What does that mean? We probably would think of practicing difficulty for a musician as something that was more mentally taxing, whereas, with running, there is a mental component, but usually it comes in when you are trying to push yourself to physical limits.
The physical aspects of piano are, in large part, mental. Body mapping, whether you call it that or not, is huge. You have to have an accurate mental picture of the correct physical motion. Early in our piano life we probably get this through physical repetition, but that repetition is really training the brains signals to the muscles rather than the physical structure of the muscles themselves. Is this also true at a higher level of running, and I just don’t have an equally complex understanding?
I think we generally think that all of our practicing should be equally focused and difficult, and we often talk about how unfocused practice is useless. There are no useless runs. The easy runs have some very specific purposes, including increasing capillary density (which improves the efficiency of oxygen transfer to your muscles) and the size of your left ventricle!
I’ve often considered whether or not focused concentration on other aspects of your running would yield noticeable improvements. I haven’t done it, but I hear that a focus on your stride definitely can be noticed and helpful, but what if we did consistent body mapping of capillary density and imagined with every breath that our circulatory system was expanding and acting more efficiently? Is that any crazier than some of the visualizations and concentration on wrist circles etc. that pianists use to get a better tone?
I still don’t know that I would consider any of that “hard.” Hard is finishing your first 7 mile tempo run, or that 12th quarter mile sprint. It’s that feeling of physically pushing to the limit and, very importantly, mentally toughing it out to go even further that gives so much of that runners high and sense of accomplishment. Where does that happen in music practice? Can it happen?
Is creative practice somehow more difficult than just technical practice? Is shaping a line harder than learning left hand leaps? Am I way way way over-thinking this and should just schedule some days longer than others?! Sweet. This is why I need to journal about this, because after 400 words on the subject, I have a forehead slapping moment of obvious clarity…
But wait! Now I read, in the introduction to Mastering Piano Technique by Seymour Fink this nugget:
Practice in short, 10-15 minute intervals several times a day, progressing through the exercises in order, as several short sessions of the same cumulative length are more valuable than one long session. Balance your attention between improving old movements and acquiring new ones. Begin an untried exercise deliberately with enlarged movements, using visual and kinesthetic feedback to monitor your actions. Notice how the mind and body interact. For instance, of then the harder you try to concentrate on the task at hand, the greater the build-up of mental and physical tension _ then the greater the interference to coordinated movement. To counter this, imagine yourself as a detached observer, merely noticing your repeated movements in an objective, unemotional, quasi-dissociated manner. Working in the way decreases inner tension and mental interference, and increases your capacity for control, coordinated movement, and habit formation. In short, learning is faster. With experience you will find an optimal balance between intensity of thought and casualness.
If effort is an end unto itself, am I missing the point? But clearly hours on task is a HUGE thing!
I need a post on schedule and life and weekly total hours of practice.