Molly Gebrian - seven months later

Animisha · 2024-12-17T13:24:06+00:00

In May this year, twocats shared videos of Molly Gebrian. We were many who joined that thread, and even some of us had a group lecture with her. Now that se...

ShiroKuro

Animisha The inner game of music was first published in 1986. So if there is any neuroscience in this, I wouldn't trust it

I am still getting into the re-read of this book, so maybe there’s something about neuroscience in the Inner Game that I’m not remembering, but my memory is that there isn’t any. The idea of the “inner game” is more about what you think about and how you think about it, how you have to focus as much on your inner game as on your “outer game” (i.e. technique and the physical aspects of playing).

candela

Animisha If what you enjoy is to have nice recordings of most of your pieces, then why wouldn't you do what makes you happy? It's a hobby, not a race after all.
I only make nice recordings of a very small fraction of what I play and find more enjoyment in spending most of my practice time in the early stages of a piece where I feel the challenge and growth more. Only occasionally do I strive for a polished recording of a full piece. Honestly, I sometimes feel the opposite of what you express, that I might regret not keeping a recorded archive of more of what I've played for when I may no longer be able to play.

JB_PT

Kaydia Pardon the interruption, but I was reading through this thread and came upon this comment, and would like to recommend a book I have called, "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain"

Thanks! I looked it up - there is a 2012 revision with updates on the neuroscience aspect. I have never been interested in drawing and this book is not included in Kindle Unlimited or I might review it...but I was planning on looking for other books on right brain vs. left brain so I appreciate the reminder!

Kaydia

JB_PT You're welcome. Thanks for pointing out a newer addition. I may take a look at it to see what's been added and/or changed.

lilypad

One of the books in my 'to be read' stack is "This Is Your Brain on Music". I did a quick check of the fly leaf and contents and didn't see any mention of right brain although the index has some page numbers listed for right hemisphere. What will interest me when I get around to reading the book is Chapter 7. - "What Makes a Musician?".

ShiroKuro

@lilypad that reminds me! I bought that book but never read it, I really need to!

Kaydia

Animisha You're welcome. And true enough about more advanced discoveries in the field. Even so, it still can work wonders, and surprisingly quickly. I plan on delving into more recent findings on the L & R brains.

Danieru

I also have Molly Gebrian book. It is helping me a lot. Learning to play a musical instrument have many similarities with learning sports. Therefore science, and neuroscience particularly, can be very beneficial in the learning process. Also, it is a false dilemma to have to choose between tradition and neuroscience. I find it a fascinating topic that it is just starting, but as in sports, it will be developed over the years.

ShiroKuro

Danieru it is a false dilemma to have to choose between tradition and neuroscience.

Excellent point!

twocats

One thing that Molly's videos really helped me with was learning how important breaks are for the brain's learning process (she takes 2 weeks at the end of her ~4 week schedule!), thus eliminating any minor guilt that I had from having a very erratic practice schedule. My natural weeks or months-long breaks are actually beneficial!! I just need to incorporate consistent 10-second microbreaks into my practice to help lock things in better.

I think a great strategy for me is giving myself TONS of lead time for learning a new piece (like 6-12 months). I can start and get familiarized by reading through it a few times and then come back to it way later. When an actual deadline approaches (playing chamber music with others or performing at a casual playing night) and I need to get serious about practicing, suddenly everything feels more natural and easy, and I haven't even spent all that much time on practice yet.

I'm experiencing this right now. I had promised to play a Beethoven cello sonata with a friend about a year ago and it was not good enough invite her over until recently. I was just reading through it from time to time because I was focusing on other stuff. But now we set a date and I'm seriously working on the Beethoven and I'm just astounded at how easy it is now!

rsl12

I've split this discussion into two threads. The original purpose of Animisha's post was to gather the opinions of people who have used Molly Gerbain's methods for the last 7 months. I tried my best to keep those posts in this thread. Everything else has been moved here:

Discussing Molly Gebrian (Splinter Discussion of "Molly Gebrian 7 Months Later")

It was a difficult discussion to split! Let me know if I made any glaring mistakes. Also, let's try to keep this thread on topic, and use the linked one for all other discussion.

ShiroKuro

Thanks 9again) @rsl12 !!

Ok, so back to the topic at hand... I'll start.

First of all, seven months on and I still haven't finished the book..... 😅 So that's my first priority.... 😃

Animisha

Today I made a first recording of Tchaikovsky's In Church. It is an RCM grade 5 piece, and my level is grade 4, not grade 5. However, it went very well, because this piece is very suitable for a Molly schedule. I started ages ago, my first section was learning four RH chords. In all, I think I made 13 HS sections, patiently practising just those sections that were scheduled for the day and nothing else. Then it was time for HT and I made new sections and once again practised these with a Molly schedule. Finally, I started playing through.

I have been surprised by how smooth everything has been. Without the Molly schedules, I would have struggled so much more - because I would have tried to practise more than I could manage. Or, to be exact, I would have practised what I just could manage - and just managing means to me, making lots of mistakes.

The big take-away for me is, start a long, long time before you think a piece should be ready.

twocats

Animisha The big take-away for me is, start a long, long time before you think a piece should be ready.

I live by this rule! 🙂

Nightowl

Animisha Well done Ani, that sounds like a great result! Despite my cynicism towards MG, I'm happy to hear that you found her methods useful. 😀 Have you any plans to upload this piece?

twocats

Animisha The big take-away for me is, start a long, long time before you think a piece should be ready.

Today I went back to some of the piano quartet movements that I had shelved for several months and they were feeling so much better! The first time I read through them I was like "am I in over my head?". Then in the following weeks they didn't feel quite so overwhelming. Now they're in the "I can totally do this, I just need to put in the hours" bucket.

I feel like the progress is "free" if you put in a couple of weeks of practice and then come back to it later. In the meantime you can work on other stuff and you won't get bored practicing the same thing every day 🙂

Animisha

Nightowl Have you any plans to upload this piece?

Thank you Nightowl! I have only made a first recording, and will sent it to my feedback teacher. For this recording, I have not yet added the pedals. So the final recording will still take some time.

PS Please use my full name and not an abbreviation. 🙂

Sgisela

Nightowl Despite my cynicism towards MG,

Do you really mean cynicism? I can understand skepticism but cynicism seems rather harsh…

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