Improvement By Thinking.

[MikeZito]

I recently learned a couple of simple new alternate ways to play things on the mandolin . . . and then spent a couple days doing some playing, but mostly thinking about how I can use those alternates to enhance my style.

That got me to wondering.

Since I am an ordinary working stiff with a brainless job, who can't practice 5, 6, 8 or 10 hours a day - I spend a good part of my day thinking about music and my playing style. Sometimes while in contemplation, I will get an idea of how to apply something I have learned, (or even some rogue idea that came to me out of the blue), and have been able to use those thoughts to make improvements to my playing.

Anyone else have the same type of experience?

[Jess L.]

... Anyone else have the same type of experience?

Yup. It's a useful learning technique, IMO.

[Drew Streip]

Absolutely. It's called visualization, and athletes, artists, public speakers, etc. have been doing it for years.

When I raced triathlons, I'd break down the entire race multiple times over the weeks leading up to the event. When your blood is pumping and your adrenaline is up and you're tired, hungry, hot and dehydrated, sometimes you forget how to do even the simplest tasks -- like tying your shoes, or remembering to drink water. And because it's not practical to go practice a 10-hour Ironman race multiple times a week, the only way to ingrain some of those fine details is by visualization. I never had an issue during a race -- but I would see competitors start running with their bike helmets still on, or spend 5 minutes fumbling with shoelaces, or miss a blatant directional sign, etc.

I also have a desk job, so a lot of my mental energy is spent relating the tunes in my head to their location on the fretboard. Then when I get home, I'm not writing the tune -- I'm already practicing it.

Heck, I even practice typing with my fingers just off the keyboard to help minimize excess fly-away when I play.

[farmerjones]

Unfortunately no. I have to be "plugged" into my instrument. Like the instrument tells me what to play. Worse than that, if I want to learn a new song, I have to overtly sing it out loud for it to imprint. I can't just think about the lyrics. But the sleeping thing works for me. If I'm working on a new technique, sleeping on it, is a sure-fire way for me to learn/imprint it.

[mtndan]

I recently learned a couple of simple new alternate ways to play things on the mandolin . . . and then spent a couple days doing some playing, but mostly thinking about how I can use those alternates to enhance my style.

That got me to wondering.

Since I am an ordinary working stiff with a brainless job, who can't practice 5, 6, 8 or 10 hours a day - I spend a good part of my day thinking about music and my playing style. Sometimes while in contemplation, I will get an idea of how to apply something I have learned, (or even some rogue idea that came to me out of the blue), and have been able to use those thoughts to make improvements to my playing.

Anyone else have the same type of experience?

Yes, and there is research to support it. I've been reading "The Practice of Practice" and there is a whole chapter devoted to it ("Going Mental").

See https://www.amazon.com/Practice-Boos.../dp/B00KVP372M

[mee]

Anyone else have the same type of experience?

Yeah I think about and even have dreams about it but when I finally get to pick up my mandolin, it is gone from my brain

[JeffD]

While all of the above seems correct and I agree, I can just see us saying: "I don't need to practice tonight, I spent all day thinking about it."

[Kris N]

Yep, definitely something I do. I've done it more with drumming than mandolin (only a few years in on mandolin) and I've been able to figure out drum patterns and parts by just thinking through them. Especially if I'm starting to get upset when I can't figure out a pattern by playing it, I'll take a few days away from my drum kit to process. I can usually come back and get it correct within a few minutes.

It's a tool everyone should try!

[JonZ]

It is called "The Think System," developed by Harold Hill.

[Pete Martin]

"What to play" is a mental skill, ""how to play" is physical. I believe the better one gets physically on an instrument, the more mental music becomes.

Deciding what YOU want to sound like is very important in the long run. Mental skill right there and worth the time investment.

[MikeZito]

. . . I can just see us saying: "I don't need to practice tonight, I spent all day thinking about it."

What is funny is that the more I think about playing during the day, the more inspired I am to actually sit down and play when I have the opportunity, because I want to find out if my thoughts were correct.

[Simon DS]

Thinking on the bus:
1/10’s a D, and there’s 4/7... and of course 3/0, and their 5’s are above ‘cause it’s a major note in the key of D- vous voulez prendre ma place? Non, de rien -the fourth’s up, and down 2 frets at 3/5... and it’s fourth, to it’s fourth makes that zig zag pattern to the nut... ok the major scale 1st finger FFcP pattern from 2/5 to 1/10 looks like that-oh, she’s really pretty- and the minor third double stops, up and down of the minor notes at 2/7 gives the G at 3/5 and 1/3, and 2/9, the F# has...
Ok I get off at this stop.
Yeh, I like my mandolin.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From MikeZito - " Anyone else have the same type of experience ? " . Many,many times Mike !. The only problem with me is,that unless i have a mandolin to hand,by the time i get to it,i've forgotten what i came up with. It's not as though it's all we have to think about all day - even in the most boring job. Likewise - when i've come up with the bare bones of an 'original' tune,when i try to improvise on it & develop it,i end up forgetting what i started with. Bela Fleck,mentions in the book ''Masters Of The 5-string Banjo'',that he recorded all his practice sessions in case he came up with something new - not a bad idea !!,
Ivan

[Frankdolin]

I play and practice in my head all the time, it's the best way I've found to keep my own thoughts from driving me crazy,er...

[MikeZito]

Bela Fleck,mentions in the book ''Masters Of The 5-string Banjo'',that he recorded all his practice sessions in case he came up with something new

Although I am not a big fan of my cellphone, (I have to carry one for my work) the one thing I am grateful for is the fact that it has a sound recorder on it - this way whenever I play something new or interesting, I just take out the phone and make a recording of it . . . it has saved me from my natural forgetfulness on MANY occasions!

[JonZ]

But, are you trying to memorize new stuff, which then becomes old, or trying to continually push yourself to become a new stuff generator?

[MikeZito]

But, are you trying to memorize new stuff, which then becomes old, or trying to continually push yourself to become a new stuff generator?

Interesting question:

For me the answer depends on the songs that I write. I estimate that maybe 20% of the stuff that I write is what I would call 'performable' songs - that is, something that I think would work well in a live setting . . . the other 80% works well in the studio, but for one reason or another, I don't do them at gigs. With that in mind, I try to memorize the 'performable' stuff, keep a rough recording of the 'studio' stuff until I am ready to record - and then (to paraphrase) 'push myself to generate more new stuff'.

[Homer Savard]

Yup. I’ve written songs in my head on the way to band practice.

[Bertram Henze]

Anyone else have the same type of experience?

Yes, every day.

...or even some rogue idea that came to me out of the blue

Ditto, and they nicely fall into the categories described below...

[Mark Wilson]

On long trips I will take a simple fiddle tune I know and play it in my head slowly - visualizing the fretboard while naming each note.

I don't know about improvement value but it was very hard to do the first time and easier now

[Jim1hays]

Mark, I believe this is part of learning to play by ear. I do the same thing. I listen to a song and visualize the notes on the fingerboard. Then when I get home, I apply it to the mandolin. I come up with some variances but my ears help me correct the bad notes. My wife says that is why I have such large ears.LOL..

[T.D.Nydn]

I play so much stuff in my head it's amazing that I'm sane....

[gspiess]

I learned about visualization many years ago when I was involved with competitive athletics. Often before a race go off to someplace quiet and mentally execute the strategy and prepare for different scenarios. That way surprises don't get in your head and you don't mentally shut down when something happens.

I use it now to learn chord shapes. I sense I'm a visual learner, so I make a mental picture of my fingers on the fretboard as an initial trigger for muscle memory. My hand then seems to get to that chord shape a little faster. I'm also experimenting with it for various scale runs, although that's proving more challenging.

[bratsche]

I've been practicing in my head for years. I wouldn't call it visualization, necessarily - or at least, not only that. I've always thought of myself as a visual learner, but for me, the "visual" part of my thought practice consists of mentally seeing the written notes in my mind just before I "play" them (not always, but particularly when trying to memorize music). My fingers already know where to find the notes without my watching - that part's more of a spatial, tactile thing for me. Actually, trying to look at my left hand, especially seeing the frets, gets in my way, regardless of whether mentally or physically. If I do that, I'm more inclined to play the wrong note by second-guessing its location. If I "see" anything about myself when I play mentally, it's the right hand I find I'm concentrating on.

bratsche

[bluesviolin]

do dreams count? many years ago I was trying to learn The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting by an open Fire) by ear for Christmas busking. it had some tricky parts that I couldn't figure out by ear so I had to buy the sheet music.

That night I dreamed that I was riding the melody on a silver ribbon of sound that undulated thru starry darkness.