Does anyone else 'practice' their mando in your head?

[Gerry Hastie]

I often think about playing the mandolin and go over parts/stuff that I'm learning to play in my head. Does anyone else do this? What would you good people say about this? Does it enhance muscle memory?

If anyone is into psychology or neuropsychology I wonder if they could they might explain this scientifically?

[MikeEdgerton]

I go over breaks in my head but I've always done that even before I played mandolin.

I also write computer code in my head.

It comes from having a 45 minute commute each way every day.

I don't know if it does anything for me or not.

[JEStanek]

Nobody else practices their mandolin in my head... but I hum the song I'm working on in my head often. I don't think this helps with my muscle memory. If you move your fretting fingers as you go it might help?

Jamie

[Gerry Hastie]

Yeah Jamie, my grammar let me down there. ;) There might be a schizophrenic thang there. I do mean in one's own head!:confused:

[woodwizard]

Yup! I do. I can visualize my fingers on frets as I think of the tune/melody that I have been working on. In my case I'm convinced that it does help. I think it helps me memorize the tune so that it helps me to be able to not only play the tune quicker up to speed...it also helps me to not have to look at the fretboard as much while playing. And last! it keeps me from getting bored on long drives. :)

[Coffeecup]

I think that muscle memory implies that an action becomes automatic, without conscious thought, so rehearsing in my head doesn't do that for me, but it does reinforce the tune which is the important first step. I also do the same with guitar pieces, songs for two different singing groups, and songs for a folk club. It gets awfully noisy in there.

[mandroid]

Hum, whistle or mumble-scat, then sort out making something that resembles that tune, with my fingers.

It's those voices ..

[Mattg]

I've tried to play the mandolin behind my head .....

If I'm trying to think how to play a song, I often visualize the fretboard.

[farmerjones]

Sure, even when the things in my hands.
Last evening, couldn't get Billy in the Low Ground to come out.
Had to stop and think, as apposed to noodling. Out it came.
:mandosmiley: Mostly undamaged and in one piece. :)

[Scotti Adams]

..every day...:mandosmiley:

[mandocrucian]

I pretty much watch and record any/all show(s) coming on any of the documentary channels (Science, Discovery, PBS, etc.) that deals with brain science, human capacity potentials, and have a shelf full of books on the subject.

Modern MRI imaging has pretty much demonstrated that visualization will activate the same brain circuits as actually doing the task. But, the circuits have to already be in place - thinking about playing a piano when you have never played one is just daydreaming as opposed to "visualized rehearsal." :)

Of course, just visualization (only vision) when it comes to music isn't sufficient.... you are just reinforcing the eye-dominance. You also need to have the tune on mental audio playback (or actually vocalize the pitches)so the inner ear is driving the hands, not the other way around.

NH

OK - here's something which operates on similar level. Flip your mandolin over to the right side and play some simple tune (i.e. Angeline The Baker, Three Blind Mice, etc) left-handed. Even though the strings are now upside down, with a simple tune, it shouldn't be a huge obstacle. You know what your RH is supposed to do with the pick, and where your LH frets the strings - so now direct these actions to the reversed hands. (Closing your eyes might help, since now all the "looking" has to be within your mind/imagination.)

If you want to start tinkering around with your neural wiring, this isn't a bad way to start.

Afterthoughts: Here's what a long-time flute instructor/professor said in a discussion concerning mental benefits of playing a LHed instrument.

I have been having the students finger a 1 inch dowel rod held to the left with the appropriate keys being closed with the opposite hands for 15 or 20 years. I have them learn the more difficult scales that way including certain literature passages such as the cadenzas in the Griffes Poem. I got the idea from a Feldenkrais lesson I had many years ago. In clinics around the US I have had clarinetists/oboists etc do it---I may have even mentioned it at the Midwest Band Clinic in a session several years ago. Good stuff. PG

[kjell]

I've been deprived of my mandolin for nearly a month, and as the time has passed I've done more and more of this. It's kind of fun to be reduced to mentally stimulating the itch that I usually scratch by playing instruments. But oh how I wish I'd brought my mandolin with me on the plane…

[Andy Miller]

Oh yeah. And guitar too. I also have a 45-minute commute during which I listen to music on an ipod plugged into my car stereo, so I spend close to 8 hours a week tuned in to my tunes. Listening in the context of visualizing how to play something on an instrument and thinking through the chords and song form, are really useful learning tools for me.

[Paul Kotapish]

I don't have nearly enough free time for actual practicing on far too many days, so I do a lot of mental practicing.

This is quite distinct from attentive listening, though. It does help to listen to music you are working on--a lot, but I do the actual mental practicing silently--without an iPod or car stereo or any soundtrack. The idea is to actually go through the mental--and sometime physical finger movements--of playing whatever piece I'm working on.

Similar to what Niles noted above, there are a lot of positive results from this.

I find this mental workout to be nearly as good as real physical practice in terms of learning the music--and maybe even better in terms of retaining it.

The ideal scenario is to work on the music during several short sessions during days (as opposed to one marathon) and then go over it all again when I am completely relaxed in bed before drifting off. The brain seems to keep working on the music while I sleep, and I often find that a piece I was kind of fumbling with the day before comes pretty easily after one of these presleep mental rehearsals.

I learned about this technique when I was working as a full-time musician. Ironically, although I was devoting all my days to music, far too many of them were spent in airport or in cars or waiting in places where practicing wasn't really possible. A lot of touring musicians use this technique to stay sharp. These days my day job and kids chores fill up the days, but the results are the same.

YMMM, but check it out.

[Joe Mendel]

Dan Crary says he does it all the time, anytime he can't have a guitar in his hands, flying, driving, etc. You're in good company.
I'm doing more, and I think it does help.

[mandozilla]

Yup, been doing that for a long time. Like Mike and others, I also have a 45 minute commute so I try to use the time to good advantage. :grin:

I also listen to a lot of CD's during my drives and visualize what Dawg, Mon, Doyle or Sammy are pickin'. :whistling:

And, I also practice singing, lead and harmony with the CD's. I believe these things are good reinforcement to what I play/sing when I'n not commuting.;)

I fervently hope that I don't lose control of my car one day while head playing EMD or whatever...HaHaHa :))

:mandosmiley:

[Ivan Kelsall]

Yep ! - I'm on board as well. I think also,that we sub-conciously work on things without thinking about them as well as conciously working things out.Many times i've been working on a Banjo tune & hit a wall. I've left it alone for a few days & found that when i've come back to the tune,i've somehow got it sorted out,
Saska;)

[Gerry Hastie]

Thanks for some interesting feedback folks. I love this forum for it's sheer enthusiasm. It's like having loads of new best pals....:mandosmiley::)

[Ted Eschliman]

This will sound strange, but my best out-of-mando practice experience is when I swim. I swim laps about 40 minutes three days a week, and because of the sensory deprivation of the water and endorphins generated with exercising, my mental acuity is prime. I get my best ideas in the pool, and hear pitch relationships and music through the course of the workout.

<anticipating many punchlines...>

[JEStanek]

Ted will be writing his new Mel Bay Publication, Altered Mandolin States capitalizing on new non-corrosive Labella Jazzmando Strings and the New Millennium CF mandolin for exploring higher planes of jazz mandolin.

Pick on!

Jamie

[Barb Friedland]

I've finally gotten to a point where at the strangest times, often when I can't do a whole lot about it (such as while washing a sinkful of dishes), I'll hear the perfect mandolin break for tunes I'm working on. The problem is that when I get to the mandolin later, I can't remember what I heard in my head. And sometimes what I hear in my head is more ambitious than what my hands can currently pull off. :crying:

[Bob Borzelleri]

My first real experience with visualization prior to performing was back when I raced flat track motorcycles. Each track was similar to all the others in that they were ovals ranging from 1/8 to 1 mile. Some had different ratios of straightaway to turn length, but for the most part, there were more similarities than differences. What differences did stand out had to do with track surface condition. Soil density, moisture level, areas where constant traffic would result in the line getting harder or breaking up were the primary variables that could lead to getting through the turn quickly or going onto one's head.

Few folks walked tracks in the early 60s. Most riders went out and ran practice laps and then sat and waited for their heat race to begin. I walked the track and took in everything I could so that when I visited that particular place on the track at speed, it would be just that much more familiar. That practice worked well for me and before long, the pre race walks started getting pretty crowded.

The connection to the mandolin comes in two places for me. The most important is the ongoing admonition to S-L-O-W-D-O-W-N while practicing parts that you don't own. I liken that to walking the track.

The second is in visualizing what I recall from slowing down. That is to say, I visualize upcoming fingerings and patterns slightly before I play them (not always, but mainly where I am working on something I don't yet "own"). The "walking the track" analogy applies here for me in that where I used to enter a turn with a bunch of detailed data about track conditions in my head, I now carry the "walking the fretboard" thing (that I did at much less than racing/playing speed) in my head, and, with sufficient practice, it all comes out in the end.

Only much later in life when I decided to pursue advances degrees in clinical psychology did all this stuff begin to fall together in a nice framework.

[Paul Kotapish]

In keeping with Bob's comments about slowing things down--even when practicing in that mental, no-hands space--try using a metronome. It is every bit as valuable a tool for mental rehearsing as it is for physical practice.

[Jim]

Yes and i often play a part better after a time of mental practice than I did when last I practiced with the instrument in my hands. I think it helps me put the parts togather. I usually learn songs as a series of parts then string them togather, sometimes it's as simple as learning the verse, then the chorus, then the Bridge other times it's the first 4 measures then the next 4 ect. Without a doubt I'm sure to put the phrases I've learned togather better after a few hours to days of mental practicing.

[Rick Schmidlin]

I often think about playing the mandolin and go over parts/stuff that I'm learning to play in my head. Does anyone else do this? What would you good people say about this? Does it enhance muscle memory?

If anyone is into psychology or neuropsychology I wonder if they could they might explain this scientifically?

Yep

[Timbofood]

Sure

[Mike Snyder]

Tried it. Couldn't handle the echo.

[mandozilla]

Ted said:

"out-of-mando practice experience"

Ted that is awesome! Ha Ha Ha :)) I'm still wiping the coffee spray off my monitor.

:mandosmiley:

[dtb]

yes I've been doing this sort of practice for almost 3 years now, although not by choice.

Dan

[Avi Ziv]

Not only do I practice playing in my head on my commute, I've been told that I occasionally do it in my sleep as well - left hand fingers moving as if I'm playing. Bizarre...

[Martyweir]

Ya, but it never sounds the same on the mando as it does in my head... Oh well! Keep on pluckin!!

[Steve Perry]

I always practice mandolin in my head. Trouble is, in my head, I always sound like Steffey... with mando in hand, not so much.:))

[mandozilla]

Steve P. said:

..."in my head, I always sound like Steffey"...

I know what you mean Steve but least we can be Mandolin Heroes inside our heads. :))

:mandosmiley:

[chordbanger]

Yes and i often play a part better after a time of mental practice than I did when last I practiced with the instrument in my hands. I think it helps me put the parts togather. I usually learn songs as a series of parts then string them togather, sometimes it's as simple as learning the verse, then the chorus, then the Bridge other times it's the first 4 measures then the next 4 ect. Without a doubt I'm sure to put the phrases I've learned togather better after a few hours to days of mental practicing.
When I am learning a difficult number, I will practice it over and over with the instrument, then give it a break, and rest my brain, and fingers. For instance, the Tango I just learned, there was a difficult measure I could not play through smoothly. I gave it a rest for a day, but kept the song going through my head. When I played it yesterday, it was amazing how I nailed the part that gave me trouble.

[AlanN]

Alla time.

And I hum lines throughout the day. Like now, playing Thonatossa by Aubrey Haynie, sans mandolin. Aubrey's got nuthin on me.

[Robert Moreau]

Yep,

I find it relaxing and a great way to literally think things through before the next practice.

Rob

[stevenmando]

Been getting some lessons from a great teacher here in florida and i find myself going over the lessons in my head when im out and about . steven

[Skip Kelley]

Ditto! I do it all through the day. I am always playing something on the mandolin that I am currently working on or just listened to. I usually go to sleep playing something in my head as well. Alot of the time I move my right hand too.