On the topic of concentration

[rockingthebach]

I have recently begun to realize how much my mind wanders when I am playing, which is bad enough when practicing in general, but really ridiculous when recording or performing.
( With a quality digital piano, suddenly all of us can record any time we want.
So when I say I have been recording, it's not a humble brag, that is what I am talking about).
Just this morning, I was recording the Allemanda from BWV 830 by Bach, and out of nowhere, I hit a wrong note, even though I know this piece quite well.
Upon reflection, I realized I missed the note because I was actually thinking of a funny joke Stephen Colbert made last night.
And while I don't want to use the fact that I have ADHD as an excuse, it definitely factors into the reality that I possess a mind that jumps around and tries to constantly double and triple task, even at the calmest or most focused times.
How do people actually concentrate or focus while playing? Is there a trick to it? I find that I immediately get flustered once I make an error, and instead of concentrating more or return to "the zone", I get flustered, and then I end up recording 30 different versions of the piece, none of which are satisfactory, plus I end up frustrated and ready to punch a hole in the wall.
Can I apply general mindfulness techniques to playing the piano? It never struck me to fuse Buddhist principles with playing Bach, but remembering to breath, and just relaxing while being right there in the moment seems to help.
Is concentration a casual choice we can turn on and off,  or do we just have to learn it consciously? How? I guess the easy answer is we concentrate by  concentrating, but that is like screaming SWIM!!! at someone who is drowning.
Any advice, criticism, sarcastic quipperies?  I will take any input that might be helpful.
Thanks and have a good weekend, everybody.

[lelle]

How do people actually concentrate or focus while playing? Is there a trick to it? I find that I immediately get flustered once I make an error, and instead of concentrating more or return to "the zone", I get flustered, and then I end up recording 30 different versions of the piece, none of which are satisfactory, plus I end up frustrated and ready to punch a hole in the wall.

One thing to consider is that a struggle with focus can be a way to cope with anxiety about the task at hand. If your mistakes makes you flustered and angry, there is probably a degree of self critiscism present and ready to pounce at any time. Failure triggers feeling of self critiscism and low self worth and therefore you have to succeed, but having this pressure makes you anxious and you need a way to cope with that. Like why would you wanna focus on something if every failure means that you get angry and, possibly, beat yourself up over it? So the lack of focus can sort of be an avoidance tactic. "Yeah I made a mistake but it's because I didn't focus anyway" if that makes sense. Yet the lack of focus it reinforces the negative spiral.

I might be barking up the wrong tree here but it's worth investigating how losing focus and getting angry and flustered if you make a mistake may or may not have a causal link. Why do I suggest this? Because it's been true in my case.

Can I apply general mindfulness techniques to playing the piano? It never struck me to fuse Buddhist principles with playing Bach, but remembering to breath, and just relaxing while being right there in the moment seems to help.

Yes definitely. Calm, open breathing helps with everything when you play, from focus to physical ease, in my experience.

Is concentration a casual choice we can turn on and off,  or do we just have to learn it consciously? How? I guess the easy answer is we concentrate by  concentrating, but that is like screaming SWIM!!! at someone who is drowning.

I think you can practice it for sure. It's part habit, part skill, part whatever physical makeup our own tool (i e our body) has. My rudimentary understanding of ADHD is that the brain struggles with executive functioning - the brain deciding to do something and then following through - in a way neurotypical people just don't. So your impulses are more in the driver's seat than you are and it's way harder to control if you have ADHD, meaning it's just harder to just decide to focus on something and then doing it, whereas you can hyperfocus on something for hours as long as your impulses deems it desirable to focus on. I have some ADHD tendencies and actually did an assessment to see if I had it and would be qualified for medication or other assistance, but I did not fulfil enough criteria. Lots of people with ADHD see improvement with this sort of stuff with the appropriate help so maybe you should investigate what advice and help is available for concentrating with ADHD?

[rockingthebach]

Thanks very much for your considerate response. Talking to a doctor about ADHD and concentrating academically or musically without medication is a really good suggestion.
And after pondering the issue, I am realizing mindfulness isn't something you do to impress your friends or to help shift gears before bedtime ( although it's useful in both those scenarios) ; i think mindfulness is definitely applicable to almost any endeavor we undertake.
And, to be perfectly honest, I failed to mention that I am on a deadline to get some pieces recorded before an end of month deadline; and better time management has always been something I need to take more seriously.
Have a great weekend.

[lostinidlewonder]

Listen to yourself, listen to the sound you create. Create a strong visualised story that follows the music.

[rockingthebach]

"...and this is the beauty and strength of the Buddhist teachings; realizing that whatever occurs, frustrating or joyful, does not have to be considered an obstacle, interruption or a place to break from our focus; everything that happens to us is another chance to wake up, to become more present in the moment we are in"...
-pema chodron

[lostinidlewonder]

Right! Focus isn't something you force, it is something you return to by connecting with what's happening now, whether it's sound or sensation. We can use the extra energy of our thoughts to meditate upon, letting it to become a reflection of our inner world and a doorway to deeper presence when creating music.

[dizzyfingers]

I have observed my mind wandering too .. it happens in certain situations ..
a) an easy piece, or a piece that I know very well and am playing for the 99th time ..
b) I'm already a bit mentally/emotionally disturbed before sitting down to practice

In the first case, it's a matter of deciding to play it differently (tempo, articulation) or stop playing it and move on to something else
In the second case, it's a matter of sitting down and meditating/introspecting a bit - clearly there is an issue that needs my attention

Can't say there are many external distractions when I practice.  Of course, it's a good idea to put your phone on airplane mode, preferably in another room.  Hopefully, you've figured that one out!

[jonslaughter]

I have recently begun to realize how much my mind wanders when I am playing, which is bad enough when practicing in general, but really ridiculous when recording or performing.
( With a quality digital piano, suddenly all of us can record any time we want.
So when I say I have been recording, it's not a humble brag, that is what I am talking about).
Just this morning, I was recording the Allemanda from BWV 830 by Bach, and out of nowhere, I hit a wrong note, even though I know this piece quite well.
Upon reflection, I realized I missed the note because I was actually thinking of a funny joke Stephen Colbert made last night.
And while I don't want to use the fact that I have ADHD as an excuse, it definitely factors into the reality that I possess a mind that jumps around and tries to constantly double and triple task, even at the calmest or most focused times.
How do people actually concentrate or focus while playing? Is there a trick to it? I find that I immediately get flustered once I make an error, and instead of concentrating more or return to "the zone", I get flustered, and then I end up recording 30 different versions of the piece, none of which are satisfactory, plus I end up frustrated and ready to punch a hole in the wall.
Can I apply general mindfulness techniques to playing the piano? It never struck me to fuse Buddhist principles with playing Bach, but remembering to breath, and just relaxing while being right there in the moment seems to help.
Is concentration a casual choice we can turn on and off,  or do we just have to learn it consciously? How? I guess the easy answer is we concentrate by  concentrating, but that is like screaming SWIM!!! at someone who is drowning.
Any advice, criticism, sarcastic quipperies?  I will take any input that might be helpful.
Thanks and have a good weekend, everybody.

I've went through phases where my  mind has been extremely chaotic and other times where it's been nearly perfectly in sync.

1. Make sure you are healthy. If you are having any health issues it can cause mental problems. These can be vitamin deficiencies, infections, not getting enough sun(not the same as Vit D), things you eat, etc. Learn some things about medicine and you will be better adept at diagnosing these things. Make a log of when you feel better vs when you don't and try to pay attention to things that seem to work vs things that won't. At first you won't see patterns but just like playing the piano, with time you will see them.

2. As far as errors are concerned, they used to throw me off big time where would completely stop and start over. Learning to improvise, learning the piece inside and out, learning to improvise on the piece, etc. This teaches you how to navigate mistakes. The reason the mistake cause a problem is because, generally, you are going by a combination of muscle memory and aural memory that is in a feedback loop and you have trained yourself in such a way that an error derail this loop. When you learn to improvise you have the ability to continue making music where it sounds completely natural and stylistic. You can then get back on track. While you might not score points for accuracy you score points for staying musical. What this ultimately does, though, is take off the stress of making mistakes because you know how to deal with them when they do happen.

If it is a Buddhist thing then the idea is simply to accept errors. It is the not accepting the error that makes the error. A wrong note is meaningless in the grand scheme. Only people who think everything is a competition try to use such things to degrade their opponents(and that becomes a social thing over time that effects most everyone).

3. You are never going to be operating at the same level of concentration at all times. A lot of it has to do with the context. If all you do is lock yourself in your room, somehow stay healthy and sane, and play piano you likely will not have issues. As you mentioned, you thought of something having nothing to do with music and it screwed you up. Your brain can only do so much. You have to decide how much of a piano player you want to be. I can tell you that the best piano players in the world are not watching Colbert or any other "moronic" talking head. All they to is introduce noise into ones mind. Not just true of piano playing but math, science, etc. The best of the best are those that live the life(another Buddhist idea).

So you have to ask yourself what do you want out of piano. Are you ok with making mistakes and to what degree? If you are not then you have to cut out the noise and focus more on piano. It's not complicated. Again, if you go look at the best players, it is not as if they practice 1 hour once a month. They practice 5-12 hours a day for years on end. It is their job(and their livelihood).

4. Ultimately you are unique so your issues are your issues. Why there are definitely overlap between all humans(we are 99% the same in terms of biology but maybe 1% the same in terms of experience if that since every experience is very different even if they seem the same). So you should attempt to diagnose yourself and see what seems to be the things that cause you problems.

For example, for me, it is stress(which is the same for most humans but stress is a general diagnosis). If I watch the "morons" on YT telling me about the world then those thoughts fill my head and will pop up when I play causing issues. Sometimes I can deal with it but other times I can. I know that if I want to play better I play more. It's really that simple. The "practice makes perfect" is not a blurb but a universal truth. All you have in your control is how much/how bad you want it and the more you decide that the easier things become because it's learning to align your desires with your behaviors/actions/reality. You can change both and the more they fit each other the easier life generally is. Generally the issue is that our desires cannot be  aligned with our behaviors like we want and that causes problems. Sometimes we are ignorant of it(like watching too much TV or playing video games not realizing we could be doing something more productive that has more meaning in our lives(like playing piano)) while other times we feel like the external world is preventing us from achieving our goals and this makes us frustrated. Sometimes one has to compromise and in that process one finds new ways around these "walls".

[rockingthebach]

Not sure if your name is Jon's Laughter or Jon Slaughter, but there I go already, distracting myself in the first sentence I write. ( anyhow, either name would be suitable, i think, not that i actually know you).

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my rambling missive.
 
I really liked your statement that we all need to examine why our wants and desires do not match up with our realities.

I went through several extremely stressful and traumatic years awhile
back, and started to see a really kind but very honest and upfront Buddhist therapist ( who I still see; talk therapy is a great idea, for anybody who might be wondering)...
Just the other day I said to my therapist "remember when i first walked into your office and laughed at you when you suggest CBT and mindfulness work?"

...like I was too cool or fresh to train in mindfulness.

yikes indeed.

Six years later and I am still learning how 'returning to the breath' and being mindful applies to every aspect of my life.It's so simple and yet so difficult to maintain and improve our self awareness.

Like Gertrude Stein said THERE IS NO THERE THERE; there is no part of us that isn't already HERE and NOW. We fragment our own lives because we think that we can trick others and ourselves into avoiding the hard work of becoming...well,  more ourselves. It's exhausting avoiding, denying and distracting ourselves, to be honest. And it can be quite enjoyable and entertaining...until it isn't anymore.
 
Or as Rinzai used to say; there is no such thing as a moment of enlightenment; just the renewed realization that we have always been and always are enlightened.

Anyhow, now I have veered off into therapy talk with an almost evangelical zeal.

For that I apologize, but for me it's still quite exciting to bring these 'abstract' or 'obscure' mindfulness practices into my daily existence.

Anyhow -and this also relates back to something you said- I finally cancelled my cable a few weeks ago.

Furthermore, and I hate to admit it;  I went through some serious television withdrawal last week. I am still twitching and jonesing a bit this week.
 
I was honestly surprised how restless I was without my picture shows ( jk lol) and I was also truly amazed how much time i was wasting through sheer laziness and apathy. Although ANDOR and THE BEAR were both well worth binge watching.

Most of us keep sliding into bad habits without really paying attention to the consequences of letting things slide until we are stuck under the weight of  all that "meh".

And finally; I am also getting tested for ADHD next month, to which I am looking forward. ( As a side project, I want to start looking up biographies of musicians and other artists who were ADHD ( or otherwise neurodivergent) and find out how they dealt with their personal realities and the demands of their art/craft).

As the fella said: KNOW THYSELF.

Thanks again, and happy practicing.

[jonslaughter]

These things are not abstract. You are literally the most complex machine to exist in the universe by orders of magnitude. Your brain is more complex than the known galaxy. This is not abstract stuff. Literally inside your skull are 100's of billions, if not trillions(technically no one has counted them all), little computers(neurons) all responding to all the others including all the inputs(10's of billions of sensor inputs such as every single pinpoint on your skin to the billions of cones and rods in your eyes, etc. All this is going on every femtosecond of your life and everyone else's. This stuff isn't abstract, it's reality. Do you know how complex a computer is? It has trillions of transistors(silicon neurons) in the cpu alone, but many more things(100's of "organs" all with their own complex world).

This doesn't include your mind which is the "software" that exists "on top" of your brain which is just as complex. Think of all the experiences you have had(ignore all the data each instance of the experience accumulated).

Life is very complicated in many ways but also simple. Think of a piece of music. How many pieces for piano do you know? How many notes do you have memorized? 100's of thousands? Millions? That isn't just notes but all the dynamics involved. The feeling, the fingerings, the sound, etc.

Life is very complex indeed and we haven't even scratched the surface.

The point I'm making is that in some ways you should sweat the small stuff because they are essentially meaningless in the big picture. When you stress yourself out you are introducing noise/chaos into your brain and mind and this causes the machine to "malfunction" on some level. This is one of the reasons why society is so insane now days because there is so much information, almost all of it it negative flowing into and out of peoples minds. Each person is also a "neuron" in the "human computer". We all interact with each other causing experiences which ripple out both in space and time.

There can be many reasons why "your computer" "malfunctions". As I stated, it could be health related, life style choices, etc.

All you can learn to do is try to pay attention to it. Some say that paying attention is all we can do. the more you pay attention the more you "absorb" your experiences. it is very real. Electrical and acoustical signals(even radiation) bombard your body constantly. your brain is processing trillions of very complex chemical reactions and electrical signals constantly as they flow into and out of your brain. when you pay attention you are reducing the "noise" and allow more of what you want to flow in. Of course people have many different ways to think about it and try to control it: e.g., medication, drugs, exercise, etc.

I can't tell you how to "fix you" since only you know you and only you can pay attention to what you do and how it effects you. I can only offer generalizations that may or may not work.

For me, when my mind was most "noisy" I was the most unhealthy. Pains, not sleeping well, feeling like crap, etc all effected me in a way that made my mind noisy. What happens is that your brain, basically being chemical and electrical signals is not functioning correctly. Since there isn't really a way to know exactly what the problem is or how to solve it if you did, all you can do is try things and pay attention to the outcomes and eventually, with enough data, you will see patterns and say "Oh, when I do that I can't concentrate". You have to change many things such as your eating habits(it could be that you are allergic to something that cause over stimulation of your brain by changing the concentration of certain neurotransmitters), behaviors, etc.

Stopping TV is the #1 thing anyone can do. The TV is just a propaganda machine now days at best.  There is a very good book called Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. 2. Try changing your diet. Your literally eating chemicals that float around your body. 3. Try changing your patterns. e.g., do you seem to concentrate better in the morning or at a night? I'm a night owl as I am most productive at night but it's double edge because I also tend to feel more like crap which effects my attention.  Usually it builds over time so at first I'm better but then worse later. 4. Cut out noise in your life. Anything that may emotionally upset or distract you. We live in a very hectic world. IMO, one of the major reasons there was so many great artists and performers of the past is because they had peaceful lives and they had it because, generally, they didn't have all the noise(no TV, no radio, no internet, no MTV, not even radio). There are other reasons and it wasn't always true(not everyone is made the same). But  peace of mind goes a long way. 5. Another thing is motivation. For example, over the last several years my motivation has went way down because of all the insanity going on in the world. My biggest problem is less concentration but more "what is the point". Everyone is going to have their own problems they have to overcome.

Ultimately each of us has to figure it out for ourselves. Only you know you. All I can really say is that you can improve upon just about anything if you work to figure it out. Think about how you started piano. Surely it was difficult and there were points when you didn't think you could do it. But then you practiced and got better and figured things out. If you started very young you might not have had this issue as children do not have many of the problems we have when we are older(health issues, social issues, motivation issues, etc).

Just start trying different things. Try to be open minded and to break habits. E.g., do you exercise? If not, get a jump rope or do jumping jacks and pushups. Just do a few at first if it feels too stupid and try to get to a point where you are doing them regularly and see if it seems to make a difference. You do have to give it time to simmer. Most changes in things will not necessarily show up or be noticeable for at least a few weeks(sometimes months, sometimes years). Sometimes we won't be able to correlate/connect the dots to what we change and the effects they produce because there is too much changing. In math it's called partial differentiation which means that you change only one variable. If you can limit yourself to changing only one thing then ideally any changes will only be due to that. E.g., if you are doing two things and you stop both you can't be sure which one did the change. So you stop one at a time and try to see the change in output. Of course generally we are dealing with 10's to 100's of variables in your daily life. Some things you just know are bad for you and making things worse like TV or eating junk food. In other cases it may be very hard to figure out what it is. Maybe it is allergies because you are allergic to a tree outside your window and don't realize it. It might be your clothes or detergent used. It could be something you like to eat but don't realize it's making you agitated.  You'll only know when you stop doing them and realize "Oh, if I stop doing that I feel better" or "I can concentrate much better".

Over time you figure out more and more of this. Again, it's like anything else. But you have to understand that your health/being is just as much part of piano as playing the piano. Exercise is part of piano as well as reading about psychology or learning math. They all relate in special ways. You don't see it until you try it/do it/experience it and then you have a reference point where you can say "Oh, now I see".

Most people are not aware of their own thoughts and are too busy thinking. You have to develop a second layer of "thinking about thinking". Basically it is self-awareness. Being aware of your own self and what is doing. It's sorta like being a passenger in a car(or I guess watching TV works too). But you are observing yourself though. When you do this and after some time you start understand how your self fits into the picture rather than simply reacting to all that sensory information and patterns in the mind.

Life's a journey, as they say....