Saturday, February 16, 2008
Being Able to See
Just thought I'd share an interesting observation. I was attempting to play from memory some pieces and just for fun, I tried closing my eyes. I really flubbed up. I didn't realize I relied so heavily on being able to see what's I'm doing. Does anyone else experience this or do you play better with your eyes closed?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I feel as if I play better with my eyes closed - after, of course, I've finally memorized the piece. Unfortunately, this often occurs before I've really got the dynamics sorted out...
My intonation is better when my eyes are closed; I guess I hear better that way. It's great for scales and exercises that I've memorized, but unfortunately I have difficulty memorizing long pieces.
One thing that playing with your eyes closed does is enhance your kinesthetic awareness. I wonder if part of what you experienced is because you are paying little attention to what things feel like while you are visually focused, rather than that you are depending on your eyes to play. It may point out a need for you to check in more often to the way things feel while you are practicing.
I memorize everything except chamber music. I sometimes close my eyes, but don't really know if it makes a difference. I usually look in the general vicinity of my bow contact point. I was thinking about your post this weekend and finally decided that I like the "multimedia" experience of playing with my eyes open. The cello is so lovely to look at. :-)
In fiddle sessions I make a point of looking at other people since there is a lot of visual communication/coordination. I also like occasionally looking at the audience, but find this hard to do with non-fiddle music.
Post a Comment