Interesting article in Time about practice

[superbassman2000]

I was reading an old time magizine and I came upon this article about how the Brain can "rewire" itself and how scientists are discovering that thinking about playing actually has an effect on your brain--I found that interesting because I remember in an old BP mag they asked some pros about practicing without the bass and Jeff Berlin was very sure that there is no way you can get better without having the bass in your hands...while you won't ever be able to play like Jaco by just thinking about it, it might help

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...580438,00.html

[tZer]

I am banking on that being the case!

My current project band is made up of a bunch of career-having, married-with-children, no delusions of fame and fortune, dads (all in our 30's and 40's) who have only one night per week we can get together to work up a strong set of original/cover material.

In the old days, we could afford to have a few nights a week where we jammed together - thus facillitiating our progress - but with only one night a week to PHYSICALLY be together, I came up with a plan to still make good progress even though we are not able to get together that often.

I put all of our rough/scratch recordings of all originals online and instructed everyone to download them and burn CD's. Then they are supposed to put those CD's in their cars and make a habit of listening to them whenever they can. I know that I come up with 90% of my best ideas about what I want to do with a song by listening while I drive - then when I get together with the group, I already have a road map or plan of attack for what I am going to do.

I also put up a private forum (like TB) for our band to discuss their thoughts and ideas that they come up with during these drive-time revelations where we can actually formulate "action items" for future rehearsals.

I figured if we all did this it would be very similar to us practicing more than just the one night a week.

So far it is working amazingly well!

Thanks for the article link! It really helps to have things like that to lend credence to these whacky ideas!

[Orco87]

That had to be one of the best reads I've had this year so far....

It goes to show that thinking positive can and will lead to good results.

It's not that it's difficult to learn jazz, it's just a long and fun journey to do so.

See, I'm already starting!

Thanks!

[Earwaxsculptor]

This is kinda ironic because last night my singer/guitarist and I were having a disagreement over the fact that he stated that pretty much all of your skill or creativity on an instrument comes at a young age and you can't really develop new ways of looking at music (as in your style, sense of melody etc...) when your older. Now, with me being 30 and only playing for about 11 years I kinda took offense to that statement so I told him he was full of s#*t......he didn't really like that, but he's a singer so you know how they are about criticism......

[Phantopeth]

Fascinating article; thanks for the link! This may explain why in my college dorm years, I would spend months away from my drumset back home, while listening to music and hearing new things and trying to imagine myself playing it, figuring it out with my hands and feet, etc. And when I would get to play my kit months later, I swear I was better than the last time I played!

More reason to believe that you can create great changes in your life simply by changing your thought.

[tzadik]

Cool article.

And people wonder how I practice while driving, showering, mowing lawn, walking dogs, etc.... Visualization is where it's at.

[WalterBush]

My DB teacher, years ago, told me that stepping back for a day or so after a heavy practice regimen seemed to allow his brain to process what he'd learned, giving him better results than just practicing away nonstop would.

For years, I've practiced singing while playing in my head. It just seemed that once I could hear the vocal line and bass line simultaneously in my own skull, I could play and sing almost immediately. Takes quite a bit of effort, but it's worked for me every time. Nice to see I have scientific backing for all this now.

Now that I think about it, haven't athletes been told for years about visualization? And I seem to remember more than one interview with Satch or Vai where they said the same thing about visualizing fast parts before practicing.

Hmm. Maybe Time is behind the times on this one, similar to their headline years ago proclaiming that men and women are different.

[BassChuck]

Well that is interesting. But what was not tested was the playing ability of those who ONLY thought about playing. That wasn't the point of the research, they were just checking to see if the mental activity of 'thinking' about movement had the same affect on the brain as actually doing the movement.

Fascinating that it does, and even better news that this is not an age related aspect of brain development. But the question still stands, do we need the tactile contact with movement to increase the skill level? It would appear that thinking about the movement increased the brains ability to eventually learn the movement (or increase the skill level), but we still might need to 'do the movement' to complete the program.

Another interesting question might be, is it time effecient to think about the movement first (thereby increasing the brains abilities) and then 'do the movement' or is it just as good to get out the bass and have at some good old practice?

Cool article. Thanks.

[Audiophage]

Originally Posted by tzadik

Cool article.

And people wonder how I practice while driving, showering, mowing lawn, walking dogs, etc.... Visualization is where it's at.

I wouldn't exactly encourage that one, I got into an accident doing that.

[Snarf]

I've been doing this for years, and it helps like nothing else (except practice, of course). Singing solos without an instrument, visualizing lines, hearing everything in your head . . . very important, something I don't think many people use. I know people who aren't very good that practice waaaaaaay more hours than I do.

[Rocker949]

I got a lot out of that article. Thanks for posting that. It clears up a few things I had been wondering about, too.

[derrico1]

Originally Posted by BassChuck

Well that is interesting. But what was not tested was the playing ability of those who ONLY thought about playing.

I didn't read the Time article, but my understanding of the cognitive research behind visualization and learning is that effective visualization depends on strong associations with already established sensory memory.

That is, visualizing activates the parts of the brain associated with our sensory experiences of the activity we visualize.

People with more vivid and well established sensory experience of, say, playing "I Want You Back" in front of a large and appreciative audience will have more (apparently) relevant functional MRI activity while imagining that activity.

[Johnny Crab]

Very good thread.
Here's sort of a different but the same angle on it. In July I was asked to replace a bass player in a band that had been together for 10 years and given a list of 100 songs to learn in one month. A week later, they were all jammed onto one CD in mp3 format and that is ALL that gets listened to. At the first gig, when asked "Do you know this one?" I replied "If I can see it in my head, I know it and can play it". In other words, hearing the song and actually seeing my left hand position and all in my head was/is being used. Quizzing yourself by making yourself go through tunes in this manner also HELPS learn and retain it.

The hands-on is for muscle memory, figuring out how/where to play parts, timing, speed, etc.