Music psychlogy

[pianisten1989]

If a major football team didn't have a psychologist, they probably wouldn't be a major team. And everytime a championship is comming up, and some spot-guy gets interviewed about how s/he prepare himself they always have some sort of mental thing.

Why isn't there anything like this in music? I think it's quite strange.. A football player, for example, doesn't have to be concentrated all the time during a game (and even if they lack focus as some point, it doesn't screw up everything they've done), but a musician can screw up quite easily, and quite major..ly?, if they loses focus.

All the "preparation" I've ever heard about from a teacher, or similar, is "Oh, well... If you practise a lot, and stay focused, you wont fail.. Oh, and as long as you do your best! "

Or is there any music psychology that I haven't heard of?

[m1469]

I am currently reading a book which my in-state teacher loaned me, although my "reading" it at the moment is deeply pondering the little bit that I've already read.  The book is called "Psychology for Musicians" with subtitle Understanding and Acquiring the Skills, by Andreas Lehmann, John Sloboda, and Robert Woody.  Oxford.

I have maybe bad habits of skipping to sections that interest me the most, and so I went straight to the section on musical roles and started reading about the performer.  Another perhaps bad habit of mine is in getting some sense of what I am reading and jumping into deciding that I know what the whole book basically says, what its main angle is, and how they go about achieving these things based solely on a small portion of what I've read.  I can't truly tell you exactly what is detailed in the book until I've truly read all of it, but so far what I've read has numbers of statistics based on different surveys that were conducted on various audiences and what those audiences noticed about performances and performers based on certain criteria.  

What I've gained so far is a much more definite sense that, basically, many things that an audience is cued from has less to do with --let's say-- a deep knowledge on the sound itself than I would think.  Now, that doesn't mean there aren't some very knowledgeable audience members, or that just because generally audiences seem to take their impressionistic cues from many other sources besides just the sound itself, that I think they are "stupid," I think it just has more or less confirmed for me that in many, many cases, people are cued into certain things.  I suppose this helps me focus a little better on the things that really matter to me.

Well, then of course I've got my own thoughts on things rolling around, too, but I plan to purchase my own copy of this book and as I read more, perhaps I'll come back and post more about what I've gained.

[iratior]

I think, to maintain a good psychological state, it helps to keep up a sense of humor, and to write one's own compositions, to be played in addition to all the other things in one's repertoire.   Sometimes, if a certain type of technique needs more practice, I take a popular song, and arrange it to have that type of technique.  For example, I took "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and arranged it in the style of Chopin's Etude Opus 10 No. 7.  Or "I Could Have Danced All Night" with scales a la the end of the Chopin Ballade in G-minor.  And I already mentioned the temptations posed by the second movement of the Pathetique.  You may not have read about it, but I can see from the count of topics people have visited that my comments are being scrutinized more than might be expected. 

[m1469]

(...) my comments are being scrutinized more than might be expected.

This might be true in general, sure, about one's playing, too.  I think that where I am 'at' with it, at least theoretically, is that not all scrutiny is truly worth paying attention to.  Everybody has a reason for judging.  For some people, to be capable of scrutinizing at all is an end in and of itself.  I think that for even yet some others, to be capable of scrutinizing is a certain layer and then there is something even deeper, too.  Some people know how to sense beyond the literal and even though the literal "should" be there, it's that deeper layer beyond the literal that they really want to experience.  If the literal is perfectly in place, the scrutinizers who scrutinize just for the sake of scrutinizing can walk away feeling like everything was there, while if that deeper layer is not, for other listeners something was still missing.

yadda yadda ... 

[pianisten1989]

I'm tired and have been traveling all day, so maybe I didn't get it right, but it sounds like you're saying "Well, the audience doesn't hear any better anyway.. so that helps me" and "I do other things, instead of just playing". And that's really not what I'm looking for, and, most of all, I don't know how that would help. I'm looking for something that would help me be on top on concerts, or other special occations...

[keyboardclass]

This guy's a music psychologist:

[m1469]

whooooppsiiiessss ... I'll come back if I have anything "intelligent" to say  .


*plays on-hold music*

[mussels_with_nutella]

Pianisten, In my opinion psicologists are not wizards. However, they may help you, but not as much as you would help yourself if you know how to do it. In fact, what they do is proposing you a rutine of mental exercises (at least it is what I have always heard) and you are the willing one who must follow them for a medium-large period.

Philosophy, on the other hand, it is a more powerful way to achieve the focus you need. The main difference between both fields is that philosophy is the basis and fundaments of all your actions, thinkings and even feelings. And it can also be the cause of your nerves, your focus, everything.

From my point of view, the first thing you must do is self-discover yourself, or whatever it is said (I am not native speaker ). I strongly recommend you to link your pianistic life with your main values, or maybe with your thinking fundaments, or both, like me hahaha

I do that kind of mental work at night when I am in my charming bed in the silence of night, so that I can achieve a me-myself thinking, and I do it very willing and faithful on what I am doing so that my subconscience would absorb what I psicologically dear be and, then, be it xD That's my little advice. I now it sounds strange and a kind of misticism, but if you think of it, our nerves, and focus, and everything has a basis. Finding that basis and changing it would erradicate the problem (However, I recommend you to "control" your focus and your nerves, not to delete them. That's bad!!!)

Finally, I'd like to show you one of its results: I began playing a piano concert in front of more than two hundred people and I failed dramatically a passages. So dramatically that I had to stop playing. Thanks to my disposition, I began the passage again as it hadn't ever happened and I finish reluctantly my piece everybody cried of emotion hahahahaha And that was because of that mental preparation. I didn't decide to start again the passage. I felt it, without thinking, and do it. That's what you need, pre-thinking, pre-playing, for a optimization of your concert playing

[pianisten1989]

Ofc they aren't wizards. But obviously they can help people to be at their best when they have to. Piano teachers aren't wizards either, but without them it would be very difficult to learn how to play the piano.

And the rst of it seems like some nice words, but I have no idea what you mean. "You need to discover youself" doesn't really mean anything to me.
I don't mean to be rude, I just want to know what you mean.

[mussels_with_nutella]

hahaha I am sure you didn't want to be rude. The other words is simply that a psicologist offers you one method or other depending on how you are. They need firstly to know you entirely, and it requires a lot of time, until they "can" offer you the right method. The thing is that they may make an error and the method wouldn't be efficient at all, although that is not so probable. However, there is only one person who can know you almost entirely, and that's you.

That's the reason of the second part of my comment: If you know you, the reasons why you do everything you do and the reasons why you feel what you feel, you'll be able to change your disposition and optimizate it for concerts, and change it depending on the situation. That's really useful for me.

[pianisten1989]

Ok, well.. A follow-up question!
How do you do it?

[mussels_with_nutella]

hahaha I wish you would consider at least a bit seriously what I am telling (I am not saying you are not doing so) because it really sounds weird, but psycollogy is that: weirdness, if the word exists.

When I am in a really calm place, where I can only hear what I am thinking, my problems and interests usually arise from my head and I begin thinking of them.

What me myself consciously do is tracing back the problems until I get the answer. For tracing back, I usually follow several methods. One is, known exactly what I want, compare the problem with it (in this case, nerves). Seeing the exact differences between what I desire and my problem makes me realize how to solve them

Another trick is thinking of the problem itself. If the problem is focus, I will focus in focus. After doing this a period of time (what you might need) when the problem arises, your long-time thinking of the problem will connect with it and, then, would be solve. For example, playing in a concert, when you miss the focus, immediately your mind arises your focus problem rethinking and applies it at the moment (survival instinct).

But my most useful trick, because its effect is really long-term, is building a chain of thinking, all around what I wish in my life, my sense of life. Linking everything to it rigthly, and rightness would be what makes your path easier, makes problems be solved faster, easier and gives you more points of view, more sight. That's my most useful trick. However, that's a longlife trick hahaha I am still young and I haven't developed too much, but it is consistent enough to bring me a lot of positive solving notions.

I wish you would at least try using this tricks, although they sound inefficient... of maybe born in a fantasy world  But that's not the case. I wouldn't be writing this just for fun. I hope it helps to your performing and even your life!