The Zone

[authentic]

So, I was practicing Chopin Op 10.12 left hand yesterday and ended up in 'The Zone'.
In the middle of a certain section of the first page my hand seemed to go on autopilot.
I was not making any mistakes, I was playing perfectly but I felt like a spectator to what my left hand was doing.
Eventually, I panicked and provoked a mistake to 'snap out of it'.

Yeah, it's silly to want to come out but it was almost scary.
It's not like I gradually started playing better due to the practice I was doing; that was happening too.
But the onset of this sensation was sudden; I did not feel in conscious control of my playing anymore even though I was doing all the right things.
I guess the deliberate mistake was to test whether I could still intervene, so to speak.

It has happened to me before and *always* catches me off  guard.
I need to figure out how to 'go with the flow' rather than panick at the sudden change in viewpoint.
Any similar opinions/experiences here?

[csharp_minor]

 
Hi

I think I have experienced something similar a couple of times myself when playing through a piece, I believe the correct word for this might be ‘flow’. It seems to happen if I am playing a piece I find enjoyable. I seem to zone out and become lost in the music, and play it right without making mistakes; I think this happens because I’m not worrying about playing it correctly at all or about if anyone can hear me or see me. Then if you break this feeling of concentrated detachment you begin to make mistakes. I finding piano playing is quite a mental struggle ( as well as technical ) that is very similar to learning mediation and martial arts.

I'm wondering though do you ever feel so into a piece of music because it is so enjoyable for you that you have to break the concentration because the emotional feeling it gives you. I sometimes find a piece so enjoyable to play and hear it distracts me and I make I mistake because of its beauty .

[Bob]

There's flow, being in the zone, concentrating.  But there's also playing automatically.  I would be concerned about playing automatically and not being in control.  Not that you're always in control of everything, or that it's easy to just regain control.  But if you're playing automatically and something happens, maybe you're startled or you hands forget the next part, then you're stuck.  In that case, I would lean toward slower playing, finding some memory spots just in case you need to restart or have something to focus on, and getting your mind back into the piece (very slow playing, analyzing it again).  That way it's less automatic and more controlled. 

Sounds like practicing paying off though.  Congrats.

I remember thinking once while something like that happened, "Hey!  I've got the best seat for this performance!" 

[authentic]

There's flow, being in the zone, concentrating.  But there's also playing automatically.  I would be concerned about playing automatically and not being in control.  Not that you're always in control of everything, or that it's easy to just regain control.  But if you're playing automatically and something happens, maybe you're startled or you hands forget the next part, then you're stuck.  In that case, I would lean toward slower playing, finding some memory spots just in case you need to restart or have something to focus on, and getting your mind back into the piece (very slow playing, analyzing it again).  That way it's less automatic and more controlled.

It's funny though, I knew where I was in the piece, I wasn't unsteady or shaky.
It was as if, for those brief seconds, playing the piano was like walking:
you know where you want to go and can opt to go anywhere you want but don't give a moment's thought to the fact that your feet must move a certain way to avoid falling.
It has happened before, but that sudden change in my relationship to the keyboard and the piece startled me (as it always does)!

I would be nice if we could all bottle that sensation and unleash it at will.
Maybe this is the state that some of the masters attain.

I remember thinking once while something like that happened, "Hey!  I've got the best seat for this performance!" 

Yeah...lol
It's freaky.
I haven't recaptured it since the last time but I'll be on the lookout.

[authentic]

I finding piano playing is quite a mental struggle ( as well as technical ) that is very similar to learning mediation and martial arts.

I agree, and it's the part we are probably most likely to forget about.

I'm wondering though do you ever feel so into a piece of music because it is so enjoyable for you that you have to break the concentration because the emotional feeling it gives you. I sometimes find a piece so enjoyable to play and hear it distracts me and I make I mistake because of its beauty .

I can't remember that happening to me, but I have liked passages so much that I play them over and over and delay learning the rest of the music!