What do You

Think About

WHEN YOU
PLAY? by Ken Johansen

T his is a question every musi-

cian has been asked, yet it can
be embarrassingly difficult to
answer. By the time we per-
form a piece of music from memory,
we are no longer consciously thinking
of the mechanical means of playing it:
fingering, arm movements, bowing,
breathing and so on. We have analyzed
the music and made our decisions
about tempo and rubato, phrasing and
articulation, voicing and dynamics. We
have memorized the piece carefully
and no longer have to think about the
has sometimes been compared to an
out-of-body experience: the limbs and
muscles go through the motions they
have learned, but the mind and spirit
seem to be elsewhere. With this lack of
concentration comes a dangerous level
of self-consciousness. The mind, not
next note. In short, we have developed being focused on the music, fixes its
Ken Johansen an aural and mental conception of the attention, instead, on extraneous
is a professor of piece that we can reproduce with accu- details: the placement of our feet on
keyboard skills at racy and consistency, at least in the the floor, the reflection of our hands in
the Peabody privacy of our studio or practice room. the shiny fallboard of the piano, the
Conservatory in So what are we thinking about when sounds in the hall, the note we just
Baltimore. In addi- we perform a piece of music from missed. With this last event, the mind
tion to teaching memory? quickly lurches back to attention with
and performing, Perhaps our difficulty answering this an increased sense of panic, and we
he regularly contributes articles to question is related to the experience resolve to concentrate still harder on
various music journals. He holds many musicians have when they per- the music. Even if we make it through
M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in piano form from memory—a feeling of the piece without memory slips, tech-
performance, and he studied piano being disconnected from the music nical failures or other catastrophes, we
and musicianship in Paris for many instead of absorbed in it, of watching are left with a disappointed feeling of
years. our performance from outside instead not having fully participated in our
of guiding it from within. This feeling own performance. If someone would
AMERICAN MUSIC TEACHER 31
ask us what we were thinking about thinks the words, while the voice tion, but rather in their rhythmic,
when we were playing, we might very simultaneously gives them utterance. dynamic and expressive context. In
well have difficulty answering without There is no separation between the other words, you thought of the mean-
embarrassment. thinking and the reciting, so it would ing of the music, not just its notation.
Much has been said and written be quite impossible for the mouth to Lastly, you probably felt in your nerv-
about how to prepare for a perform- go on speaking by itself if the mind ous system the physical feeling of play-
ance, especially about how to memo- went blank. ing—the location of the notes on your
rize our music. All good teachers and When we read a musical text we instrument, the gestures and fingerings
performers know we must cultivate the have not seen before, we similarly that correspond to them—even with-
different kinds of memory—aural, sound out the notes, either at our out moving your arms and fingers.
analytical and kinesthetic; we must not instrument or in our heads, with our Thus, your thinking of the music rep-
neglect to study our music away from inner ears. There is no separation resented a synthesis of the notes, their
the instrument; we must resolve all between the reading and the sound— musical expression and their technical
technical difficulties; and we must play one produces the other. As with the execution. You probably also noticed
for others as much as possible. At the poem, if we then memorize the piece, that your mind did not wander as you
same time, we also know that in per- we can again think through it in our thought through the music, or if it
formance, nerves can sometimes undo minds. The thought—our memory— did, the music in your head came to a
even the most careful preparation. is still connected to the sound in our stop. If we can keep this musical
Such a performance leaves the musi- heads. But when we play a memorized thinking going even as we play, the
cian feeling not only disappointed, but piece on our instrument, something mind, instead of feeling separated from
helpless, for it is hard to know what new—and dangerous—may happen. If what the body is doing, will be unified
one can do to avoid a repetition of this we are not careful, the mind, hearing with it in the re-creation of the music.
unpleasant experience. Performing the sound coming from the instru- The most important aspect of musi-
more often certainly helps, but does ment, may cease to think the music cal concentration is undoubtedly
not guarantee we will become less actively and begin to merely experience rhythm, particularly the feeling of
prone to mental distraction. We some- it passively. Now there is a separation forward motion, which is always pres-
how need to develop our power of between the thinking and playing. ent in great compositions and in great
concentration so all our careful prepa- Because we have made the physical performances. While it is true we must
ration does not unravel when we memory of the piece automatic, it is be very much rooted in the present
perform. quite possible, and indeed frightening- moment while we are playing (All per-
When we speak of concentration, we ly easy, for the fingers and arms to go formers know it is fatal to think about
usually think of it in terms of what we on playing while the mind goes blank. the notes coming up.), we must never-
must exclude from our thoughts: “I In this way, we become an audience to theless play every note with an under-
must not listen to the man coughing our own performance. standing of its place in the musical
in the fourth row.” “I must not worry The solution to this harmful separa- line—where it has come from and,
what my teacher may be thinking.” “I tion between the mind and the music, especially, where it is going. The prin-
must not wonder what is for dinner then, is to continue to think the music ciple of forward motion applies to
tonight.” This is a losing battle because as we play it. But what exactly do we every aspect of music: rhythmically,
we cannot exclude thoughts from our mean by “thinking the music”? Before short notes move to long notes and
mind without thinking about them. reading on, take a minute to think weak beats move to strong beats; har-
The only way to keep the mind from through in your head a piece (or part monically, movement generally pro-
thinking negative, irrelevant thoughts of one) you know very well from ceeds toward the dominant, which in
is to fill it with positive, relevant memory. We all hear music somewhat turn moves to its resolution, normally
thoughts. I am not referring to the differently, but your inner hearing the tonic; and melodically, each note
vague, wishful “positive thinking” of probably included at least three essen- moves forward to the next by means of
the self-help books, but to a specific tial aspects. First, if you really know the intervals that connect them.
musical activity—a way of thinking in your piece well, you were able to think (These of course are only very general
sound just as we think in words. all of the notes, either by hearing the guidelines; each phrase has its own
pitches, seeing their placement on the way of moving and each performer his
Thinking the Music staff or thinking their names (or some own way of hearing.) Thinking the
When we read a literary text, a combination of these). This is an music in terms of forward motion
poem for example, we sound out the important point; if we cannot think helps the ear listen through the notes
words silently in our minds. If we then all of the notes, we have gray areas in instead of from note to note. Listening
memorize the poem, we can either our memories that may trip us up in a to the continuity of sound, the mind
think through it in our heads or recite performance. Secondly, you undoubt- develops continuity of attention, the
it out loud. In the latter case, the mind edly thought of the notes not in isola- very definition of concentration.
32 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2005
Practicing the Unfortunately, the connection we sing with character and rhythmic
Concentration between ear training and instrumental vitality.
This kind of mental concentration is practice is not always made clear, and Counting the beats out loud is a
not always easy to sustain, but, fortu- many students wonder how solfège time-honored activity, one that, in my
nately, it is something we can practice can benefit their playing. As teachers, opinion, is abandoned too early. When
every day; we do not have to wait for a we must make this connection from advanced students are capable of mak-
concert to try it out. Indeed, we first the very first lessons. We can start by ing such rhythmic mistakes as adding
must have made it a habit in our daily asking our students to name the notes a half-beat to a measure and not notic-
practice before it will serve us in per- as they play. I find that the fixed-do ing it (something I have encountered
formance. To start with, we can think solfège syllables work best for this. fairly frequently), it is clear they have
through our music away from the This creates a strong connection not developed an inner sense of pulse
instrument, not just at the beginning between the score, the sound and the and measure. Counting aloud instantly
of the memorization process as Walter ear, and has the further advantage of makes mistakes like this obvious. The
Gieseking advocated, but at regular causing most children to match pitch counting must be expressive, however,
intervals thereafter. Glenn Gould was with their instrument and start reflecting the rhythmic character of the
known to practice a piece exclusively music, not merely a metronomic rat-
in his mind for several weeks, and tling off of the numbers. If it
only take it to the piano a couple becomes a habit, counting out
of weeks before recording it. loud––or simply inside

“We somehow
“Ultimately,” he said, one’s head––will
“you play the piano not become an auto-
with your fingers but matic reflex, a
with your head.”
Another beneficial way
need to develop our power sort of inner
conductor
of practicing—recom-
mended by the great of concentration so all our guiding the
music through
Romanian pianist its course in
Dinu Lipatti—is
going through the
careful preparation does time.
All these men-
motions of playing a
piece on the instru- not unravel when tal and vocal
activities are ways

we perform.”
ment, thinking and of learning to
hearing the music inwardly, think the music.
without sounding the notes. This No doubt there are
reinforces the tactile memory of the many other ways as well. These
piece while still ensuring the mind is are specific, practical things to
engaged. One also can think through a singing. It also is an excellent way of help keep the mind concentrated on
phrase or small section, then play it testing our students’ memories; if they the music, both in the practice room
immediately afterwards, trying to can recite or sing the note names of a and on the concert stage. Eventually,
maintain the same level of concentra- phrase in rhythm, we can be sure the the activities should become so
tion required by the inner hearing. music is in their heads and not just in ingrained they no longer seem like
Our thinking of the music need not their fingers. conscious thought. Then everything is
always be done silently. Singing the Pianists can benefit greatly from absorbed in the act of listening and the
melody while we play, reciting the singing one part while playing another. performer enters a state of rapt atten-
note names in rhythm, counting the We can, of course, sing the melody tion. In this blessed state, we truly feel
beats out loud—these all are extremely and play only the accompaniment, but one with the music.
useful ways of internalizing the music it is perhaps even more beneficial to I urge you to try these ideas for
and keeping the mind focused on its sing the parts that are hardest to hear yourself. They are only a beginning,
task. This is where the importance of and think: the bass line, an inner chro- and surely will lead to other discoveries
solfège (ear training) becomes clear. Its matic voice or long notes whose and new perceptions. Then, after your
purpose is not merely to teach us how sounds fade away. Like a flashlight in next performance, if someone asks
to sing various intervals and take dicta- the dark, singing trains our minds on what you were thinking about when
tion, but to cultivate an inner musical the areas needing clarity and illumina- you were playing, you can smile know-
voice. It connects the brain, through tion. We need not worry if our singing ingly and reply, “I was thinking the
the ear and the voice, to the music we is not beautiful in tone or even accu- music.”
hear and play. rate in pitch; it is much more important AMT
AMERICAN MUSIC TEACHER 33
Copyright of American Music Teacher is the property of Music Teachers National Association and its content
may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express
written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.