No tempo is good.

[funkapus]

Originally Posted by mc1

it appears like you need to learn to relax your mind and slow down your thoughts. clearly the best tempo for pieces isn't always going to be as fast as possible.

i'd suggest paying attention to your posture, breathing, and any tension, like in your shoulders or back. slowing down thoughts is an art in itself, but it seems to me to always be a gentle and elusive skill.

Yeah, it's a problem I'm having with pretty much everything at this point. It's not the case that I'm so stressed out that I struggle to focus while practicing so much as it's the case that I'm so stressed out that I struggle to focus with everything.

there are books about relaxing, playing mindfully, and letting go of day to day concerns. probably some good websites as well.

Are there some that have helped you?

The other day I was reading stuff about musicians using the "Alexander Technique", but I haven't yet taken the time to figure out what that is.

also, try a metronome, it might provide enough of a mental activity to occupy your mind.

The metronome and i are old friends.

[funkapus]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

Have you tried yoga?

No, and maybe I should!

Or beer?

That, I think, wouldn't go well for me.

[funkapus]

Originally Posted by TBman

First you really have to try to relax and block out the bits and pieces of unfinished things that keep going through your mind.

That's the part I really struggle with. I have a tough time not worrying about, well, everything.

Playing something very slow when I am first learning something helps me to learn it. I don't say memorize because it seems I can't memorize an entire song any more as I used to, but I can remember sections and better yet, my fingers remember better than my conscious mind and they handle it well.

Lately I have been trying to imagine how I want to play and how I want something to sound before trying to play it. That seems to be helpful.

There are times when I can't get a section to flow at all and I will slow it down so much that it is nothing more than a series of notes. Until I can finger it without mistakes there is no point in speeding it up. I have one section now that I'm working on that will take me a week to flow, maybe more, maybe less. Sometimes things aren't as bad as they seem. At first something is very awkward, but then it comes around and you surprise yourself, but you have to learn patience and not give in to bs'ing yourself that something sounds ok when you really know it doesn't. Playing something fast before you are ready just teaches you to make faster mistakes.

Agreed.

[patrickgm60]

Originally Posted by mc1

it appears like you need to learn to relax your mind and slow down your thoughts. clearly the best tempo for pieces isn't always going to be as fast as possible.

i'd suggest paying attention to your posture, breathing, and any tension, like in your shoulders or back. slowing down thoughts is an art in itself, but it seems to me to always be a gentle and elusive skill.

there are books about relaxing, playing mindfully, and letting go of day to day concerns. probably some good websites as well.

also, try a metronome, it might provide enough of a mental activity to occupy your mind.

+1. I sometimes need a few minutes' playing time to transition from work/life/Dad mode to guitar or keyboard; I seldom start with something technical or the metronome. Just like a workout, you may need to warm up and stretch, first.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by funkapus

That's the part I really struggle with. I have a tough time not worrying about, well, everything.......

.

There I some days I don't practice the guitar because work drove me up the wall and I'm just mentally tired.

So I don't practice, I just play it. That relaxes me.

[DenverSteve]

[QUOTE=mc1;5070361]it appears like you need to learn to relax your mind ........./QUOTE]

This. If not, no matter of tempo adjustment will make you mistake free.

[Choysauce]

It sounds like you're playing slower than you need to in order to figure out the parts you're having trouble with. If you're getting so distracted, you might be playing at a speed that makes the part trivial or too easy to play.

I try play new pieces at speed, or slightly slower and just crash through it until I get really stuck. (as a first pass)

After then I see where I was having trouble then take those a little slower or try to analyze how to play them better.

That's what works for me, maybe you can try and see if you like it too.
Hope that helps!

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by TBman

I don't practice, I just play it. That relaxes me.

Too true. I have one tried and true "rockin' chair" tune that I play to get relaxed/centered. Just sit and let it come to me.

[funkapus]

Originally Posted by JonPR

Hey, the whole point of music is to make you forget all that stuff!

I know! And it does when I'm playing, usually. When I'm trying to focus on practicing some short segment repetitively or some drill, it's challenging. When I'm doing it very slowly, it's a lot more challenging.

Obviously the answer is to pay more attention to the music. Just because something is really slow (or really simple, or both) shouldn't mean you stop paying attention when little or nothing seems to be happening. You should be able to play just one chord (or one note) every two or three seconds - or slower - and just listen to how the note or chord sounds while it sustains - listen to its decay, think about (and feel) the beat fractions passing by while it's sounding. If you find that boring, then maybe music is not for you...

Oof. That hurts. It's not a question of boring-ness at all, but just being able to keep my mind on one thing. If that difficulty were an indication that I ought not to be doing that thing, then there'd be absolutely nothing whatsoever in my life I could do right now. Between impending work deadlines that will determine future job funding, my wife's losing her job, a stroke in the family, etc., I don't particularly want to put aside the only real diversion I have at this point.

[Wyllys]

You can compromise by combining "just playing" and repitition.

Try playing the piece at a nice , relaxed, "funkified" tempo with a strong beat and instead of playing through, repeat the section in question two or three times in tempo before continuing.

A teacher should be able to assist you in identifying any particular hang-up or change in focus that will get you through, even just jamming on it with another player.

I've often experienced my hands and ears solving the problem when a coincidental event fortuitously distracts my mind at the "panic point". Or I might just work out a different way to do it, maybe just going down to a short line of single notes and waiting for time and repitition to fill it out.


Good luck.