There is one part that *is* very related to muscles though - practicing enough to build strength and stamina in you fretting hand and strumming arm *will* definitely make playing easier when it comes to performance - which can only positively affect your mental state.
I so wish I would have heard this useful perspective when I was in music school. I spent years agonizing over the disparity between practicing and performing, especially in relation to muscles and positioning. Thank you for your channel, and your insights! ♡
Glad it was helpful, Melissa! I wish I'd know these things years ago too. I'm hoping that sharing what I've learned over the years will help others out too. And I fully intend to keep discovering more...
Thanks for these videos Mark. I often feel like there’ll be no problems when I go out to perform… most of the time right now only with friends. Then when the focus is on me I have to remember all these tips… it’s really a kindness to learn to forgive ourselves when small mistakes (that seem so huge) mess up a perfect performance . Your posts really promote confidence and a gentle analysis . There are so many inroads to improving our performances… so thank you for your videos… they are thought provoking and so helpful
I love the video, it's very insightful. I see it as super complementary to the video from How to practice the guitar - Most Guitarists Don’t Know THIS About Muscle Memory. Yout video is more on the explanation of Muscle Memory and psychology whereas the one from Mike is oriented from another approach around examples and very descriptive. Both are amazing !
Thank you for this! It's so important to practice performance as well as technique. I usually use weekdays for learning and technique, and weekends to practice performing pieces I know well. Two very different mindsets, and I find that this makes performance a more familiar activity, and when I am performing in public, it feels natural and very, very enjoyable, because the nerves and jitters have been performance--practiced out every weekend.
That's a great way to approach things, Joseph. So important to practice performance as well as "practice". And weekdays vs weekends gives you a very clear way to split it out. Great job! Glad you found the video helpful too.
Advice on 'muscle memory' was a particularly useful video. So much to do with music is to do with the correct mindset, establishing calm, focused mindfulness. Thank you Mark
I agree with a lot of what you say about focused practice and " muscle memory" but when learning strumming/picking patterns it helps to get a strumming/picking pattern to a point where you can play it and hold a conversation with someone without missing a beat, principally because you are not focused on it. The more I think about Travis picking, for example, the more likely I am to make a mistake. Where does this fit into the brain and muscle interaction? Roy Cuckow
Thanx for what you sharing MMF! I´m very careful to ALLWAYS check the right finger setting on both hands and after that ALLWAYS do it like that... And I rarely failed.
Good stuff, Hans. It takes discipline to pay that much attention to those details so it can be tempting to let standards slip over time. Good for you for staying focused.
Good stuff, However, there is an actual association to the specific handgrip on the piano that matches specific muscle fibers. That’s why hand grips are important go check out New Jazz(here on RUclips) for more info on hand grips!
Hey Mark i absolutely love your content! In the dum world, in the world of drum education, there seems, to be SPECIAL emphasis on " muscle memory'. Drummers are encouraged to practice in front of the tv. I personally cringe everytime i hear that because it is in direct opposition to everything related to deliberate practice. All this to ask, what about the drummer/educator who swears by "tv practice" because it " worked for them"? That they got their reps in over time and "so you see..it works" is their argument. Do you have any material on diminishing returns and how this is related to tv /unfocused practice? thanks alot !! "
I’ve just looked this up bc I was playing my violin and I recognised 2 notes in the piece and suddenly started playing something starting with them without thinking I learned that song when I was 8 I couldn’t remember it if I tried and I just did it???
Muscle memory is not "just in the brain." Things that are practiced repetitively can build up more neural connections to enhance the signal being sent. There's also evidence that the myolin sheath around such nerve pathways become thicker, a benefit that reduces "leakage" in the signal traveling along those pathways. Think of that training as building a large highway as opposed to a smaller country lane, so while the brain still activates those "automated" responses, there is more going on to facilitate this process.
Yes, neural connections can be created and myelin sheaths can become thicker. Those are both processes that happen in the brain rather than the muscles. Those "large highways" that you describe are in the brain.
Whenever someone tells me to practice untill i cant get it wrong, i remind them that humans spend their entire lives walking and still sometimes trip over air 😂
There is a pretty big guitar RUclipsr that stresses in almost every video that the key to guitar mastery is to sit in front of your TV for HOURS playing millions of mindless repetitions over a period of months or years. It’s the worst guitar advice on the internet and he gets tens of thousands of views for this terrible advice. Thank you for scientifically debunking this!
WATCH NEXT: How to practice music every day - ruclips.net/video/AUVRK3ac4rc/видео.html
Learnt this in bus driving at work! don't let cognitive distraction miss you up 💯
There is one part that *is* very related to muscles though - practicing enough to build strength and stamina in you fretting hand and strumming arm *will* definitely make playing easier when it comes to performance - which can only positively affect your mental state.
I so wish I would have heard this useful perspective when I was in music school. I spent years agonizing over the disparity between practicing and performing, especially in relation to muscles and positioning. Thank you for your channel, and your insights! ♡
Glad it was helpful, Melissa! I wish I'd know these things years ago too. I'm hoping that sharing what I've learned over the years will help others out too. And I fully intend to keep discovering more...
This really makes sense to me, Mark! Thanks!
Love this subject. Great content and insight!
This makes so much sense - thank you for posting - really interesting.
Excellent points, will check out your other video. Great job!
Thanks for these videos Mark. I often feel like there’ll be no problems when I go out to perform… most of the time right now only with friends. Then when the focus is on me I have to remember all these tips… it’s really a kindness to learn to forgive ourselves when small mistakes (that seem so huge) mess up a perfect performance . Your posts really promote confidence and a gentle analysis . There are so many inroads to improving our performances… so thank you for your videos… they are thought provoking and so helpful
So glad to hear that you're finding the videos helpful. As you say, learning to be kind to ourselves is an ongoing (and important) journey...
Always great advice Mark! Thank you!
Glad it was helpful, Paul!
I love the video, it's very insightful. I see it as super complementary to the video from How to practice the guitar - Most Guitarists Don’t Know THIS About Muscle Memory.
Yout video is more on the explanation of Muscle Memory and psychology whereas the one from Mike is oriented from another approach around examples and very descriptive.
Both are amazing !
That really made sense to me Mark! Thanks for this brilliant analyses!
My pleasure! Glad it was helpful.
Can't recommend Mark's course on "Unlocking your performance" highly enough - it's changed everything for the better.
So glad to hear that, Janette. And massive kudos to you for putting in the work to achieve those results.
Thank you for this! It's so important to practice performance as well as technique. I usually use weekdays for learning and technique, and weekends to practice performing pieces I know well. Two very different mindsets, and I find that this makes performance a more familiar activity, and when I am performing in public, it feels natural and very, very enjoyable, because the nerves and jitters have been performance--practiced out every weekend.
That's a great way to approach things, Joseph. So important to practice performance as well as "practice". And weekdays vs weekends gives you a very clear way to split it out. Great job! Glad you found the video helpful too.
Advice on 'muscle memory' was a particularly useful video. So much to do with music is to do with the correct mindset, establishing calm, focused mindfulness. Thank you Mark
You're welcome, Rosamund. Great to get the feedback that you fond this one particularly useful.
Excellent Mark! Living with the noisy roommate is the art of life. I’ve got a ways to go. Will be checking out Unlock Your Performance soon.
Glad you enjoyed it, Ken.
Good information, thanks for sharing.
You're welcome. Glad it was helpful!
I agree with a lot of what you say about focused practice and " muscle memory" but when learning strumming/picking patterns it helps to get a strumming/picking pattern to a point where you can play it and hold a conversation with someone without missing a beat, principally because you are not focused on it. The more I think about Travis picking, for example, the more likely I am to make a mistake. Where does this fit into the brain and muscle interaction?
Roy Cuckow
Thanx for what you sharing MMF! I´m very careful to ALLWAYS check the right finger setting on both hands and after that ALLWAYS do it like that... And I rarely failed.
Good stuff, Hans. It takes discipline to pay that much attention to those details so it can be tempting to let standards slip over time. Good for you for staying focused.
mark thank you so much
You are very welcome, Hana. Glad it was useful.
Good stuff, However, there is an actual association to the specific handgrip on the piano that matches specific muscle fibers. That’s why hand grips are important go check out New Jazz(here on RUclips) for more info on hand grips!
Hey Mark i absolutely love your content!
In the dum world, in the world of drum education, there seems, to be SPECIAL emphasis on " muscle memory'. Drummers are encouraged to practice in front of the tv. I personally cringe everytime i hear that because it is in direct opposition to everything related to deliberate practice.
All this to ask, what about the drummer/educator who swears by "tv practice" because it " worked for them"? That they got their reps in over time and "so you see..it works" is their argument. Do you have any material on diminishing returns and how this is related to tv /unfocused practice?
thanks alot !!
"
I’ve just looked this up bc I was playing my violin and I recognised 2 notes in the piece and suddenly started playing something starting with them without thinking I learned that song when I was 8 I couldn’t remember it if I tried and I just did it???
Muscle memory is not "just in the brain." Things that are practiced repetitively can build up more neural connections to enhance the signal being sent. There's also evidence that the myolin sheath around such nerve pathways become thicker, a benefit that reduces "leakage" in the signal traveling along those pathways. Think of that training as building a large highway as opposed to a smaller country lane, so while the brain still activates those "automated" responses, there is more going on to facilitate this process.
Yes, neural connections can be created and myelin sheaths can become thicker. Those are both processes that happen in the brain rather than the muscles. Those "large highways" that you describe are in the brain.
Having talent is the only way to good muscle memory
Does it need to be perfect on stage or in studio?
Apparently its in the spine see Huberman
This may be a very silly question but is this applied to singing practice?
The blue sweater makes you look much healthier
Interesting. I wonder why that is?
@@PlayInTheZone The gray washes out your skin tone
Whenever someone tells me to practice untill i cant get it wrong, i remind them that humans spend their entire lives walking and still sometimes trip over air 😂
There is a pretty big guitar RUclipsr that stresses in almost every video that the key to guitar mastery is to sit in front of your TV for HOURS playing millions of mindless repetitions over a period of months or years. It’s the worst guitar advice on the internet and he gets tens of thousands of views for this terrible advice. Thank you for scientifically debunking this!
why you always so negative
I'm not sure I understand. What's negative about this?
Always great advice Mark! Thank you!
My pleasure, Paul! Glad you enjoyed it.