Techniques of Trust
Let
It Happen
Stop Trying to Be
a Good Musician
Permission
to Fail
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Articles
from Flute Talk Magazine
Let
It Happen
If you have experienced stress, memory slips, shortness of
,breath, and frustration, you are normal. Welcome to
the music profession.
These symptoms are the result of being in a state of
confusion. Instead of trying to treat the symptoms,
the inner game of
music strives to manage the problems by achieving an ideal
state of relaxed concentration. As in sports or any other
physical activity, the body performs best and most naturally
when the mind is focused on the task at hand.
Think about your best individual performance, with an
accompanist or in an ensemble. Perhaps you remember
the above symptoms
as a part of that great experience, but more likely you
were calm and could recall everything you had learned
so that
your actions could fall effortlessly and automatically
in place. You might have thought about winning when you
played
your best phrase, but more likely you were flowing, connected,
and merged recreating that music.
The inner game makes it possible to trace the conditions
that lead to those great musical experiences, Pursuing
that path of relaxed concentration may lead to natural,
spontaneous
music making.
In future columns I would like to answer your questions
about concentration. The inner game is not about how
to play your
instrument, conduct, or play in an ensemble. You have
plenty of resources, method books, recordings, videos,
teachers,
and colleagues to assist you with new fingerings, articulations,
bowings, notes, and rhythms. This column will focus
on attitude and the accompanying mental skills of
awareness,
will, and
trust that can lead to our best states of concentration.
I offer you a challenge: if you share your experiences
related to concentration, the column will point you
in the right
direction so you can help yourself. You can only
be as good as your potential, and the inner game
helps
you
achieve that
goal. However, if you are the one reaching that potential,
then you are also the one who can best help yourself
When you write, please not only state the problem
but explain
how you practice and what goes on in your mind when
you play. We will talk about practicing, learning
music, playing in
ensemble, motivation, competition, overcoming mental
and physical distractions, tension, memory, or seating
challenges.,
the choice is yours. Letters and responses will appear
in each issue we will print only first names, or
you can remain
anonymous. Please allow six to eight weeks for responses
to letters that are not published.
This is the time of year for seating auditions in
our band - I know I play much better than my competition,
and in
rehearsals and concerts I play well. Every time
I play
a seating audition)
though) I see the judges in front of me and lose
my concentration. All I can think of is, "How can I get my fingers to
stop shaking?" My tone is nervous; I make stupid mistakes
I never made before and know I will not make the first chair.
What can I do to play the way I know I am capable of playing
and skip the horrors of auditions?
The problem is that you are playing an audition
and not playing the music. Your best auditions
Are not
auditions.
Consider
what you are thinking when you play in rehearsal.
Perhaps you hear the other instruments playing
when you play
your part; you may hear the others in your section,
When playing
in the band, you probably try to play in tune,
blend with your colleagues, and enjoy the music.
If your function is different when playing your
audition - if your purpose is now to win the
first chair you
have changed your attitude and purpose in playing.
No longer
are you trying to blend, play with your section,
and enjoy the
music, but you are trying to do all that as
well as win the chair, stop the shaking hands, avoid
mistakes, and
impress
your teachers. You can only do so many things
at once.
Taking on all these outer games makes your
task
twice as difficult
as the music demands. Here are two different
suggestions for dealing with this problem;
explore one or the
other but not both at the same time.
As a means of silencing the voice in your head
instead of listening to these concerns, doubts,
and fears
of doom and
gloom, replace those with the sound of your
instrument. Every time you hear your inner
voice talking,
listen to your tone.
It is difficult to hear two things at once,
so listening to your sound will put you in
touch
0 That may attract
your with the music, interest and help you
hear what you are doing.
When you hear your musical voice, you are
in a better position to make adjustments to your
playing.
This
uses the inner-game
concentration skill of awareness (of sound)
to silence the distracting voice.
Apart from listening to your sound, you can
explore the use of imagery to change the
hostile, unnatural
setting
of the
audition to a friendly imaginary rehearsal
where you play your best. If you are playing
in an
empty band
room with
two teachers sitting in front at a desk,
pen and paper in hand, you can instead
transform your imaginary
playing
position
to your favorite seat in the band. Imagine
your colleagues around you playing their
parts
the
room is full,
the teachers are now part of the flute
section and following
the conductor.
Instead of hearing your music as a solo
piece, listen in your imagination for the other
instruments in
your section
and other sections so that you hear the
sound of the entire band as you play.
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