Playing asleep, or under hipnosis

[ahmedito]

Has anyone heard of this? Can people play asleep or under hipnosis? Can this be a potential way to better your playing?

I used to have a sleepwalking problem some years ago, and I tended to go and sit in front of the piano, and rest my head on the keys, then the crash would wake me and the whole house up... imagine if instead of doing this I started playing while asleep? freaky, no?

[thalbergmad]

When I play, the audience is asleep, not me.

[leahcim]

When I play, the audience is asleep, not me.

Yeah, that's why I'm learning Brahm's lullaby

[Bob]

I've zoned out while practicing.  My mind just slipped away.

I also think you are hypnotising yourself in a way when you concentrate to practice.

I wonder if we aren't "asleep" in some way a lot of the time.  If you focus your attention in one area, another area sits unused "asleep."     Or if you concentrate long enough and often enough, that you can set yourself into a "trance" working state.

[danyal]

I think it would be truly interesting to be hypnotised, and then video myself playing. Just to see what I'm capable of without mental distractions. Because I think that's what holds us back most, is the mental barriers... we dont quite believe exactly how much we can achieve...? I dunno, correct me if I'm wrong. I'm kinda just slightly touching on what could be a huge topic of discussion...

As far as I know, Rachmaninoff composed his 2nd piano concerto under hypnosis

[ahmedito]

Thats not entirely accurate. He composed it after several session with a therapist who used hypnosis as part of his treatment method.

[nusa]

When I play, the audience is asleep, not me.

your funny

[demented cow]

I read an interview with Rosalyn Tureck (in a book called 'Great pianists speak for themselves') where she says that she was thinking about how to play Bach and then she fell unconscious. She then woke up believing that she had had what to her appeared to be a substantial revelation on the subject. She described her falling unconscious totally nonchalantly, as if it were something all of us do when thinking hard about something. (Like somebody saying they met the resurrected Beethoven on the way to the busstop and not elaborating on it.) My question: does anybody know more about her blackout incident? I couldn't find anything on the net.

Playing while unconscious is possible. A person I once knew who would not lie about such things told me he was playing a recital when he blacked out for about two minutes. He was told afterwards that he played the piece correctly during that time.
I also recall reading stuff about Liszt falling into trances at some of his gigs, but I don't know if he continued playing.
Similar things are known from sport. In the game cricket there have been cases where people playing in excessively hot and humid weather have been semi-conscious but have performed well. (One was an Australian batsman called Dean Jones who scored 210 in India. If you know anything about cricket, you know that involves several hours of running.)

[gorbee natcase]

I sometimes dream practice where I go to bed and play the piano in my mind but it is not something I can controll it just occasionaly happens although I can see the benefits of being able to harness this as another practice technique. (I wonder