In the show, this story line is used to demonstrate that "Professor" Hill is a con man. Even so, by the end of the show, the students actually are able to play a bit of the Minuet in G. Sure, they don't play it well, but considering that they received no instruction whatsoever, the Think System seems to have led to at least some positive results.
This is no surprise for those who have conducted research on visualization. Numerous studies have demonstrated that mental practice or visualization can be almost as effective as physical practice. They have also shown that doing both mental and physical practice gets even better results than doing either practice alone.
In a new book, College Prep for Musicians, authors Annie Bosler, Don Greene, and Kathleen Tesar offer the following format for engaging in mental practice.First, find a difficult passage in one of your songs. Second, sing through the passage in your head at a slower tempo than is called for in performance. Third, repeat the passage until you can do it flawlessly in your mind and up to the original tempo. Fourth, put that passage back into the context of the entire song or a longer section of the song and practice that mentally as well.
I use mental practice as a way to work toward memorization by looking at a passage of music, singing it mentally while looking at the music, and then singing it mentally without looking at the page. I also have used mental practice as a way to continue to practice when I was sick or when my voice was tired.
As we approach juries, consider incorporating some mental practice into your routine and see if you notice a difference.
On an unrelated note, I came across an article by Amy Marie Stewart recently titled "Failing Our Singers: How a Demand for Execution Kills the Freedom to Create." Hopefully this excerpt will intrigue you enough to read the whole piece:
"From the time an actor arrives at a university or conservatory program, they're presented with a list of 'don'ts,' instead of a creative environment where it's okay to take risks. It's time to admit that this cheats our audiences and creates performance anxiety in our actors. We can do better."I'd be happy to discuss this if any of you have thoughts you'd like to share.
How has your practice been this week? What are your goals from now to the end of the semester?
Now go practice.
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| You really ought to give Iowa a try. |
I think mental practicing can be one of the most effective ways to practice. In the past, I know that I have always tried to perfect pieces by constantly practicing them physically and vocally. Sometimes, doing that puts a lot of unnecessary strain on my voice, especially after vocally practicing for a very long time. I also really like to use mental practicing to help me memorize my pieces, and I hadn't really thought about doing that until now for my vocal jury pieces. I will definitely start doing that to memorize, instead of repeatedly singing through my songs and having to continuously look at my music. Hopefully, mentally going through them will help out a lot with my memorization.
ReplyDeleteAlso, that quote from the Amy Marie Stewart article DID intrigue me, so I did take a little read through it. And wow!!! Just very interesting to see things from a very different perspective and realizing that these kinds of rehearsal/audition situations have happened to me as well, and how it changes the feeling of the space! Anyways, it was just so interesting to see this other side of looking at how rehearsals are led by directors and how actors can or cannot be affected by that.
I love mental practicing, I have found it super beneficial. I love to run lines or song lyrics right before I go to bed (because apparently that makes you remember them better?). Or, perhaps when I'm in a rather boring lecture and I could use that time more wisely by rehearsing in my head rather than listening. Obviously you need to also practice it vocally and out loud, but running it just in your head can take you like 80% of the way there in my experience. I have also found visualizing yourself doing it while mentally thinking it through works even better, especially for a performance. I feel like it eases some of the nerves for me if I have already ran through the song/scene with the blocking/choreography before the performance because in a weird way I already feel like I did it.
ReplyDeleteAnd on that side note from the article, I definitely resonate with that quote. The list of don'ts seems to just keep growing some days and it definitely gets to my head while I'm performing and the perfectionist in me is screaming all the don'ts at me while I'm trying to sing or act. But I think it's a balance of listening to those rules and then giving yourself permission to break them when it's appropriate but it is a hard balance to find sometimes.
HAHA I DIDN'T FORGET THIS WEEK
ReplyDeleteAnyways! I really like that idea of implementing mental practice with your physical practice. I do run through my songs a lot in my head, as well as other stuff like dialogue and all that fun stuff, but I don't think I've done it really critically. I don't know if that makes sense, but going forward with mental practice, I think that I could be more conscientious about how I run through things in my head. Be more aware of the techniques and things I should be doing when I'm singing, etc. I'm gonna play with implementing mental practice with my physical practice for the next few weeks and see what happens!
I really like that quote! Funnily enough though, I've never felt like I wasn't allowed to make mistakes or explore when I'm performing. I mean, I've learned a lot of 'do not do this' stuff, but I've always felt like I could try new things. But it's a good reminder to be open to new ideas!
WAIT I forgot some stuff! As for my goals for the next upcoming weeks, I want to finish the finishing touches on my jury songs and feel more confident with those going forward. I also want to focus on how I sing vowels on high notes, especially 'oo' and 'ee' sounds. I know I can do better, so I'm gonna work on that a little harder for the next few weeks and hopefully see some improvement. We'll see!
DeleteBefore performances and auditions I do a lot of mental practicing. Even if I have the piece memorized I’ll sing through it in my head while looking at my page that I have marked up so I’m able to remember the notes and the trouble spots of the song.
ReplyDeleteI also really like mental practice to work on support. I know that i can do everything except make audible noises when practicing like this — and it’s great to know that it is nearly just as good practice. I can feel all the different systems (diaphragm, lips, tongue, placement, etc) working and focus on specific parts as well.
My goals for the end of the semester are: memorize jury songs and then to apply what I’ve learned this semester more rapidly to new pieces I work on.
When approaching a new piece of music, I tend to find myself slightly enamored by it if it’s particularly difficult (I.e. Made of Stone and Tu Lo Sai). It’s a little difficult to visualize myself singing these hard riffs and high notes even if I know I have it in my typical range and skill set. Maybe I should begin to look more into a visual training method. I don’t always have time to sit at a piano and pluck it out until my voice remembers the repetition. I also may look into that book. Definitely sound like an interesting read!
ReplyDeleteMentally practicing is one of my favorite ways of learning and familiarizing myself with new material. I am always going over music or lines in my head. Although I think that my mentality comes in to play with my singing more than I think it does. (Kind of off topic) Before I singing I really have to put myself in the mentality and mindset of learning and being okay with making mistakes. If there are no mistakes in the beginning and the practice is too careful, I will never feel fully confident with the material, no matter the content. Practicing like that is something that I just recently found to be beneficial. Before I would always beat myself up over mistakes and I find it is best to just keep moving forward.
ReplyDeleteAbout the excerpt from the article I totally agree. In high school we are always "warned" about "don't" sing lists and all of the things we should and shouldn't do. As someone who fairly recently went through auditioning for college programs, those "don't" lists became very scary. I was always dwelling on whether or not I was doing something wrong or if my songs were too over used or if I didn't make enough conversation with the auditioners. I agree with the article and believe that we should not refer to them as the "don'ts", but teach "do's" as the right way.
Juries this semester have me a little more stressed than last semester. I feel that I am prepared for them, but the just came up in a blink of an eye.
-Caden Tudor
Mentally practicing is one of my favorite ways of learning and familiarizing myself with new material. I am always going over music or lines in my head. Although I think that my mentality comes in to play with my singing more than I think it does. (Kind of off topic) Before I singing I really have to put myself in the mentality and mindset of learning and being okay with making mistakes. If there are no mistakes in the beginning and the practice is too careful, I will never feel fully confident with the material, no matter the content. Practicing like that is something that I just recently found to be beneficial. Before I would always beat myself up over mistakes and I find it is best to just keep moving forward.
ReplyDeleteAbout the excerpt from the article I totally agree. In high school we are always "warned" about "don't" sing lists and all of the things we should and shouldn't do. As someone who fairly recently went through auditioning for college programs, those "don't" lists became very scary. I was always dwelling on whether or not I was doing something wrong or if my songs were too over used or if I didn't make enough conversation with the auditioners. I agree with the article and believe that we should not refer to them as the "don'ts", but teach "do's" as the right way.
Juries this semester have me a little more stressed than last semester. I feel that I am prepared for them, but the just came up in a blink of an eye.
-Caden Tudor
We talked about this a little bit in our lesson last week, about how going through the scale is sometimes hard by going super fast because I end up skipping a bunch of notes. I think it’s definitely a good idea to tackle harder scetions of Music at a slower pace and more broken up. If you ever watch Natalie Weiss’ YouTube channel (if you don’t I highly recommend) she does a video series where she breaks down really long riffs. I think because she is able to break them down into more manageable chunks she (and I) can better hear the melody and rhythm in her head to sing it effortlessly. This applies to any price of music whether it be familiar or unfamiliar. I especially have a really fun and interesting habit of making up my own notes as I sing them so visualization will be key for me in the coming months as I learn to hear what is written before I sing it. My goal this week is to get every hard section of my jury songs and think them through, break them down, sing them, and then sing them one after the other. I feel I have so much potential but stupid tings get in the way and it’s time to get rid of bad habits!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE VISUALIZATION PRACTICE. For me its mostly a tool used to making sure that I am adequately prepared for performance or further practice. If I can use the full flexibility of my technique and choice making in my head then I know I understand the piece intuitively and perfectly enough to have confidence in my performance. However, If i struggle on remembering a dynamic or 'feeling' how a choice ought to be produced vocally, I know that is the weaker area and a place I should focus on more acutely in order to get a reliable result. However, it can also be a source of great anxiety for me because if I over-practice physically or mentally and try to review my piece using the 'think method' I'm more likely to create a negative feedback loop of frustration; not good if this happens immediately before a performance. (In which case my best form of practice is a prayer.) I think that overall, however, I'm a very cerebral person and that this is a very effective way for me specifically to practice.
ReplyDeleteThis semester I’ve realized that I’ll be visually practicing without even noticing. I have a pretty busy semester, with classes and work everyday from 8-5. But while I’m idle at work or in between classes, I find that my mind with wander to either my jury selections or my acapella group songs. While I’m thinking about these, I run through sections in my head, thinking of each note individually. Now, in the past few days, that I’ve been thinking about it consciously, I think that I have noticed that these visual practices do help with my actual singing. While it’s no substitute for vocal practice, it is better than nothing and a great aide. This thought process kind of reminds me of the Alexander Technique that we’re studying in my movement class. In that, you have to visualise your body resting and moving up, rather than forcing your body to actually do it. As the semester is wrapping up, I want to find an even stricter and more dedicated approach to vocal practice in preparation for my juries. I have my sections almost all memorized, so that is the first step. After that, I would like to add some character and make sure that I truly understand what each of my songs are about and make them each different.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this mental practice as a clinical, legitimate thing. Although, reading through this I realize I frequently use mental practice subconsciously while I'm driving, preparing to go into an audition, and near the middle section of working on a piece of music. Especially I've found myself doing this with instruments like guitar and piano, running through pieces in my head when I have no physical way to practice the music. Goals for the end of the semester: take care of my voice enough to be able to really nail my juries, and work on breath support in all of my final cuts so I don't lose that in my performances.
ReplyDelete-Michael Davies
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