Muscular memory, technique and Paganini

[m_dronti]

Here's an story about Paganini that has helped in my practice:

After a concert in a smaller town, Paganini rented a room where he would practice for the evening. A farmer thought that he would expose the mystery behind Paganinis great technique, so he rented a room next to Paganini, in order to hear how he practiced. To his big surprise, there was not a single sound from the violin the entire evening, even though he knew Paganini was there. When confronted with the fact that Paganini was silent the entire evening, Paganini simply stated that he didn't practice with his fingers, but with his mind. He went through the pieces over and over again in his mind, and thus improved his technique.


Now, I've tried this, and it really works. As we all know, the muscles have a memory, which far exceeds our conscious control. For example, at age 18 I quit playing the piano for five years, and then took it up again recently. To my astonishment, my muscular memory remembered the different fingering for the pieces (which I myself had forgotten), and if I tried to re-study some pieces with new fingering, my muscles would still try to play it in the old way.

So, in order to memorize a piece, or improve its execution, I usually try to go through it in my mind several times. On the bus or in the subway, or if I'm waiting for a friend to show up, I play the piece in my head, imagining the different muscular movements, seeing my hands play etc. It's important not only to play the auditative side in the head, but actually try to "feel" the muscular movements.

This greatly helps the fingers to remember how to move, avoid mistakes and foremost: to memorize a piece. If you're trying to memorize a piece of music, take the notes, go to a café and just sit there and read the notes while your imagening the muscular movements at the same time.

It sounds strange for some perhaps, but it really helps!

[faulty_damper]

I'm not convinced that there is such a thing as "muscular memory".  It's all in your head.  Cut off your arms and see if you can still play it.  You can still play it!  If you attached electrodes to your arm, the stubby part of what's left, your brain will still be sending signals to it the same way when you had that arm.

The story about Paganini is also called "mental practice".

[clarinetwife]

Yikes, faulty_damper, what an experiment that would be!  I actually see mental practice and muscle memory as different phenomena.  To me, muscle memory is where movements, fingerings, etc, are "remembered" and recalled through motion, not recalled verbally or in some other form.  This is how we remember physical aspects of repertoire we have played in the past and can pick them up later.  The goal of mental rehearsal might be to improve flow, continuity, transitions, etc., although you certainly can practice specific motions and techniques mentally as well.  Mental rehearsal to me also has an aural aspect--I hear things in my head, perhaps in a purer form that I can when I am also trying to realize them physically.  Interesting topic!