A Strange Thing

[catsittingstill]

I just discovered that I play the mandolin better if I'm reading.

Not reading music, reading fiction.  In this case _Fire Study_ but I suspect it would work with any fiction book.

I have spots where I get completely stuck--I can't do the just force myself through the mistakes part that I can when I'm playing "normally"--but for the most part, and to the degree that I can tell when not paying attention, which is a bit problematic, I play faster and more smoothly.

Now I had been noticing that I tend to go all wordless inside when I'm playing well, and I had been wondering whether meditation, which I also associate with going all wordless inside, would help me play better.  And I do recall Joe Bethancourt saying that to learn to play fast you should watch TV or something to get the conscious mind out of the way and let the lizard brain (which he described as fast but stupid) take over.  So maybe books are my equivalent of TV.

I wonder if I should carry a book for the instrumental parts of my concert.  The problem is, I have to stop playing to turn the page.   Maybe I could get a volunteer from the audience to turn the page when I nod my head, or something.  Besides, it seems kind of rude to just read and ignore everybody--like reading when you have a guest who wants to chat.

But still.

Comments

[mdlbear]

It's possible that looking out at the audience and making eye contact with people would work as well.

[catsittingstill]

Well, I think what I need is something that distracts the verbal part of my brain without prompting it to respond. Reading might be doing that for me because I hear the words in my head, for example.

However I'm not sure just looking people in the eye would have the same effect. And I'm pretty sure I can't play and talk. Or rather, I can't play and produce speech from scratch. A memorized string I might be able to manage.

[laughingrat]

Oh, that's wild. Pretty cool phenomenon, though!

[catsittingstill]

:-) Yeah. Something to think about.

[sedge]

S says I knit faster and more smoothly if I'm talking to him while I do it, which might be the same principle.

[catsittingstill]

It might at that--knitting is similar to playing an instrument in that it's a memorized pattern of small movements.