big Concentration problem

[piani0player]

hi everyone
    when im practicing the piano my mind often wanders ,so it makes me impossible to concentrate for even just a few minutes.do you know any good ways to practice that can help you fully  concentrate  when practicing?

thank you

[dj]

play music u like.....also have a variety of stuff 2 work on so that if u get bored with one thing, u can move on 2 the next.....tell your teacher about your problem and c what he says.

[beethoven2]

i have that same problem every now and then.
it happened today in a recital today. I started "daydreaming" and then i completely forgot where i was.  this happens real rarely to me though.
the way i stop it is to keep the music going in my head.

~Christian

[atticus]

Hi,

Do you practice and play from memory?  Working without the music forces you to concentrate more...

atticus

[janka]

Hi,I have the same problem as you.My name is Jana and I am from Slovakia.I have the big problem with concetration.Can you help me?What should I do?


                                             Thanks for the answer.

[mike_lang]

In order to concentrate, it helps me to play pieces very slowly, from memory.  Under this condition, the muscle memory cannot assist, and so the mind is fully engaged.

Besides that, let your mind wander within the bounds of the music.  Let it wander from phrasing to articulation to dynamics to harmonic structure to line, etc.  This is a good starting point, because though your mind is wandering, it at least does not detract from the music.  As you get better at concentrating, it may also help to follow a certain line (preferably the one you wish to voice) through the piece, like a thread through fabric.  I remember my teacher at IU having a girl in master class follow in her mind the soprano line of a Bach fugue from start to finish, and it helped her concentration, and consequently, the direction of the polyphony, greatly.

Hope this all helps you.

[preludium]

When playing wind instruments one uses the interruptions for breathing to refresh the level of concentration. You are actually forced to subdivide each piece in chunks that can be handled without getting blue in the face. So you have the chance to give yourself a kick every few seconds. This might help for playing the piano as well, of course not by watching your breathing, but by setting targets every few bars in accordance with the musical lines.

A few years ago I read about a psychological experiment that was set up to test levels of concentration of different people. I can't find the article anymore, but it was in German anyway. Those people that participated were asked to put on a device which displayed different images to each eye at the same time. If I remember this story correctly it was said in the beginning that the brain keeps switching between the images, so that you perceive only one of the them but it changes every few seconds. Now, the persons were given the instruction to concentrate on only one of the pictures for as long as possible, preventing the brain from switching to the other. It turned out that nobody could do this for longer than one or two minutes. Then they made the same experiment with buddhist monks that were used to daily meditation for decades. The result: they could keep one image focused for up to 20 minutes.

So if you're receptive to that idea, practice in meditation would be an option as a long term project. You can surely improve by reading books of authors that are known for their complex style, like Marcel Proust. On the other hand you should obviously avoid everything that induces a lack of concentration, like "music" videos, advertising spots, particular kinds of computer games etc.

HTH

[a1]

  play the  music you like only................

[archneko]

strange, I find the distraction helpful...... It helps me play without stressing myself out in a way, I guess pride has to do with it........