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
Stop
Trying To Be A Good Musician
When I play difficult Passages at a fast tempo, my fingers
become tense, While practicing at home I struggle over
measures cluttered with black notes and when it is time
to play them, besides not inhaling enough air, I stiffen
my fingers. Rehearsing the same piece with an ensemble,
I panic when I see the same spot and tense up further.
By contrast, every time I bring the passage to my lesson
and ask for help, the problem is not so bad. Why can
I play it in my lesson but tense up when the pressure
is on?
It is interesting that when you ask for help
in your lesson, the problem of tension does
not persist, yet in performance
when you do not want to be tense, the problem gets in your
way. This suggests that when you are trying to play correctly,
it doesn't works, but when you are aware of the problem
and show it to your teacher, the problem
disappears. In a lesson
situation, your goal is to explore the tension, not try
to make it go away. When we increase our
awareness or pay attention
to something to discover what is happening, we are no longer
trying to control it or make it go away. The result is
the correction of the problem itself, which
is the key.
Trying too hard to accomplish anything usually
creates the opposite result; because trying
produces tension it
also
reduces the player's senses of sight, hearing, and feeling.
Tensing the muscles in your fingers while keeping your
joints flexible would be difficult. If you can feel movement
in
your hands, you cannot be tense.
This is an inner game skill of concentration
known as non-judgmental awareness. If you
notice you are playing
bad notes, have
poor intonation or sloppy rhythm, you are no longer
in a non judgmental awareness mode. In fact,
you may feel
guilty,
depressed, anxious, or tense. Your challenge is to
monitor what is happening without judging
it as good or bad.
A non judgmental awareness instruction asks you to
notice only
the difference between your softest and loudest sounds.
A judgmental instruction asks you to play with good
dynamics and make sure the forte is right
and doesn't blast. Although
the second instruction has meaning, it is opinionated
and
polluted with rights, wrongs, and won't help the player
hear
what is happening.
Awareness is the antithesis of trying, but perhaps
also the remedy for not trying. The next time you
find yourself
in
a trying mode, playing fast passages, running out
of breath, or searching for car keys, put
yourself in
an awareness
mode. For the fast pass sages, become aware of which
fingers feel
the most tense and which notes are not accurate,
For breath support, monitor the way you distribute
your
air flow.
For locating car keys, think about where you were
the last time
you had them in your hands. These awareness exercises
will put you in touch with your movements rather
than fix the
problem. When you are in touch with what you are
doing, you can discover what you need to
do to play as you
intend.
When you wanted to show your teacher the problematic
passage, you didn't make mistakes. The game changed
from trying
to make the problem go away to making the teacher
aware of what
you wanted to change. During a lesson you feel
more safe to have a problem because someone
will help
you deal
with it. When you stop trying to play accurately
to make the
teacher aware, you move into an awareness state.
When you are confronted
with a similar fast passage in an ensemble, rather
than trying to play it accurately, listen to the
speed of
your notes
compared to others playing the same rhythms. This
will allow you to become aware of what is happening
with
the tempo and
with this feedback, play in time with everyone
else.
The first step to exploring these concepts is
to become aware of when you are trying and
then rid
yourself
of judgment, tension, and worry over accuracy.
Replace this
with non
judgmental
awareness of what you see, hear, or feel. Enjoy
the next step without trying.
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