Engaging Your Heart and Brain Like an Expert

In our blog post for this week, Adina Mornell gives a summary of some of the key themes introduced in her recent workshop, “I Played It Better at Home”. The post also includes an exercise which gives you an opportunity to take stock and reflect on your own approach to practising and preparing for performance. 

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The goal of my introductory session was to understand what’s behind the excuse “I played it better at home” in order to improve practice strategies and avoid future disappointment in performance settings – whether informal (playing for friends) or formal (on stage or in an audition). The following are some of the main themes that were covered:

Momentary Performance vs Long-Term Learning

We’ve all been taught to work hard at the piano with lots of repetition over long hours and we tend to believe that what “goes right” in the practice room will work on another day. Instead of long-term results, however, we’re only seeing short-term success. A piece may work at home because we have played it at the same tempo over and over again. We’ve temporarily stored the motor pattern of the piece, but this version is only good in this one setting and won’t necessarily be good for tomorrow or elsewhere.

Variable vs Blocked Practice

To ensure that we are storing new information or firming up our skills, we need to keep our mind busy. Every time we practice a phrase or piece in a different way, we elicit brain activity. By mixing up the way we rehearse a piece, we are training the flexibility that allows us to be able to play the piece at another time, on a different instrument or in another mood.

(The idea of variable practice interfaces nicely with the concepts of deliberate practice and desirable difficulties. Both of these will be explored more thoroughly in my next workshop, “The Pianist’s Brain: A Brief User Manual”).

Mindsets

Keeping a “growth mindset” means reminding ourselves that there might be things we can’t play, yet. Our brains are malleable and with the proper concentration, relaxation and enthusiasm, we can train ourselves to do almost anything. However, if we believe in giftedness (a “fixed mindset”), we tend to make judgements about our natural talents every time we play. When things don’t go well, we think we’ve reached the limit of our abilities. Not true! We all can build on the potential and the possibility of progress over a lifetime.

Error-Focussed Practice

When you hear the phrase “don’t think of pink elephants,” the vision of these coloured pachyderm is hard to get rid of. The same paradoxical thing happens when you practise to avoid mistakes. By anticipating a wrong note or a difficult section, you are creating a larger-than-life image of the error in your brain. By instead using variable practice with a growth mindset, you can engage in creative activities that foster positivity and allow you to play expressively and correctly when and wherever you desire.

Context Learning

And, finally, “at home,” aka context learning – When we practice, our “emotional brain” stores more than just the notes, rhythms and fingerings. We’re also capturing our attitude towards the piece, the atmosphere in the room, as well as any fear or frustration, in our memory. All of this can become baggage linked to our pieces and has the potential to be remembered when we play these pieces for others. Thus, it’s in our own self-interest, to take care of ourselves, be creative in our practice strategies and enjoy our time at the instrument.

Take Action!

I’ve created this exercise to help you engage with the ideas above and to prepare yourself should you wish to join me for my upcoming series of workshops. Please take a look at these four statements and comment on them as honestly as possible, posting your answers here.

1. I often play my pieces through from start to finish to see where they need work.
   → Yes or no – please explain your answer.
2. My typical practice session follows a pattern.
   → Please summarise and elaborate. For example: Do you practice at the same time and in the same place? Do you follow a practice ritual or choose strategies as you go?
3. In the past, I’ve heard many opinions about my musical talent and abilities.
   → Make a list of those comments.
4. At the end of a practice session, I know that I’ve accomplished something when …
   → Please finish this sentence with as many ideas as possible.

In thinking about the above aspects of your own practice behaviour and thoughts, you are also getting ready to build on your personal history with the piano in order to identify a pathway forward that includes new learning strategies and an improved mental state.