Believe it or not, there’s a physical and mental side to practicing an instrument.  Merely thumbing through keys and dropping fingers across a keyboard simply won’t do in getting a student to excellence.

All too often students get stuck repeating mere motor memory skills while letting their mind drift off to some far away la-la land.

Yet if a student is ever going to really progress, the mind must get engaged as well.  In fact, today evidence continues piling high showing how vital mental practice really is.

What is mental practice?

Mental practice is when a student practices with the mind only, without making a single sound or ever pressing one piano key.  It’s a practice every student can benefit from, regardless their skill level.

Legendary pianists including Rubinstein, Horowitz, and Gould are rumored to have disliked practicing.  Their secret to being great anyway?  It’s believed they utilized lots of mental practice.

Practicing in the mind alone and not with any fingers may at first feel counter-intuitive.  However, a study completed in 2014 compared two groups of perfectly healthy individuals.  Both groups had their wrists made immobile for four weeks by wearing hand-wrist casts.  The first group simply wore the casts, while the second group – in addition to wearing their casts – also imagined performing wrist exercises five times each week during the four-week study.  After the casts were removed, the second group who completed the mental exercises sported wrists twice as strong as the first group.

Why should I utilize mental practice?

You can practice whenever and absolutely anywhere. 

There’s no need for any instrument when you’re practicing in the mind.  Whether you’re driving through the countryside, relaxing by the ocean, visiting friends for the holidays, or just stopping by Grandma and Grandpa’s house, chances are you probably won’t be accompanied by your instrument (especially if it’s a piano!).  No worries.  When you’re utilizing mental practicing, all you really need is your mind.

You’re forced to focus

No longer can your fingers just glide (or stumble) across the keys.  Instead, you’re pushed into focusing on correct movements, proper technique, and excellent musicality.  It’s guaranteed to be some hard work, that’s for certain.  Your fingers won’t just go anymore, however, over time you’ll discover your focus will subsequently increase when you’re actually with your instrument and you’ll no longer get to be a victim of muscle memory only.  Cheers to finally some really good, focused practice time.

There’s no need for mistakes

Because the music happens all in your head, there’s no need to make any mistakes.  (Does it get any better?!!)

How do I learn mental practice?

Make it vivid

Forget about casually thinking through your music piece.  Instead, work to hear the sounds reproduced inside your head.  Imagine seeing your fingers playing the notes.  What’s your posture?  Are you sitting or standing?  What are the background noises that you’re hearing?  How are you holding your instrument?  Or if you’re at a piano, what kind of piano is it?  Perhaps it’s an old upright, a small keyboard, or an enormous concert grand.  Are their good acoustics where you’re playing?  Let your imagination run for a while and be specific about what you are imagining.  Furthermore, imagine yourself in different locations, wearing different clothes and playing in various conditions.

Warm up

Whether you’re doing scales or something else that’s easy, take time to relax the muscles, calm the mind, and concentrate on a few basic warm-ups.

Get started

After your mind is totally present, imagine then seeing, feeling and hearing yourself start a specific music piece.  Continue playing the song until you make a mistake.  When (or if) a mistake happens, go back a few measures before the mistake occurred and try the same passage again, at a slower speed.  Repeat the section several times until it feels comfortable, then continue on until another mistake happens, at which you do the process all over again.  When practicing, always take time to correct mistakes right away.  There’s no need to play it straight through to the end every time.

Practice as usual

When working through difficult passages, take time to repeat the section.  Try it slower, faster, and with different rhythms.  Be sure to spend the same time practicing mentally as what you would normally spend with your instrument.

Practice performing

That’s right.  After you can play your entire song without a mistake, then inside your mind imagine yourself wherever you’ll be performing next.  Once you’ve got the scene well imagined in your mind, play through your entire piece.  Take time to hear every note in your head and see each movement that you’ll need to make.

Conclusion

Do it.  Like any skill, mental practice will take time to develop.  At first, the room might feel fuzzy or the notes hard to pick out.  No worries.  Perhaps begin with an easier song, then don’t stop trying to imagine how each note will sound in your head.  And no need to wait until your next long trip to get started.  Start today, right where you are.

It worked for the legends, it can work for you too!

P.S.  Already using mental practice?  I’d love to hear how it’s going in the comments below.