All that we are, other than the body, is invisible. - Maurice Nicoll
Once we have created the space in our lives and have made time for regular practice, we naturally want to make the most of that time. Here we look at the importance of our own conscious role during practice and how this often overlooked component of the process, us, is of the utmost relevance and importance in ensuring proper, effective practice.
Part 1
That ‘deer in the headlights’ moment when we realize how much there is to know can come as a bit of a shock. Yet this mortal perspective, humbling and illuminating, presents us with the choice to either stay where we are or bravely set out in pursuit of the unknown.
Such a revelation either motivates or paralyzes. Some will commit to pursue the instrument more seriously. Others may resign their potential to mediocrity or give up on music altogether.
The lucky few are gifted to work because there is nothing else we would rather do. We are intrinsically motivated out of curiosity, the desire to learn and grow, and the internal joy that comes from working simply for the love of doing so. Others may be driven to practice by external benefits such as the desire to achieve particular valued outcomes. Within this complex mix of what compels each of us to practice, whether we are gifted with a natural desire to work at what we love or compelled by external motivators, we must face the complex relationship that exists between ourselves, the music and the instrument.
Broadly speaking, in the making of creative improvisational music, we make use of our unique experience, empathy and intuition (competence, connectedness and autonomy). Playing music may appear to be born entirely from technical skill and chops, but consider the following:
Along with more than 100 years of American music to listen to, study and absorb, we also face an overwhelming number of books, videos and clinics, all a constant reminder of how much work there is to do.
With so much that came before us, it can be difficult to know what to practice. Even if we clarify the ‘what’ of practice, the ‘how’ consistently goes unattended to. ‘How to practice’ is seldom considered or discussed. Many want to find the ‘best’ and most effective exercises and best techniques, but little if any importance is placed on the invisible aspects: our bodily and intellectual senses. Practice is often perceived as disengaged, dark and mysterious; it feels tedious, dull and boring, even painful. We avoid it as much as possible, perhaps do it un-consciously, or go into it with trepidation and angst. It need not be this way.
Why Practice
Proper practice makes it easier for us to connect with creative musicianship. The primary focus of proper practice is to develop the skills used in creative music-making, i.e. the complete integration of body, mind, spirit and intuition (experience, skill and sensibilities). This integration of all that we use in music-making should be a major part of our practice. In other words, we must bring together all that we are for the potential of being all we can be. Making music is the primary context and reason for where and why we direct our energy. Our practice should maintain a close connection with it. On a more personal level, playing and practicing can also stand alone, separate from the music making context. For many, the simple, meditative act of working is a joy that, beyond all else, fulfills a deep personal need for clarity, connection, competence and self-determination.
Creative music-making is a creative cognitive activity, existing within the limitations of our own cognitive capacity. Therefore, improving the quality of our music-related capacities, specifically, improving the quality of our sensibilities vastly increases potential for creative music-making.
Music-making is attentiveness. Practice should be about attentiveness. Directing attention through the processing of input via all our available senses not only improves technical skill, accuracy, etc., it increases our ‘head-room’. Head-room is the capacity and quality of our attentiveness for music-making. The alternative is robotic-like rendering, devoid of attention to all that makes music music.
Cognitive capacity, how much we can hold ‘in mind’ at any one moment, (Earl. K Miller) serves as a field, a space for the assemblage, interplay and creative re-assemblage of broad and highly detailed information relating to tasks at hand. On this mental sketchpad, information is drawn from the bodily and intellectual senses and combines with experience, facility, and cultural awareness, along with our intuitive musical language and empathic perspectives to support, respond, and collaborate in the creation of music. The level of receptivity to and our internal collaboration with all these sources are what give shape to our sensibility.
It should be understood that any gains made from practice will arise from wherever we focus our mental energy, whereas work done without mental focus reinforces unconscious behavior. Music, a conscious act, requires that we practice using the same levels of awareness, just directed differently. Sharpening and tuning our sense faculties cuts the path for our sound. Our sound exemplifies our touch. Our touch represents our degree of hearing and attentiveness.
When effort is focused solely on the technical, those technical aspects will improve, yet we fail to make the desired creative musical connections with them. And worse, mindless repetition while mentally disengaged from the work ‘improves’ our disengagement. It makes permanent, rather than improving, the ‘quality’ of our sound. It misses entirely the use and development of our sense faculties.
Deliberate attention to tone, touch, timing, phrasing, fluidity, relaxation, control, clarity, conversing, etc., delivers gains in these areas, as does deep attentiveness to melodic phrasing, call and response, emotional expression, and to the constant deepening of our level of hearing. All these result in what we call touch.
It takes a great deal more internal effort than ripping exercises from a book. The very presence of mind that we use in music-making is what we must use in practice. To improve the level of our musical ability, we must practice at that same level or more, at the very least in a way that is equivalent to the level of musical engagement we envision. Technical ability and chops are but a fraction of what we need and use in a creative context.
Further entries here will examine how to use the right kind of practice, and when combined with the necessary technical work, we increase skill in all areas, namely the quality of our cognition, of our sensibilities, our conceptual understanding and perceptive abilities. When making music these cognitive faculties are open and receptive to the music at hand, and we are no longer attending to the details of practice.
. . . Brett F. Campbell, 2018
That ‘deer in the headlights’ moment when we realize how much there is to know can come as a bit of a shock. Yet this mortal perspective, humbling and illuminating, presents us with the choice to either stay where we are or bravely set out in pursuit of the unknown.
Such a revelation either motivates or paralyzes. Some will commit to pursue the instrument more seriously. Others may resign their potential to mediocrity or give up on music altogether.
The lucky few are gifted to work because there is nothing else we would rather do. We are intrinsically motivated out of curiosity, the desire to learn and grow, and the internal joy that comes from working simply for the love of doing so. Others may be driven to practice by external benefits such as the desire to achieve particular valued outcomes. Within this complex mix of what compels each of us to practice, whether we are gifted with a natural desire to work at what we love or compelled by external motivators, we must face the complex relationship that exists between ourselves, the music and the instrument.
Broadly speaking, in the making of creative improvisational music, we make use of our unique experience, empathy and intuition (competence, connectedness and autonomy). Playing music may appear to be born entirely from technical skill and chops, but consider the following:
- Virtually all that we are other than the body is invisible.
- The currency we trade in, our experience, our intuition, our empathy, cannot be seen or explained.
- The things that hold the most value cannot be quantified.
- Each one of us is a vessel for spirit, and making music is the sharing of spirit.
Along with more than 100 years of American music to listen to, study and absorb, we also face an overwhelming number of books, videos and clinics, all a constant reminder of how much work there is to do.
With so much that came before us, it can be difficult to know what to practice. Even if we clarify the ‘what’ of practice, the ‘how’ consistently goes unattended to. ‘How to practice’ is seldom considered or discussed. Many want to find the ‘best’ and most effective exercises and best techniques, but little if any importance is placed on the invisible aspects: our bodily and intellectual senses. Practice is often perceived as disengaged, dark and mysterious; it feels tedious, dull and boring, even painful. We avoid it as much as possible, perhaps do it un-consciously, or go into it with trepidation and angst. It need not be this way.
Why Practice
Proper practice makes it easier for us to connect with creative musicianship. The primary focus of proper practice is to develop the skills used in creative music-making, i.e. the complete integration of body, mind, spirit and intuition (experience, skill and sensibilities). This integration of all that we use in music-making should be a major part of our practice. In other words, we must bring together all that we are for the potential of being all we can be. Making music is the primary context and reason for where and why we direct our energy. Our practice should maintain a close connection with it. On a more personal level, playing and practicing can also stand alone, separate from the music making context. For many, the simple, meditative act of working is a joy that, beyond all else, fulfills a deep personal need for clarity, connection, competence and self-determination.
Creative music-making is a creative cognitive activity, existing within the limitations of our own cognitive capacity. Therefore, improving the quality of our music-related capacities, specifically, improving the quality of our sensibilities vastly increases potential for creative music-making.
Music-making is attentiveness. Practice should be about attentiveness. Directing attention through the processing of input via all our available senses not only improves technical skill, accuracy, etc., it increases our ‘head-room’. Head-room is the capacity and quality of our attentiveness for music-making. The alternative is robotic-like rendering, devoid of attention to all that makes music music.
Cognitive capacity, how much we can hold ‘in mind’ at any one moment, (Earl. K Miller) serves as a field, a space for the assemblage, interplay and creative re-assemblage of broad and highly detailed information relating to tasks at hand. On this mental sketchpad, information is drawn from the bodily and intellectual senses and combines with experience, facility, and cultural awareness, along with our intuitive musical language and empathic perspectives to support, respond, and collaborate in the creation of music. The level of receptivity to and our internal collaboration with all these sources are what give shape to our sensibility.
It should be understood that any gains made from practice will arise from wherever we focus our mental energy, whereas work done without mental focus reinforces unconscious behavior. Music, a conscious act, requires that we practice using the same levels of awareness, just directed differently. Sharpening and tuning our sense faculties cuts the path for our sound. Our sound exemplifies our touch. Our touch represents our degree of hearing and attentiveness.
When effort is focused solely on the technical, those technical aspects will improve, yet we fail to make the desired creative musical connections with them. And worse, mindless repetition while mentally disengaged from the work ‘improves’ our disengagement. It makes permanent, rather than improving, the ‘quality’ of our sound. It misses entirely the use and development of our sense faculties.
Deliberate attention to tone, touch, timing, phrasing, fluidity, relaxation, control, clarity, conversing, etc., delivers gains in these areas, as does deep attentiveness to melodic phrasing, call and response, emotional expression, and to the constant deepening of our level of hearing. All these result in what we call touch.
It takes a great deal more internal effort than ripping exercises from a book. The very presence of mind that we use in music-making is what we must use in practice. To improve the level of our musical ability, we must practice at that same level or more, at the very least in a way that is equivalent to the level of musical engagement we envision. Technical ability and chops are but a fraction of what we need and use in a creative context.
Further entries here will examine how to use the right kind of practice, and when combined with the necessary technical work, we increase skill in all areas, namely the quality of our cognition, of our sensibilities, our conceptual understanding and perceptive abilities. When making music these cognitive faculties are open and receptive to the music at hand, and we are no longer attending to the details of practice.
. . . Brett F. Campbell, 2018
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