution.
And I think that he wasn’t merely speaking about mechanics but rather pointing to the inclusive artistic and physical aspects of music making.
That is, when we professionals perform, we conceive of upcoming phrases before we execute them.
We direct ourselves across the terrain of a composition, much like car drivers see ahead as they navigate a road.
Mental Imaging: The Most Important Skill
That self-direction is rooted in our ability to do what I call mental imaging. And I’m convinced that mental imaging skills are among the most important skills for musicians to develop. Even so, over my decades of performing and teaching, I’ve learned that many aspiring musicians and their teachers don’t grasp the roles that mental processes play.
“When we professionals perform, we conceive of upcoming phrases before we execute them.”
Countless would-be performers, for instance, rely on mindless habits – e.g., rote repetition in practice – that bring about all sorts of problems. Chief among those pitfalls is that mindless learners falter under pressure because they instill muscle memory without awareness of their music-making actions. They’re like automobile drivers who can’t see where they’re going: at any moment they might crash. It’s no surprise that they’re jittery on stage.
This post sums up ways in which mental imaging techniques can be used by musicians to foster creativity and confidence. See The Musician’s Way for detailed applications.
Mental Imaging During Music Practice
1. When learning a new piece, use imaging to simulate your execution and instill a vivid mental map before you play or sing. E.g., to absorb an unfamiliar phrase, instrumentalists might move their fingers in the air as they vocalize; singers could silently mouth words as they internally hear a tune.
When you image, create a multisensory experience and make your imaginary playing or singing as realistic as you can: hear the music in your mind, register tactile and movement sensations, connect with the expressive shape of each phrase.
2. As you play or sing, perceive the musical gesture that follows the one you’re executing. Always think, feel, hear, and sense ahead, but do so easefully, trusting in your mental map.
3. To help solve problems, use imaging to try out permutations of fingering, diction, tonguing, phrasing, and so forth. For instance, to unravel a technically thorny passage, a string player might imagine touching the fingerboard and then test various fingerings.
4. When memorizing, depend on imaging to solidify your mental record of a piece. In the practice room, for instance, you might image a phrase from memory 2-3 times before you attempt to execute it without the score. Later, to maintain your memory, you could image an entire piece or section, and you can do so anywhere, whether in the practice room, riding a bus, or waiting in line.
Mental Imaging and Music Performance
1. Backstage, employ imaging to bring yourself into performance mode. If you’re nervous, let’s say, you might shore up your self-assurance by recalling one of your top performances. Then, in preparation for your entrance, mentally hear your music and mime the playing or singing actions, absorbing the character of a piece.
2. After your entrance, use imaging to set the tempo of a piece and ready your first phrase.
3. As you perform, image ahead, release effort, and unleash your emotions as you direct your execution with awareness.
Mental Imaging and Creativity
1. During downtime, such as when you’re riding a train, playfully hear music in your head: generate compositional ideas or novel interpretive ideas; alternatively, you might memorize or mentally review passages.
2. When seeking new ideas, you can use imaging to consider possibilities for programming and staging – see yourself as an audience member taking in your show.
3. To overcome barriers, envision yourself playing or singing with optimal ease and soulfulness. You might even visualize yourself performing as one of your musical heroes or imagine yourself tossing off tricky passages with aplomb. Use imaging to stoke your enthusiasm for making music.
New to mental imaging? See pages 34-37 of The Musician’s Way for an introductory exercise and examples of imaging in action.
Related posts
Deep Practice
Dialing Down the Effort Meter
The Four Stages of Memorization
Solving Problems in Practice
© 2010 Gerald Klickstein
Photo licensed from Shutterstock
Hi John – Thanks for the question and for bringing up such a crucial topic.
I echo your friend’s remark about the importance of accurate self-hearing. We musicians depend on acute self-perception to assess all aspects of our music making.
When we mentally image how we want something to sound, we need to couple that sound-image with keen self-listening.
Then, we can compare how we sound with how we’d ideally like to sound.
So, as you infer, mental imaging and self-listening are linked, and I appreciate you highlighting that fact.
How do we ensure that our self-hearing is on target? The best way is for us to self-record.
More about that in my article “Self-Recording in Practice.” http://musiciansway.com/blog/2009/09/self-recording-in-practice/
Hi Gerald, a friend of mine who is now a very accomplished performer, mentioned to me that his breakthrough came when he started to really listen to the music he was playing rather than thinking about how he was playing it. Do you think this is a part of what you mean by imaging?
Hi Gerald,
I know that visualization helps with athletics, but never considered adding it to my piano arsenal. That is an ‘aha’ moment. Of course it makes perfect sense. Thanks.
Good points, Don – thanks for contributing.
I agree that muscle memory plays an important role in playing instruments. After all, music making is an intensely physical process.
My central message (and that of Fritz Kreisler) is that we don’t want to have muscle memory in the driver’s seat. We want to direct ourselves with awareness and get the Homer Simpson of mindlessness out of the control room.
To answer your questions: Mental imaging principles are integrated in varying degrees into the methods of a number of pedagogues; I’m certainly not the first to explore this topic – e.g., see the writings of violinist Kato Havas and guitarist Aaron Shearer.
I can’t say for sure why mental practice strategies aren’t more mainstream, but I suspect that it’s because: a) it’s challenging to teach such strategies; b) mental processes run ‘under the hood,’ so they aren’t apparent and often aren’t recognized. Hence, I felt the need to write The Musician’s Way, which presents a comprehensive approach to acquiring musical skills.
Lastly, concerning your example of sight-impaired musicians, they too would use mental processes to direct their execution. Although their mental conceptions wouldn’t be vision-based, it seems to me that mindful self-direction would still underpin their ability to perform securely.
My case for muscle memory.
What does a violinist and a blind piano player have in common ?
Both know that the general layout of their notes but neither have ready visual access to those notes.
Both must have an excellent image of the spatial coordinates of their instruments.
Neither one can know the exact sound they will produce FROM THE
INSTRUMENT…… BEFORE the note is executed. ( I have to wonder about the true role of vibrato 🙂
What do you think ?
A very important approach, I think. However, I think that I could make a stronger case for muscle memory in addition to imaging. I also find that imaging helps intonation which seems a little surprising to me.
I wonder why your philosophy has not been included in the violin pedagogy mainstream?
I appreciate your support, Glory. And thanks for all you do to nurture young musicians.
You and your students will find abundant additional resources in my book and on http://www.MusiciansWay.com – e.g., see the ‘Downloads’ page.
Thanks Gerald for giving me another way of approaching things. After 35 years of teaching beginners to Gr.9 piano, I will be teaching my first Gr. 10 Piano student this year and need all your ideas to really show my student the benefits of great practice technics. I just found your site, so I will go back and read “Getting started” and a few others to prepare for Sept. Keep writing and thanks!
Well said, Evan. We all have to acquire the ability to work productively regardless of life’s ups and downs.
FYI, I tackle some aspects of this issue in my post “Getting started”:
https://www.musiciansway.com/blog/2009/09/getting-started/
An important point in my own practice has been to generate routine regardless of feelings or discouragement to continue practicing.
Thank you for the post that comprehensively re-affirms practice mentality.
Thanks for the comment, Alexandra. Isn’t it amazing how small, specific goals enable us to do our best? And brava to you for being open to new ideas.
I have spent a lot of time practicing, and just now am figuring out that I am a lazy practicer. I sit down to practice, and repeat and repeat, ad infinitum, and eventually get it, but still have many of the issues discussed. Just recently took a semi-beginner harp instruction book, and limited my scope of practicing; JUST 4 measures at a time each day; reading the music before attempting, and other suggestions. Am amazed at how quickly I am learning; it is so easy to just keep doing it the way you have in the past, and not try new ideas.
Thank you for your posts; they are inspiring.