Building a Musical Image

[m1469]

What do you do in order to build a musical image for yourself?

Memorization, yes, practical theoretical/harmony comprehension, yes, quality physical motions, yes.  But there's something more which makes the music alive.  

Singing is a huge component for me in this.  Being able to sing every or very many parts of the music (from memory) while playing another part, even if it's not counterpoint.  Being able to hear everything in stereo and each of the individual parts but also how it all fits and functions together.

In the learning process, quicker decisions and more confidence enacting them, less time rehearsing it as merely a blob of sound (because you're scared of being wrong if you make an actual decision).  If you're scared of making an actual decision that's "wrong" and you're scared of rehearsing it the wrong way for some amount of time, remember it's actually still wrong to rehearse it without decisions and as only a blob of sound.  At least if you're making decisions but have to change, you're using that mental muscle and growing it when you make changes.

[j_menz]

What do you do in order to build a musical image for yourself?

I use Lego. 

Not being a singer, I doubt that singing along would be productive for me.  I tend to explore different options, basically play around within a piece until I start to sort out what is there. The music itself is my guide in this.

[scherzo123]

Good topic, m1469! Yeah, I sing in my mind while playing a piece. 

[ted]

What do you do in order to build a musical image for yourself?

Mostly to do with rhythm and phrasing for me I think. Oddly enough, this also applies to improvisation, where these things seem just about everything. Certain notes, phrases, and their haptic components in my mind, will be far more important to my overall musical image than others. So I usually think a lot about which ones these are, in the case of a piece, or what they are likely to be in the case of an improvisation.

[m1469]

Thanks for your thoughts, you guys.  I've been considering it a bit more, some a bit more formal considerations and some just in observation while I practice.

I use Lego.  

I actually found myself thinking about this and utilizing it a bit, recently.  There is really something to it for me, I guess, as I absolutely used to love building things when I was young.  I loved Blocks, Bristle Blocks, Legos, and Tinker Toys (but not my absolute favorites), but really loved Lincoln logs, and my all-time favorite were "Constructs" ... ah ... the fact that I very clearly remember building things, separating out all the parts into categories, getting an idea, then building it as practically and creatively as I could ... it somehow adds a nice kind of idea for me as it relates to music.