Dear Prof. Kate, plus to mentioning that your videos are immensely helping me, I would like to add that when I practice a piece, I find it super helpful to listen to the score on Musescore. It helps me pay attention to details that I would miss just reading a music sheet because my knowledge of music notation is scarce. This type of practice has helped me develop my inner ear, I think, because sometimes I can recreate the piece in my head, or when I am playing the Musescore file, and it stops for some reason, my brain continues playing the song as if nothing had happened. That skill is super cool to me, and enjoy it so much, but I didn't think that I could use my inner ear more intentionally, so thank you so much for your video and tips.
Finally someone who speaks eloquently about mental practice ! I would have not been successful at learning piano parts and orchestral scores without it ! In fact, I had to do it so much when I studied conducting, in the subway, hotel rooms, airplanes, trains. It forces you to 'hear' in your head what you look at on a page. I consider mental practice necessary to solve any blockage you may experience at playing a passage. I can also attest that when I was doing mental practice daily, I could 'hear' better orchestral scores of Bartok, Webern, Schoenberg, Beethoven or Schumann than I do now :)
Thank you for sharing your experiences! You speak very well to the importance of mental practice and its long term benefits. I am glad you've seen and noticed the difference that mental practice makes and have found ways to seamlessly integrate it into your daily life!
This is the secret key ❤❤❤❤ 😮 You’ve explained this theory very clearly. I’ve never heard anyone explain it this way. I’ve been doing this technique while learning Claire de Lune. I find it amazing how much it actually works and saves a ton of practice time. It’s as if I’m training my body to begin catching up to what my spirit and soul feels inside. I can’t wait to try this practice technique regularly. Your wisdom has helped me a to. A million 🙏🏻 thanks from a YT pianist 👏💯🎹
Bravo Kate. Outstanding delivery and extremely helpful for me and I’m sure many others. This is the kind of information that separates a normal player from a great player. This video is a must see for anyone serious about their piano endeavor. Thank you and I do enjoy all your videos.
I JUST NOW started to do mental practice. Very neat, but also taxting!! I use it with passages I miss at the keyboards! aitsxa great alturnative when you "dont feel like practicing"!!
Great tips! My dad recommended this as a kid to me and I was still young enough not to be cynical about it. It worked and always stuck with me though I've never made it a part of my ongoing practice.
Thank you so much for all of your videos! I've been extremely interested in the concept of mental practice for awhile and have seen some really good benefits in my piano learning journey because of it. One thing that does concern me a bit about mental practice (and I would love to get your input on) is the balance between learning to sightread vs. mental practice. I'm fearful that if I committed to lots of mental practice in the early stages of learning a piece, that would hinder the development of my sightreading because I'm "pre-learning" the music before I sit down at the piano. Just curious what your thoughts are on this?
I understand your concern- all very valid! I agree that I wouldn't overdo mental practice at the expense of your sightreading skills. Mental practice can be done for pieces that are already in progress and are no longer at the sightreading stage. Maybe set aside some time or pieces specifically designated for sightreading as to improve those skills, and use mental practice where else it is needed.
I've heard of this technique, this is the best description I've found on how to approach it. Thank you! Is there any relationship between the focus state developed in mental practice and the focus state one adopts during actual physical playing?
I'm so glad that you found it helpful! Yes, I would say the two mental states are very similar. The only difference is that the hands aren't physically moving.
Does that mean that mental focus while playing physically is very active, that we're almost playing the piece in our mind at the same time as we play it physically on the piano? I haven't seen much that discusses this specific aspect of playing. There's a lot of advice about focusing on specific things like rhythm, dynamics, voicing, etc, and that's useful but I've always understood that as more of a listening skill. Saying to focus as if I was playing the piece in my mind seems more like an anticipation skill, to set up my physical results by imagining it in my mind at the same time (or maybe an instant ahead) as the physical performance. I've actually tried to practice this way and I think it helps, but I've only tried it in small doses and I wasn't sure if it was something I should cultivate or not.
I started over with your Core Principles set and it seems like you've already addressed this: Listen Ahead and Think Ahead, ua-cam.com/video/30Cipl5mdlU/v-deo.html . Thanks!
When I read your first comment, I was thinking of that exact video! I'm glad you found it. Let me know if you have lingering questions about that concept - it's tricky to describe but is definitely something that is possible to practice and learn over time. Good luck!
This may not be directly related, but..; I often wake up hearing the piece (I'm working) in my head in the morning. I also noticed when I wake up, sometimes, my hands were feeling tired like after a reckless practicing for some hours... so I am thinking perhaps I am doing some sort of mental practice while I am asleep or practicing piano in my dream?? I just started reading a section of "The Musician's Way" talking about "Mental Imaging Exercise". How timely it is. Pledge to myself; Add 15 min mental practice everyday (while I'm awake, of course :) )
How exciting! Yes, this is totally related. Part of the learning process happens in your sleep, and when you have been practicing a lot, your brain continues to "work" on it as you sleep. A good strategy to try, to capitalize on the ability of your brain to process things overnight, is to do some mental practice shortly before bedtime.
Thank you so much. This is interesting. How can I help a beginner student (child) to learn this skill. I can't be inside his brain, so how can I be sure is done correctly?
Thank you for your question! For a beginner child, start by guiding them through a simple mental practice routine. For example, ask them to imagine playing a short, familiar melody and describe what they see, hear, or feel. You can also encourage them to silently "play" a familiar piece on the closed keyboard or a table while imagining the music and using correct finger numbers on each "imagined" note. A little bit goes a long way - small steps like these can build their mental practice skills over time!
![Mental Practice at the Piano: Overcoming Resistance [5 Tips]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VIvS-Txk8FQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![Mental Practice at the Piano: Overcoming Resistance [5 Tips]](/img/tr.png)
Watch next: Mental Practice at the Piano: Overcoming Resistance [5 Tips] ua-cam.com/video/VIvS-Txk8FQ/v-deo.html
Dear Prof. Kate, plus to mentioning that your videos are immensely helping me, I would like to add that when I practice a piece, I find it super helpful to listen to the score on Musescore. It helps me pay attention to details that I would miss just reading a music sheet because my knowledge of music notation is scarce. This type of practice has helped me develop my inner ear, I think, because sometimes I can recreate the piece in my head, or when I am playing the Musescore file, and it stops for some reason, my brain continues playing the song as if nothing had happened. That skill is super cool to me, and enjoy it so much, but I didn't think that I could use my inner ear more intentionally, so thank you so much for your video and tips.
Love this advice! It's also helpful to watch performances on UA-cam that follow the score. Good luck!
Finally someone who speaks eloquently about mental practice ! I would have not been successful at learning piano parts and orchestral scores without it ! In fact, I had to do it so much when I studied conducting, in the subway, hotel rooms, airplanes, trains. It forces you to 'hear' in your head what you look at on a page. I consider mental practice necessary to solve any blockage you may experience at playing a passage. I can also attest that when I was doing mental practice daily, I could 'hear' better orchestral scores of Bartok, Webern, Schoenberg, Beethoven or Schumann than I do now :)
Thank you for sharing your experiences! You speak very well to the importance of mental practice and its long term benefits. I am glad you've seen and noticed the difference that mental practice makes and have found ways to seamlessly integrate it into your daily life!
Thank you. I am enjoying the book. And mental practice is getting rid of my mistakes!
Remembering hear skil from other instrument experience specially from childhood,helps remember the right note you are playing
This is the secret key ❤❤❤❤ 😮 You’ve explained this theory very clearly. I’ve never heard anyone explain it this way. I’ve been doing this technique while learning Claire de Lune. I find it amazing how much it actually works and saves a ton of practice time. It’s as if I’m training my body to begin catching up to what my spirit and soul feels inside. I can’t wait to try this practice technique regularly. Your wisdom has helped me a to. A million 🙏🏻 thanks from a YT pianist 👏💯🎹
Aww, thanks! Glad you find it helpful! Agreed that it saves a lot of time. Good luck! 🥰
Bravo Kate. Outstanding delivery and extremely helpful for me and I’m sure many others. This is the kind of information that separates a normal player from a great player. This video is a must see for anyone serious about their piano endeavor. Thank you and I do enjoy all your videos.
Thanks so much!
Thanks for the strength training analogy. I’m at 3# literally working towards 8#. That made sense!
I'm glad it was useful! Happy practicing! 😊
I JUST NOW started to do mental practice. Very neat, but also taxting!!
I use it with passages I miss at the keyboards!
aitsxa great alturnative when you "dont feel like practicing"!!
Awesome - so glad to hear this! Good luck!
Love this concept.
It's amazing how much the mind can help aid in our technical approach to the instrument!
Great tips! My dad recommended this as a kid to me and I was still young enough not to be cynical about it. It worked and always stuck with me though I've never made it a part of my ongoing practice.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for all of your videos! I've been extremely interested in the concept of mental practice for awhile and have seen some really good benefits in my piano learning journey because of it. One thing that does concern me a bit about mental practice (and I would love to get your input on) is the balance between learning to sightread vs. mental practice. I'm fearful that if I committed to lots of mental practice in the early stages of learning a piece, that would hinder the development of my sightreading because I'm "pre-learning" the music before I sit down at the piano. Just curious what your thoughts are on this?
I understand your concern- all very valid! I agree that I wouldn't overdo mental practice at the expense of your sightreading skills. Mental practice can be done for pieces that are already in progress and are no longer at the sightreading stage. Maybe set aside some time or pieces specifically designated for sightreading as to improve those skills, and use mental practice where else it is needed.
I've heard of this technique, this is the best description I've found on how to approach it. Thank you! Is there any relationship between the focus state developed in mental practice and the focus state one adopts during actual physical playing?
I'm so glad that you found it helpful! Yes, I would say the two mental states are very similar. The only difference is that the hands aren't physically moving.
Does that mean that mental focus while playing physically is very active, that we're almost playing the piece in our mind at the same time as we play it physically on the piano? I haven't seen much that discusses this specific aspect of playing. There's a lot of advice about focusing on specific things like rhythm, dynamics, voicing, etc, and that's useful but I've always understood that as more of a listening skill. Saying to focus as if I was playing the piece in my mind seems more like an anticipation skill, to set up my physical results by imagining it in my mind at the same time (or maybe an instant ahead) as the physical performance. I've actually tried to practice this way and I think it helps, but I've only tried it in small doses and I wasn't sure if it was something I should cultivate or not.
I started over with your Core Principles set and it seems like you've already addressed this: Listen Ahead and Think Ahead, ua-cam.com/video/30Cipl5mdlU/v-deo.html . Thanks!
When I read your first comment, I was thinking of that exact video! I'm glad you found it. Let me know if you have lingering questions about that concept - it's tricky to describe but is definitely something that is possible to practice and learn over time. Good luck!
From Saudi Arabia ... Thank you 😊
You are welcome! 😊
This may not be directly related, but..; I often wake up hearing the piece (I'm working) in my head in the morning. I also noticed when I wake up, sometimes, my hands were feeling tired like after a reckless practicing for some hours... so I am thinking perhaps I am doing some sort of mental practice while I am asleep or practicing piano in my dream??
I just started reading a section of "The Musician's Way" talking about "Mental Imaging Exercise". How timely it is. Pledge to myself; Add 15 min mental practice everyday (while I'm awake, of course :) )
How exciting! Yes, this is totally related. Part of the learning process happens in your sleep, and when you have been practicing a lot, your brain continues to "work" on it as you sleep. A good strategy to try, to capitalize on the ability of your brain to process things overnight, is to do some mental practice shortly before bedtime.
Thank you so much. This is interesting. How can I help a beginner student (child) to learn this skill. I can't be inside his brain, so how can I be sure is done correctly?
Thank you for your question! For a beginner child, start by guiding them through a simple mental practice routine. For example, ask them to imagine playing a short, familiar melody and describe what they see, hear, or feel. You can also encourage them to silently "play" a familiar piece on the closed keyboard or a table while imagining the music and using correct finger numbers on each "imagined" note. A little bit goes a long way - small steps like these can build their mental practice skills over time!
I walk every day about 2 hours, and imagine the lesson scales relations, is that a part of Manet practices ?
Doing mental practice in your head while you are walking is a wonderful exercise. I do that too, when I am running or walking - it's very helpful.
Did you see Oppenheimer? “Can you hear the music”
Yesssss! 😊
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙏
How many hearts have you broken at the time of this photo ?! :))) That was a deeply felt smile.
Why thank you! ☺️