Practicing Whilst Driving

reiver
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:30 am
Status: Offline

Thu Oct 01, 2009 2:20 pm

That should get your attention. Let me explain.

Several years ago I watched a documentary about David Beckham (you know him? footballer)who was at the time attending a sports psychologist. The sports psychologist was helping him to practice - when he was not actually playing football, but sitting at home or in a car or plane etc. By concentrating on and visualising the process involved in taking a free kick/penalty, he was affecting the muscle memory, even although the muscles were not actually involved in the process. So I was wondering, has anyone tried this with guitar practice?

If you are sitting watching TV, can you "practice" in your head by brain power alone, going through some patterns/modes/scales, or an awkward chord change or picking pattern.

I would be interested to hear from any of you coaches or trainers who can explain how or if this process actually works

r

ps Always concentrate on the road when driving ;)

pps I'm not talking about memorising scales etc by rote, but about actually improving playing performance


TGMatt
Posts: 0
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2009 3:14 pm
Status: Offline

Thu Oct 01, 2009 2:31 pm

I think Chris will probably respond..But yes I have started trying this , I have studied a bunch of stuff Under RIchard Bandler and pals and done a bit of hypnosis, so I decided to start appplying it here..we actually all do it anyways , just not in such a concentrated way..

I have been thinking of involving a few folks with more distinguished backgrounds in this and also a hypnotherpist to come up with some material for the site as "optional" training..

Their is a couple of hypno porgrams avaialble that are general "learn music faster"..I think I am going to have some custom ones created for us here.


User avatar
neverfoundthetime
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:14 pm
Status: Offline

Thu Oct 01, 2009 2:49 pm

Several years ago I watched a documentary about David Beckham (you know him? footballer)who was at the time attending a sports psychologist. The sports psychologist was helping him to practice - when he was not actually playing football, but sitting at home or in a car or plane etc. By concentrating on and visualising the process involved in taking a free kick/penalty, he was affecting the muscle memory, even although the muscles were not actually involved in the process. So I was wondering, has anyone tried this with guitar practice?
Oh yes, visualising movements activates the same neural networks as the actual movement. It would certainly work for guitar practices. I'm thinking about that at the moment. Not only visualising the motor processes works but visualising the performance state as well and particularly the results. "Seeing" yourself perform with light and happy fingers where everything just flows will prepare you for just that to happen. I use this stuff every day with sports people. We should talk about it Matt.


User avatar
neverfoundthetime
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:14 pm
Status: Offline

Thu Oct 01, 2009 2:57 pm

AS you use the same visual area of the brain imaging something as you do when actually seeing, you DON'T want to be visualising that when driving!!! Even deep conversations (telephoning) where visual imagination is triggered is dangerous as you can no longer see what's there.


reiver
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:30 am
Status: Offline

Thu Oct 01, 2009 3:01 pm

Thanks guys. This sounds interesting. Was beginning to think I'd imagined while I was writing the post.

Now if I can just master practicing whilst typing, that should solve at least on problem.

r


BigBear
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 11:02 am
Status: Offline

Thu Oct 01, 2009 4:11 pm

Visualization is huge in golf. They say one of Tiger's great strengths, among many, is his ability to visualize his shots. I'm trying to use that when I play the guitar (and golf), to visualize the song before I start because I'm still having a devil of a time remembering songs. I don't know if I've been successful yet! :cheer:


User avatar
neverfoundthetime
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:14 pm
Status: Offline

Thu Oct 01, 2009 5:57 pm

Downhill skiers are big on visualising too because if they don't they die!!
For us it's not so important but just as effective.

A little visualisation technique for you?
Wherever you are (not driving!) just close your eyes and watch your breathing for a minute or two. Breath deep and slow and realise you are right here, right now watching only your breathing and everything else in the world fades to grey, into the distant mists. It's just you and your breathing. Here. Now. Peaceful. Relaxed. Smiling. And as you relax even more, you see in your minds eye (use an eye-max screen) your fingers flying or gliding (just as you wish) over the guitar strings as you hear beautiful and perfect notes ringing out in perfect time and harmony just as you feel the guitar vibrating on your chest at just the right frequency as your song flows effortlessly from fingers. And you smile a huge inner smile because you know it's YOU creating that sound. And you know that every time you smile inside, you create that perfect flow of sound.

You may open your eyes now and play your song.


goldleaf
Posts: 0
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:04 am
Status: Offline

Thu Oct 01, 2009 6:42 pm

There have been a number of studies and some interesting cases like the soldier who was help as a POW during VietNam (war) he said he got through by visualizing playing 18 holes on his favorite golf course every day for hours a day. After 5 years of being held as POW he was released and after gaining back his basic strength he went out to play golf and immediately shot 10 under his normal average which he improve from that point on. One of the main criteria for this to work is that you are visualizing the proper thing, it not enough just to think about it but you have to have the muscle memory imprinted to some degree, then the neurotransmitters in your brain only partially differentiate between "good" visualization and the act of actually performing. Gary


User avatar
neverfoundthetime
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:14 pm
Status: Offline

Fri Oct 02, 2009 1:23 am

Yes, the Vietnam POW was kept in a cage where he wasn't able to stand up all those years. I think the story is to be found in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series (Mark Victor Hansen). The two basic usages of visualisation for sport (so why not guitar) is grooving movements and priming performance. In the first you are repeating an action you already have down or refining it. You could also have watched some else do the action and run that through your mind imagining yourself doing it. In the second you are priming yourself for high performance by plugging into the emotions and imagining free flow and perfect movement. Just allowing the idea that you can do it perfectly well will help. Watching Neil and imagining it's you (like a child would do) will help (unless you allow the critical adult pilot in your had to spoil it all!).


AndyT
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:06 am
Status: Offline

Fri Oct 02, 2009 1:55 am

I forget what school it was but a basketball coach had half the team practice free throws for 10 minutes a day (in the off season) and the other half visualize doing free throws for the same amount of time everyday. At the end of 1 month, he tested the team and there was no difference in their free throw abilities. So he had them do both and their skills improved dramatically.

A CD with some cool guitar music (no rock, no lyrics), instrumentals, with some sub-liminal cues and visualization promptings for learning and practicing would be good. Something you could play all day and not have to think about it.

Also, a good solid self-hypnosis CD with the same thing, only enhanced for at home or even night time listening. Play it while relaxing or asleep.

These should be made so that they apply equally to guitar or uke or any other strummed instrument. (mandolin, banjo....) Use the type of music that the disk is for. A guitar player hears guitar music. A banjo player hears banjo music...

Have 3 levels of disk. Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced. Use appropriate music for each.

Target members in the 'Testing' phase would get a free copy. (Hint Hint Matt)


Post Reply Previous topicNext topic