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Newent Orchestral
Society Bill's Musical Notes, March, 2009 How To Practise "Late learners" of a musical instrument have a significant advantage over most younger students as they are always motivated - and actually enjoy practising the dreaded but vital scales. Adults learn more slowly but, through the advantage of experience, are also more aware of the ups and downs of taking a long, rewarding, musical journey. Here are some thoughts about that journey. Body posture while practising is important. I was particularly interested to read recently how audiences are hyper-sensitive to the body language of musicians, if unconsciously so, the listening brain using this visual information during a live performance to help interpret the meaning and effect that the music is trying to communicate. Watch a pro. musician and the body tends to be loose and expressive. The learner will be fixed, rigid and highly intent on concentration. Body posture and flexing body movements that link music score to instrument to the outside world are a vital part of the process of expression. At an extreme, for example, think of a wind instrument player slouched over their instrument, staring fixedly at the music. Compare this in your mind's eye with the same player, now with upright body making gentle, flowing movements - the difference is clear. And it is a practical one, too. Wind players blow into the instrument from low down in the body, not the upper lung, otherwise breath control is hardly possible. The mechanics of posture affect the outcome big time. Another consideration is the tempo at which music is played while practising. It should usually be slow and deliberately careful, increasing the tempo as confidence and ability to play a piece are achieved. It's no good practising playing at the right tempo but incorrectly. This is even damaging to progress, as much of the process of learning is to do with programming the brain by repetition, "putting in the hours". Incidentally, the magic figure of 10,000 hours practice is oft quoted as the minimum to achieve skilful musicianship. Imagine the negative effect of practising incorrectly for long hours. The goal just gets further and further away. There is a psychology called "Neuro Linguistic Programming" (NLP) and one of its ideas is that in order to become what you want to become, find a model and then copy it in as much detail as possible. So, if you want to become a great musician, choose a model and copy them. Put yourself in their shoes, imagine what they look like when playing and copy the body posture and movements. Pianist, Glen Gould might be a bad example of this, crouching low beneath the keyboard and shooting up in the air at the expressive loud bits. But you get the drift. So, it's not just children who need to be told to sit up straight; adults, too. You can do too much practice. The brain needs time to assimilate information that has been repetitively instilled into it. You may find that leaving your instrument alone for a while and then going back to it has the apparently remarkable effect that you've improved in the interim. Adults assimilate much slower than children, however, to counter this, adults have motivation and a clear idea of what they want to achieve. They know that the journey is even more rewarding than any distant goal, 10,000 hours practice away. Don't be put off learning an instrument just because of your age; that's not a good reason. And good luck!
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Bill Anderton, March, 2009