What is the real game?
It is a game in which the heart is entertained,
the game in which you are entertained.
It is the game you will win.
~Maharaji
(Quoted from The Inner Game of Tennis)
So, as mentioned in my last post, I've been reading The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side Peak Performance. I read a chapter in the book the other day that shocked me. It was me! It was how I achieve my zone...it it why I play well sometimes and not so great other times. Here's the paragraph:
"Focus is not achieved by staring hard at something. It is not trying to force focus, nor does it mean thinking hard about something. Natural focus occurs when the mind is interested. When this occurs, the mind is drawn irresistibly toward the object (or subject) of interested. It is effortless and relaxed, not tense and overly controlled."
When I read that I about died from the shock of understanding. Jelena's favorite saying is "use the music to help the technique."
Performers have a lot of things to think about while we practice and perform. Not only do we have a technical aspect (intonation, response, finger coordination, articulation etc.) but we have a musical aspect (phrasing, the x factor, etc.) But when we perform we have other thoughts that invade our concentration; we analyze how something just went, we critique ourselves, we get distracted by the baby in the audience that just started crying, we have self-doubt etc.
But to keep myself from being distracted I must stay focused on what I am trying to express and how I want to achieve it musically. My body, my sub-conscience, takes care of all the other technical things...if I let it and not try to control it. The author calls these two separate "Selves" self 1 and self 2. Self 1 is the controller, the teller...the ego. Self 2 is our natural talents and abilities....it is the same self that learned how to turn on a light switch...and the same "self" that learned how to walk. We don't have to tell ourselves how to walk! Learning a piece of music can be the same way...so Tim Gallway says. And it makes perfect sense....we have to let ourselves learn it and not overly control the process of making mistakes..and self-correction. Self 2 will figure that out eventually.
Anyway, so those are my thoughts right now. Gotta work on reeds!
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I read the Inner Game of Tennis in High School, my orchestra teacher was trying to help me with my nerves. It's interesting to see how much I've forgotten about those concepts, now that you're mentioning it all again.
ReplyDeleteI find that I naturally try and think about what I want to say before I play, that makes me less nervous, rather than thinking, "o gosh, I hope my E-string doesn't hiss at me today".
Anyways, thanks for posting, I have some great food for thought, and hope you find your zone more consistently!
-Melissa