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This post is about playing music in public, but the background information might not appear to be relevant to music and playing, so please bear with me.
Before I got ill recently, I was reading the book Mind over Golf by Alan Fine. Fine, who is a tennis coach, suggests (and this is a simplification of his theories as I understand them) that we have two parts to our brain – the conscious mind and the sub conscious mind. He suggests that when we learn a skill, it is stored in our sub conscious mind and when called upon, we can perform the task precisely and without error.
An example is walking. We don’t think about the actions needed to walk, all we do is decide to move somewhere and it happens. Our sub conscious mind takes care of the technical details. Now put a 6” wide plank on the ground, we have no trouble walking along it. Place that plank between the piers of your gate, secure it and suddenly walking on the plank becomes much more difficult. It is the same plank we walked on when it was on the ground. Alan Fine argues that our conscious mind, aware that we might fall to the ground tries, and often succeeds, to override the sub conscious minds knowledge on how to walk. Thus making what is or should be a simple task very difficult to perform well.
Another example Fine gives, he is teaching a young girl how to keep a tennis rally going. After around six weeks, she can manage six consecutive strokes. But no more than six. So he suggested that the girl say the word “bounce” aloud when the ball bounces in front of her and the word “hit” when she hits the ball back. The results were outstanding. She hit fifty three consecutive shots in her first rally when using the bounce/hit suggestion. By way of explanation, Fine suggests that the girl knew how to hit the ball and this was ingrained in her sub conscious mind. Saying the words “bounce” and “hit” aloud occupied her conscious mind thus preventing it from interfering with her sub conscious knowledge on how to hit the ball back.
Can this thinking be applied to playing guitar, drums, bass, keys or any instrument? As I see it when we learn something it becomes second nature. Riding a bicycle or swimming for example. So it must be similar when playing music. Learn how to play something, a chord for example, and your sub conscious mind will arrange your fingers precisely in position every time. The problem is interference. Interference is your conscious mind trying to make sure you get it right. Brought on by nerves, performing in public or even trying to look good. Interference causes us to fluff chords that we know by heart, play duff notes, etc. Simply put, reduce the interference to improve the performance!
This is as far as I have gone with this study and thinking. Input from others is needed. A question that I feel relevant is: does singing enhance or affect your playing? Your conscious mind is concentrating on the vocals; does your sub conscious mind get on with the playing bit? If it does, then all we need to do is to learn the music parts perfectly and distract your conscious mind while your sub conscious mind controls your fingers.
Any thoughts on this.......
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Yes, I do think I "think" too much and end up messing up things I would normally play fine, as my muscle memory would have played them using my subconscious mind if my conscious mind hadn't interfered.
But also I think sometimes there are parts I NEED to concentrate on, and I let it lapse into cruise-control playing, forgetting that this part actually needs me to be in the present, actively remembering what I am doing.
The theory ties in with being good at pool once you have had enough beer to not overthink the shots, but before the alcohol affects your coordination.
I also believe that adrenaline has a negative effect on fine motor movements, which presumably impacts on one's ability to hit them jazzy chords (much martial arts training is designed to try and overcome this clumsiness in extreme situations).
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But then I had a couple of experiences onstage where I became hyper-aware of what I was doing during songs - where my fingers were supposed to be, what the next line was - which made me fumble the chords and forget lines. I realised that I needed to immerse myself in the flow of the gig, like a slalom skier launching themselves down a hill, concentrating on staying upright rather than trying to process the information about the contours of the course down which they were flying.
I didn't think anymore about it until I saw this tv programme on Thursday night. The whole thing was very interesting, but around 18 minutes in, David Eagleman starts talking about our ability to do things on auto-pilot. He identifies a 'flow state' that allows the brain to take over and do things without us consciously thinking about it. I believe that's what happens to me onstage. After two or three songs, I get into this zone, where my conscious mind is hyper-connected to the room - looking to respond to audience reactions, thinking about what to say between songs - but the songs themselves are performed in this flow state.
I probably shouldn't think about it too much, but it's comforting to know that, although I may be singing on 'auto-pilot', it's not because I'm disengaged from the material."
Whether you like Billy or not, it's interesting to note
Sometimes I can't hear myself well. Even worse is when I can't hear the band clearly during my solos. It's all very well saying don't play so loud, but you need to if you're not cutting through and get asked to turn up (yes I do get asked to turn up on occasions ).
Playing live is easier for me than layering tracks for recording, where everything is under the microscope. The slight timing imperfections get evened out across the band in a live situation.
Sometimes I can play better on a live gig because the energy is inspiring.
The worst experience I had in recent times was when I did an open air gig in the middle of last summer and it was very humid. My fingers were sticking together and it was like playing through treacle. After that I did some research and I now carry pure natural talcum powder and fast fret. If you do some googling you'll find whole threads on this topic - seriously . Apparently Jeff Beck uses baby powder. But I've not had the problem since.
Generally I don't get nervous or anxious at gigs. I can get anxious on gigs when there are loads of deps and things are going wrong. Not so much that the audience would notice, but it's unsettling. Also, sometimes the groove isn't working and that makes me feel off balance. All these things affect performance.
Is ehat Billy is describing really auto pilot in that context? He can surely play the songs now...Although it's possible that the task inducing the flow state is 'performing a gig to a varying audience' in which case the playing part is a minor element, what is causing the flow state is the need to assess and react to a living entity...
Or not.
I often feel that some forms of gigging are more theatre than pure mechanical playing. The latter is just a sub element of the overall performance, and for most people actually the easiest part. Hence some bands you see are technically good but are completely not entertaining to watch. The theatrical element is missing entirely in lots of bands, as evidenced by the endless pics of musos onstage looking at their guitar necks or shoes.
One of the worst things I've found that for affects live performance is a hangover. It's been many many years since I've played with a hangover but it used to cause huge mental blocks.
Nerves are also worsened by worrying about an upcoming passage and the ability to pull it off. Be that because of unfamiliarity, or it being at the limit of our ability. If the mechanical motions are thoroughly drilled into the sub-conscious, you are able to just rip into it with out concern and relax into the performance.
It's an old golfing quote, but they say the more you practice the luckier you get. I think this is true for performance confidence too.
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