Improvement By Thinking.

[Bertram Henze]

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

You woke up in the wrong book. That's Star Rover by Jack London.

[Jess L.]

do dreams count? ...

When I was younger and much more active in music, I occasionally had dreams where I'd be writing down a tune. Usually it was a tune that I'd been trying to learn during waking hours but not making much progress with it. But in those dreams, writing the notes generally didn't seem particularly difficult (not easy, not automatic, but not difficult either). I was already writing and occasionally transcribing tunes in real life, so writing music in dreams wasn't all that remarkable in itself. But...

I got the idea to keep some blank staff paper and a pen by the bed, to see if I could actually write down some of the dream music if I happened to wake up in time, before I forgot what the notes were.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, given how the subconscious mind seems to 'know' a lot more stuff than the conscious mind is aware of, often those notes actually worked when played on a real instrument.

I figure part of it was just stuff I knew all along but it wasn't getting through somehow, and part of it might be just the subconscious mind sorting through its problems during sleep and arriving at answers/solutions that it was too busy/distracted to figure out during awake hours.

Then there's the other type of music dream, where (a) you're listening to or playing some sort of wonderful beautiful ethereal music, but then you wake up and can't remember the tune or even what the style/genre and instrumentation was, or (b) trying to write the notes but the pen keeps running out of ink, or the paper keeps shrinking so the notes don't fit (hate when that happens lol), or other technical difficulties impeding progress. I presume those latter types of dreams are more symbolic of other general-purpose issues going on in one's life, unrelated to music/tunes.

[David L]

Many years ago, my friend Bill woke from a dream with a tune in his head. He rushed to the piano and captured it. It is a beautiful tune called "Sleepwaltzing".

[Jess L.]

Many years ago, my friend Bill woke from a dream with a tune in his head. He rushed to the piano and captured it. It is a beautiful tune called "Sleepwaltzing".

Cool!

[bratsche]

With the exception of the time I dreamed of, and subsequently excitedly wrote down, some music which (to my chagrin) had been composed more than 100 years prior, that vast majority of my dreams related to music have been only tangentially so, such as finding myself navigating some really bizarre geographical environments in order to play a gig, or racing through an unpredictable obstacle course of odd transportation modes while trying to arrive on time at a gig, which I somehow never actually arrive at in the dream before waking.

I'd love to dream of actually playing music, though. Somehow, that part manages to elude me.

bratsche

[Bertram Henze]

When I dream of music, I usually find myself on stage in front of a lot of people, with a band I don't know the repertoire of and with a selection of acoustic instruments to choose from, none of which has the right number of strings, let alone the right tuning.

But here's a story about a more productive sleep, told by Tony McManus:

[bluesviolin]

how 'bout 'Flying in a Blue Dream' in C Lydian (Gmaj scale) ...one of my favs. Gmaj is easy, right? play along! and for any who may not know, emphasize the F# & B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDfy67my2So

[Bob Buckingham]

Thinking, a rare but productive activity for those who do it.

[MikeZito]

Maybe this has happened to some of you too?

In my dreams I am coming up with a song idea - lyrics, melody, etc.; and in the dream I say to myself; 'Wow, this is a really good song, I will have to remember it when I wake up' . . . and then, of course, I wake up and the song is gone . . . .

[Mando Mort]

I definitely do this. Because I can't remember things very long, I write things down so I can remember what I want to try once I am able to get my instrument in my hands. I use a blank tab book for writing down musical ideas and a notebook for writing down lyrical ideas.

[JonZ]

One thing I have noticed is that when my practice with the instrument is goal-oriented, rather than just cranking out repetitions, I find myself thinking more about what I have been practicing. By thinking while I practice, I am programming my brain to think about practicing.

[des]

Maybe this has happened to some of you too?

In my dreams I am coming up with a song idea - lyrics, melody, etc.; and in the dream I say to myself; 'Wow, this is a really good song, I will have to remember it when I wake up' . . . and then, of course, I wake up and the song is gone . . . .

Paul McCartney woke up one morning with the tune of "Yesterday" in his head and subsequently went around London trying it out on his friends - he wanted to check whether he had originated it. Interestingly the song has a seven bar structure - although it's frequently played as eight. It's also interesting in that it uses the classical melodic minor scale much discussed in another thread.

[Mando Mort]

Keith Richards woke up in the middle of the night to record the riff to "Satisfaction", went back to sleep and woke up the next day not remembering it until he listened to the tape machine he kept next to the bed.

[Nevin]

Yes thinking about music is part of the process. Another way I get to squeeze some extra music time is that I have an ear training app on my phone and do ear training during my commute. I commute by train.

[farmerjones]

A new neurological paradigm is that dreams are simply a by-product of the reparation process done during sleep. Imagine a light bulb producing heat as a byproduct of producing light.

Another study monitored mice brains as they learned a maze. Then monitored their brains during sleep after learning. Awake the signals were analogous of "left, left, right, left, right, right, etc." Asleep the signals were analogous of "left, left, right, left, right, right, etc." But 20 times faster in a repeated cycle. Most of us know the benefits of sleep as a part of learning, but this puts it in a new light.

BTW here's my Sourse.

[fatt-dad]

sometimes people irritate me. I think of some pithy rejoinder. Later in the day, I my mind may think of something pithier.

How else do we develop our pith?

f-d

[bluesviolin]

Keith Richards woke up in the middle of the night to record the riff to "Satisfaction", went back to sleep and woke up the next day not remembering it until he listened to the tape machine he kept next to the bed.

I wonder if Richards dreamed it with a Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Tone for that riff. I had one of those. two settings: fuzz and more fuzz. I used the 'more fuzz' setting for Satisfaction in my teenage band.

[MikeZito]

Keith Richards woke up in the middle of the night to record the riff to "Satisfaction", went back to sleep and woke up the next day not remembering it until he listened to the tape machine he kept next to the bed.

If I remember the story correctly - he woke up in the middle of the night, recorded the lick to 'Satisfaction' and then immediately fell back asleep - without turning off the tape recorder. In the morning he went back and listened to the tape - he heard 10 seconds of music, and then the rest of the tape was of him snoring.

[Frankdolin]

How did we get from thinking to dreaming? Hardly the same. One is hopefully real, the other is not.

[Mobike]

I absolutely rehearse physical things in my mind.

Something I've recently learned to include in those mental rehearsals is feeling; physical feeling not the emotional kind. I fret the strings harder than I need to so when I "feel" myself doing that during mental play, I ease up.

I picked up the feeling concept, as well as some other insights, from the book "With Winning in Mind". Easy, inexpensive book available on Amazon. The author is a world class (Olympic gold) shooter.

[Bertram Henze]

How did we get from thinking to dreaming? Hardly the same. One is hopefully real, the other is not.

Reality is not outlined as sharp as many believe.

A while ago, I dreamt I was doing some garden work and a friend asked me had I taken care of doing it a tax-deductable way? I was puzzled in my dream, but upon waking up I suddenly remembered that I forgot to do my taxes (just in time). Therefore, never underestimate the reality of a dream.

[Jess L.]

Reality is not outlined as sharp as many believe.

A while ago, I dreamt I was doing some garden work and a friend asked me had I taken care of doing it a tax-deductable way? I was puzzled in my dream, but upon waking up I suddenly remembered that I forgot to do my taxes (just in time). Therefore, never underestimate the reality of a dream.

Well said.

[Explorer]

How did we get from thinking to dreaming? Hardly the same. One is hopefully real, the other is not.

Reality is not outlined as sharp as many believe.

A while ago, I dreamt I was doing some garden work and a friend asked me had I taken care of doing it a tax-deductable way? I was puzzled in my dream, but upon waking up I suddenly remembered that I forgot to do my taxes (just in time). Therefore, never underestimate the reality of a dream.

As dreams come from the brain correlating and consolidating the memories of the day into permanent memory, it's no surprise they can occasionally have useful relevance.

However, dreams are not reliable, in that they cannot be scheduled consciously to yield something useful.

In contrast, visualization, the topic actually being discussed, is a conscious and willful activity. It can be initiated when desired, and therefore can be incorporated into one's regimen.

Any claims that the occasional relevance shown by dreams to waking reality, balanced by how often they don't, therefore show that reality itself is fuzzy are appealing, but lacking evidence.

[David L]

sometimes people irritate me. I think of some pithy rejoinder. Later in the day, I my mind may think of something pithier.

How else do we develop our pith?

f-d

Well, some people are born with perfect pith.

[Bertram Henze]

However, dreams are not reliable, in that they cannot be scheduled consciously to yield something useful.

I would not call conscious thinking reliable either. Focusing on one thing can block out everything else, thereby missing out on information and aspects potentially useful for the task at hand.

In contrast, visualization, the topic actually being discussed, is a conscious and willful activity. It can be initiated when desired, and therefore can be incorporated into one's regimen.

Yes and no. It's great for, say, counting backwards in Greek, but fails pathetically at the simple exercise of not thinking of a blue elephant for an hour.

The reality we perceive is always incomplete, and we need to use all the information we can get. Can't afford to dismiss part of it.