Klarinet Archive - Posting 000772.txt from 2000/11

From: Knaphet@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Re: 'mucking about'
Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2000 12:18:48 -0500

A couple things that might interest you. Musicians use a completely
different part of the brain when playing "off the page" than when reading
music "from the page." I find that some students prefer one over the other
and I try to help them balance their practice toward doing some of both.

Also, when you read music, some people "concentrate" by looking at one or two
notes on the page and mentally try to exclude all peripheral vision in order
to try to focus on what note is to be played at any time. You may benefit
from practicing the following way:

Play in a room that is large or one with a mirror. Before you play, pick a
point in the scenery that it is a good distance away from you. If no window,
imagine that the room you are playing in has a few bugs crawling on the
walls. As you play, use your senses to monitor the space outside between you
and your chosen point, or the activity of the bugs on your walls. In other
words, avoid pinpointing your attention on the page, and include a larger
space in your thinking.

Sounds totally ridiculous, but many of my students have reported that playing
this way makes them feel under less pressure to get the notes correct, and
then the notes are more correct.

If that doesn't work, please write back...I probably have another thing or
two for you to try.

--Anthony Taylor

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