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Written by Heather Isaac
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Thursday, 20 November 2008 |
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Why would hear the phrase "muscle memory" over and over as a VISIBLE student? What does it have to do with music?
The answer is EVERYTHING!!! A very nice wikipedia definition of muscle memory is: "When an active person repeatedly trains movement, often of the same activity, in an effort to stimulate the mind’s adaptation process, the outcome is to induce physiological changes which attain increased levels of accuracy through repetition" What a mouthful...but really it's the truth! I continually tell my keyboard students that it is not about how long you practice as much as it's about consistently practicing because they are training their muscle memory.
It's so fascinating that our brains function the way our other muscles do. Imagine someone asking you to pick up a 200 lb weight (if you are a body builder this does not apply to you). Could you do it? Why not? Well you haven't been lifting weights trying to get your muscles trained enough to lift that amount of weight. Believe it or not, it is the same concept with your instrument. You have to work out your brain the same way you would go to the gym 5 days a week to get in shape. Practicing everyday for a short amount of time will work wonders over practicing 5 hours in one day each week.
So give it a try...Take a week and try practicing scales, sight-reading, improv for 20 minutes a day and see if your "levels of accuracy" is increased. It's pretty amazing! |
