The Art (and Science) of Practice
Heather O’Donnell
The workshops (which take place every first Saturday of the month from March to June) explore different aspects of a conscious approach to practicing. The goal is to contribute to a way of working for musicians that is tailored to their own individual needs and objectives. The course is aimed at instrumentalists, vocalists, conductors, teachers and advanced students, and focuses on the ‘practice of practicing’ from a historical, psychological, neurological and physiological point of view. It offers three levels of training - mental practice, cognitive-behavioral approaches, and embodied cognition - leading to a more conscious and optimized approach to practicing, taking into account different aspects of musician health.
The workshops are divided into nine modules:
March 5, 2022, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Exploring differences and similarities between the acts of practicing and performing, with the goal of incorporating certain aspects of performance – spontaneity, engagement, openness - into the practicing situation
Defining practice: identifying which neuromuscular, cognitive, and emotional process might be involved in instrumental / vocal practice. Discussing Feldenkrais’ concept of learning:
Practicing makes: the impossible possible
the difficult easy
and the easy graceful
April 2, 2022, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
3. The individuality of practice: In this module we think about the efficacy of one-size-fits-all solutions as well as older models of practicing that may negatively influence our approach (militaristic drill, more = better, ‘no pain no gain’), with the intention of identifying effective alternatives.
4. Planning / Goals: identifying what planning processes and goal-setting techniques can assist in practicing, as well as identifying which plans and goals might have a counter-productive effect.
5. Work–in–Progress: a cognitive-behavioral approach to preparing for performance, viewing the performance as one of many events in a lifelong exploration of music rather than an ‘end product.’
May 7, 2022, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. (!)
6. Feedback Loops: balancing activity in practice and performance with opportunities for sensorial feedback: listening, feeling, receiving
7. Emotions: their role in practicing as drivers of neuro-plasticity. Neural mechanisms involved in reward, memory, satisfaction, and emotional connection to material
June 4, 2022, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
8. Mental practice: overview of older and more recent methods. Practice of audiation techniques, sharpening of auditory imagination, mnemonic skills for practice away from the instrument, assisting in reduced stress and tension. (Discussion using example of the virtual "Concert Hall Simulator" of the Royal College of Music, London).
9. Integration/embodiment: the goal of embodiment of musical ideas is a sensitization to the process of physical representation of gesture, cognition, affect in the process of learning a piece on the instrument/with one's own voice. Developing an understanding of the process of physical internalization of musical structures and development of individual approaches.
Workshop language: German or English, as needed
Book here.
To pay the workshop fee for a single workshop (35 €), click here.
For all four workshops, the fee is 100 €. Please pay here.
Memberships:
Access to all weekly classes - please register for each class.
In addition to the weekly classes, with the purchase of a one-month membership you can access a short workshop (no longer than 4 hours) or a one-on-one consultation. With the purchase of a three-month membership, you can have access to 3 workshops or 3 individual consultations.
For students of all colleges or universities in NRW : In fall 2021 you can access our services with a 50% discount. Please show a student ID to the course instructor. Use the code HFMT50 when paying.