Kaylyn - Musician's Mind Chapter 7

 Chapter 7: The Digital Brain

Summary: This chapter discusses the positive and negative consequences of the advanced technology for singers as well as the consequences constant screen time has done for our attention and therefore our learning process.

Key Concepts: Positives of technology: We have never been able to give ourselves augmented feedback so fast because of recordings of lessons and recordings in general. Negatives of technology: Our attention has been trained into not being able to focus as long, so we accomplish less in our practice because of distractions.

Connections: I just recently watched "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix and it was an interesting documentary to watch before this chapter talking about how technology has influenced us in a negative way. think it is so important to take note and realize our distractions and be able to minimize those, especially when we are practicing and trying to learn a new skill. This new age of multitasking is toxic to our attention span, which in return is toxic to our learning process. I feel like I regularly take advantage of my lesson recordings because I think its helpful for me to listen to old lessons even if it wasn't my lesson that week. I do want to be better at keeping my phone out of my practice sessions. I can see that this has been extra difficult since quarantine since I mostly practice in my house and when I do that I think about meal prep or laundry or every other 5,000 things I have to get done so my anxiousness doesn't help me focus either.

Kaylyn - The Musician's Mind Ch. 4-6

 Chapter 4: Learned Movement 

Summary: This chapter goes deep into motor learning research, and the new research on the organization of practice schedules, the timing of feedback, and the quality of practice to optimize performance. There are learning modes, and performance modes. 

Key Concepts: Learning mode: encourage exploration, and freedom. Its wobbly and unstable, not ideal for performance. Performance mode: stop teaching! The hallmark of motor learning is repeatability. Positive performance shifts are not always good, and negative performance shifts are not always bad. Desirable difficulties is learning a task that requires a considerable but desirable amount of effort that improves long term performance. The Three Rules of Practice: 1. Distributed practice is more effective than massed practice. 2. Varied practice is more effective than constant practice. 3. Randomly ordered practice is more effective than blocked practice. Mental practice can be very effective. 

Connections: To help students we have a few things to do to help them with motor learning. We can repeat, refine, and revise instruction while letting them think, let, and trust. Mental practice can be very helpful if we truly are visualizing kinesthetically. Our instruction is also helpful if it is concise, creative, and precise. We need to help them become better error detectors, we don’t need to state the obvious. Our process for augmented feedback would have the 3 S’s. Short delay (after they have done something), Simple (instruction given), and Several (trials given to them before you offer augmented feedback). Ultimately, students learn to trust their teacher through empathy. Master class effect is not learning, we must run to the practice room. 

Chapter 5: Performance Studies 

Summary: This chapter talks about the importance of deliberate practice, and how much of it is actually required for success. This digs deeper into the concept of desirable difficulties and the struggles necessary for learning. 

Key Concepts: Goal setting is a very important aspect of teaching that can boost learning and ignites motivation. Deliberate practice is the way to learn a skill. We can’t learn a skill with nonproductive persistence. GRIT can be helpful, but to those children who do not have the basic necessities of life, how could we expect them to learn deliberate practice without those things. 

Connections: The “help wanted” job descriptions of a music student and music teacher are both very interesting to me. I love the idea of being a student who is seeking a teacher of deliberate practice and daily practice regimen that includes building fundamental skills and self-reflection. I also loved the concept that we are not born knowing how to work hard, we have to learn how to work. This is where the growth mindset is helpful. 

Chapter 6: Mind Games 

Summary: This chapter discusses the challenges of performance anxiety, the possible causes, the things that help manage it, and everything in between. MPA can happen to anyone, whether your age, gender, expertise, and genre of music. 

Key Concepts: Causes of MPA: childhood performance trauma, pressure from self, inadequate preparation, and not knowing how to manage feelings. There are 2 theories to why choking happens: 1. Explicit monitoring learning (overthinking) and 2. Distraction theory (distracted). We are more likely to have these kinds of MPA episodes if we are depressed, sleep-deprived, or operating under a large mental load. MPA is not all bad. There are some upsides. It creates this “care” or reason to make music, as well as gives energy to ride the wave of a performance. We can also retrain our minds to think in a positive way by saying “I’m excited” rather than “I’m nervous”. Alexander Technique can help with this body awareness and manage MPA. Its okay to make mistakes--still working on this one!

Connections: My favorite and most relatable part of this chapter was the letter to family and friends. Often I find myself not focused, stressed, and full of activities whenever my family comes into town for a performance. I often even prefer that no one comes to performances because of this reason. I thought the letter was a great way to let them know that I need my space to re-group, meditate, and mentally prepare for a performance.