Prepping for Practice, Part 2 (Readying the Brain)

Music is an incredibly powerful tool. It affects many parts of our brain--those related to memory, emotion, movement, sensory input, and organization to name just a few (cerebellum, amygdala, prefrontal cortex, temporal lobe, sensory cortex, etc., etc.). And because of this incredible power, it is wise to help the brain out a bit to get it ready for the massive amount of input and output it is about to be part of...

Breath is the great balancer of the body. It is an automatic function that we can easily control, which makes it very powerful. Slower breath brings us into a place of relaxation and confidence. After all, who among us hasn't tried to slow down our breath when taking a plunge into a too-cold pool or going in front of an audience to make a presentation? It helps us to be calm and reasonable. I would also add that slowing our breath increases our rate of efficiency, as it lowers anxiety and stress (two things that we experience from a young age that often prevent us from being "the best that we can be").

There are a couple of breath exercises that I like to use, both can be effective in a short amount of time. Try them both. See what works for you! Do these in your practice space before or after stretching the body, whatever works for you.

#1: Watching the breath: That's right...just pay attention to your breath. Don't try to change anything about it. You can count each inhalation/exhalation cycle up to a count of 10, then back down to 1. Repeating this three times (or thereabouts) is often enough for people to fall into a greater state of relaxation and only takes a few minutes. (IMPORTANT: If you get distracted by thoughts, don't worry about it! Just take quick notice of that thought and go back to counting your breaths...if you lost count, start over! No big deal...)

#2: Controlling the breath: Breath in for a count of 4, hold for a count of 6, breath out for a count of 8. Repeat 3 times. After much practice, you may be able to increase the amount of repetitions, but do not force yourself. We are not after getting dizzy here!

Some people like to do a few sequences of #2 and then go into #1...this is a wonderful idea....try it!

Remember: "Prana" is Sanskrit for not only "breath", but "spirit"...and with music, we want to let our spirit (and our emotions) sing, no matter what instrument we are playing...

Prepping for Practice, Part 1 (Stretching the Body)

WHY STRETCH??

We must stretch our body in order to prepare for the main part of our practice time. I'm interested in efficient practicing (easy and fast)...and in order for the work on our pieces to be the best and most productive, we need to get our body and mind fully prepared! (You would never run a 3 mile race without stretching for 10-15 minutes, would you? Just because piano practicing works smaller muscles doesn't mean they're not equally important to stretch!) 

HOW LONG SHOULD I STRETCH??

The amount of stretching depends on the length of your practice time! I believe that at least 10% of your practice time should be spent on stretching (5 minutes for 30-45 minutes...10 minutes for 60 minutes)

This does not include working on scales, arpeggios, and other etudes that you are currently in the process of learning, or are simply not quite mastered...

A SIMPLE ROUTINE FOR STRETCHING THE BODY...

Neck, shoulders, and back first...

Here's a quick, effective, and easy sequence:

     --Neck:  Turn your head slowly from side to side, holding on each side for 5 seconds, repeat 3 times

     --Neck:  Bring chin to sternum, then look at the ceiling, hold on each point for 5 seconds, repeat 3 times

     --Neck:  Bring left ear to left shoulder, then right ear to right shoulder, hold each for 5 seconds, repeat 3 times

     --Shoulders:  Roll shoulders slowly in a forward circle, repeat 5-8 times

     --Shoulders:  Roll shoulders slowly in a backwards circle, repeat 5-8 times

     --Back: While sitting on bench, twist body to the left, starting with lower back and twist all the way through shoulders and neck placing right hand on left outer thigh to assist with stretch, then repeat on other side...hold each for 5-8 seconds, repeat 2 times

     --Back: While standing, touch toes (or as close as possible) with non-locked knees (IMPORTANT: Do not PUSH yourself down...rather, let gravity pull you down...hold for 10 seconds

Then move to arms, wrists, fingers...

     --Arms: Stretch right arm across your body using left hand on outside of right upper arm to assist with stretch, then repeat on other side...hold for 10 seconds on each side

     --Wrists: Bring right hand up, bending at wrist, using left hand to assist, then repeat on other side...5-8 seconds each (IMPORTANT: Be very easy on your wrists...they are delicate!!)

     --Wrists: Bring right hand down, bending at wrist, using left hand to assist, then repeat on other side...5-8 seconds each

     --Fingers: Scales and arpeggios are great stretches for your fingers. Play very slowly (1 beat per second) and very loudly, making sure to use your fingers, not your wrists...keep wrists neutral and not stiff...raise each finger as high as you can before bringing them down onto the key (IMPORTANT: You should only use scales and arpeggios that you are VERY comfortable with and do not need to "think" about while doing...the point here is simply getting your finger and hand muscles (and tendons) moving

The next post will deal with preparing the mind for the practice session...

Structuring your Practice Time

There should be a balanced amount of structure and chaos in your practicing. Balanced does not mean equal, it means that they both work together to make your time as effective as possible.

A proper practice session should have three main parts to it: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion, just like a well-written paper.

--The introduction should include a warm up for the body (including back, fingers, and wrist)--this is some stretching both with and without the keys, and for the mind--this can be integrated into the body warm-up or can be separate.  It should then include a time to work on technical exercises, such as scales and arpeggios, or more specific exercises (Czerny, Brahms, etc.) for whatever techniques you are working on.

--The body includes first briefly working on at least one piece in your repertoire. The vast amount of practice time should be spent on your current pieces. Creating goals--challenging, yet achievable--can make this the most effective. I will write much more on this later.

--Finally, the conclusion should include playing something that you feel confident with--this can be playing an older piece that you have already mastered, repeating the part of your current piece that you felt great about during your practice session, or improvising.

The chaos fits within the structure...allowing mistakes to occur, improvising when you feel moved to do so, breaking "the rules" when it feels appropriate.

This first post is a HUGE topic, and I will be writing future posts on each of the sections I mentioned above, including: structure vs. chaos, warming up, technical exercises, repertoire preparation, working on your current pieces, improvising, and confidence.

Further posts will include such topics as performance anxiety, self-defeating thoughts, sticking to your program, posture, breathing, and joyful music-making.