Polyphony: visualization and music study.

Q: My question concerns students who play mind games on themselves in performance. Do you have any suggestions to help a student who seems to prepare well technically and musically for competitions, but on some occasions plays mind games on himself prior to or during recital or festival performances? The result is that the performances frequently do not match what had been accomplished on these pieces in practice and studio.

A: While it is not possible for an rain-depth answer here about various aspects of performance anxiety, an introduction to visualization connected to positive performing strategies seems appropriate. It is essential for music students to prepare mentally, as well as technically and musically, for all performances. This applies to all of us--precollege students, as well as college students and professional pianists. Ideally, the musician will imagine herself playing successfully in the forthcoming performance. Research tells us athletes who visualize in-depth before a performance, as well as practice and prepare diligently, improve the performance outcome over those who only practice for the event with no visualization. This occurs because the human central nervous system does not differentiate between real and imagined events. Thus, if a student simulates every sound, sensation and nuance of a piece of music in the mind, and senses all aspects of the piece in a visualized performance, she may enhance the performance through the visualization. The visualization produces subtle muscle contractions that mirror those that will occur in the actual performance. If the student pictures a successful performance, and includes in the visualization as many aspects as possible of the performance, such as the time before going on stage; the feeling in the hands; the act of walking out on stage, as well as the actual performance itself, the connection between the mind and body is strengthened for the future performance.

Q:What are some situations where visualization might help a pianist?

A: Certainly, visualization can help in most aspects of one s personal life. In terms of piano study and performance, a student might be helped by visualizing the way it feels, both emotionally and physically, to play a piece well in a performance. Or, he might visualize a successful, short student recital performance of only one or two pieces. Or, the student might visualize something as basic and important as a rewarding and productive practice session. Still again, he might visualize playing a forthcoming full recital program. The visualization might include many aspects of the performance, such as the events of the day of the performance, including the warm-up for the recital; the time backstage waiting for the recital to begin; the feeling of the hands before going on stage; positive thoughts backstage as he waits for the recital to begin; walking to the piano for the first piece; his focus and inner listening when sitting on the bench and waiting to play; the lights shining on him as he plays the first piece; the feeling of the keys as he sinks into the initial tones; and additional performance aspects. Research shows that during visualization, one is essentially "priming" the muscles for the task ahead, and the brain, nervous system and body are conditioned to perform the way you want them to in the future. (1) We are told most world class athletes use visualization, and the parallels to music performance seem infinite.

In addition, visualization may enhance an individual's creativity and ability to realize solutions to issues in music, or in life. A particularly convincing example of this cited in a sports performance enhancement book titled The Mental Edge was the story of Dick Fosbury, who was one of America's best high jumpers, and probably one of the most innovative as well. Fosbury was highly successful early in his life and kept looking for new ways to jump to new heights. He could only go so high, and he started using his imagination to help him jump even higher. Fosbury began to experiment with a new way of jumping that let him approach the bar straight on, turning at the last moment and clearing the bar with his back parallel to the pit. Prior to this, high jumpers would clear the bar with the abdomen and face toward the pit. Fosbury worked and worked to perfect the technique until in 1968 he used the technique to set a new Olympic high jump record. Since that point, virtually every high jumper has used what is now called the "Fosbury flop." (2)

Q: What about students who feel visualization is one of those things that can work for someone else, but it is too personal or direct for them to use?

A: This might be a student who is afraid of anticipating a performance. Visualization techniques help the student become comfortable with the situation and allow her to set up the performance to go the way she wants it to go. It may not be right for all students but probably can help most students if they are open to it. It takes practice, certainly, and should be guided carefully. And, it does not take a lot of effort or time, just as listening to recordings does not take a lot of time and yet can make a big impact on the amount of time it takes a student to learn a piece.

Earlier I mentioned that almost all successful athletes today do some sort of visualization. If you are interested in this topic, The Mental Edge by Kenneth Baum might provide a place to begin. This paperback can be read quickly and is filled with motivational examples and studies from Olympic sports and other athletic events where high-level athletes were able to change their performances in pressured performance situations through visualization. It may be inspirational for high school or university students, males and females alike, as well as those who are heavily into sports or those who play in many music competitions. This is not a full cure, of course, for many facets of performance anxiety but can be an enhancement used by a balanced performer looking for ways to achieve more consistency in performance.

Q: Is there a relationship between visualization and hearing/creating an ideal performance of a piece in one's mind, as one studies a piece?

A: Yes, I believe this to be the case. I feel inner listening is very much akin to what others are talking about with visualization, only it has to do with a sound ideal/sound image of a piece of music. If a student does not know what possibilities are available, sometimes he will find it harder to achieve them. Listening to artistic performances of the pieces one is playing is vital to set in the student's mind an artistic and powerful sound ideal for a work being studied. Not every detail of a student's performance will be parallel to the sound recording, and certainly it should not be. The recording is simply a door for the student's own creativity. But the student can feel the inner pulse, can hear the large phrase structures even before she can produce them, can hear various tonal qualities and voicings in the piece before she can reproduce them and can aspire to that palette of sounds and choices, even if they are applied defferently in her final interpretation of the piece.

I believe that listening to recordings of pieces one is playing strengthens a student's motivation. It gives students an overview of the piece they are studying, even while they are dissecting it and learning it in detail and depth; in a way, rounding out the balance of detail work/analysis with listening/feeling/sensing in the student's study. Some periods of time should lapse where the student is working on his own, not listening as often to recordings and letting his own imagination and creativity create the musical interpretation in conjunction with the printed score and knowledge of performance practice.

Q: have a student who often seems to have difficulty beginning a piece in a performance or lesson. Once she is into the piece, the music sometimes seems to flow a bit more naturally.

A: The student may not be hearing the piece internally before actually beginning to perform the work. Most performers do this so naturally and commonly when they play a piece of music, that it does not occur to us that occasional performers will begin to play without setting a tempo in their minds and without hearing the opening bars of a piece they are about to play. The character is not set in the mind, and they begin without an established inner pulse or rhythm. If you have an elementary or intermediate student who falls into this category, you might have her practice hearing the beginning of the piece in her mind consistently in the lesson before beginning to play, even tapping out the rhythm for you to demonstrate the tempo. That student also can practice beginning the piece several times in succession in several lessons. I believe inner hearing is central to successful and rewarding music making.

Q: What about negative self-talk?

A: Watch for negative self-talk in students, especially when approaching a performance or competition. Negative statements, even in passing, can unfortunately become prophetic. Thus, for a student to say "I hope this goes well," can open the door to subconsciously allowing himself to make mistakes. A more positive statement certainly would be, "I believe this will go well ... I have prepared fully and am ready to play." A story is cited in The Mental Edge about a tennis player who frequently talked to himself during matches, saying under his breath such statements as, "You blew it!" and "Stupid, why did you miss that?" Researchers instructed him to replace those statements with positive statements such as "Stay cool," and "Okay, you double-faulted this time, but let's concentrate on the next serve!" They reported that after only one week of working with this new approach, the player's winning percentage rose from 29 percent to 60 percent, simply by changing the way he talked to himself. (3)

Q: I assume you advocate using imagery in teaching after hearing your responses above.

A: I believe music makes a connection with a listener through the performer who conveys feelings, emotion and meaning. In most situations it helps a performer to use imagery in practice to achieve specific colors, sonorities or tones. Sometimes the student will use specific words to achieve a certain feeling or mood for a specific spot or section of music. Other times the student will actually use a story she or the composer has created to bring to life more fully the music and sound of the section. We know composers and performers of past eras used imagery and programs in music consciously in their own composing and performing. Sometimes we, the audience and performer, are privy to the program and setting for the music, and at other times we do not know exactly what the composer had in mind. It is my belief that music always asks the performer to convey what she hears and feels to be the deepest meaning in the piece, any piece of music.

NOTES

(1.) Baum, Kenneth with Richard Turbo, The Mental Edge: Maximize Your Sports Potential with the Mind-Body Connection (New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc., 1999): 79.

(2.) Ibid., 43-44.

(3.) Ibid., 31.

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Do you have a teaching question you would like to have answered? Perhaps you have a practice tip for students you would like to share or a studio idea you are trying differently this year. Questions and other items may be sent to: American Music Teacher, Attn: Polyphony; 441 Vine St., Ste. 505, Cincinnati, OH 45202-2811; fax [phone]; or e-mail

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Jane Magrath, NCTM, is internationally known as a pianist, author, clinician and teacher. She is professor and director of piano pedagogy at the University Oklahoma in Norman.

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