Interesting Results From Sleepy Practice

[Jeff Stallard]

The last few months, I've been playing mostly classical, so a few nights ago I thought I'd start focusing more on playing by ear (it's cyclic with me). It was late, but I felt like playing. I decided on Off She Goes, and well...off I went. It was slow at first, just trying to make my fingers remember where to go. Well after 5 or 10 minutes, I found myself nodding off, but I pushed on for maybe another 10 minutes. During that time, I don't remember any coherent melody.

 

The next morning, I tried playing it, and I had improved greatly! I still had some trouble remembering the B part, but I was much better than I had been the previous night. So maybe I've found the secret: practice when you're half asleep. I'm half-way kidding of course, but I'm wondering if we use a different part of my brain when we're really tired than when our brains are awake and alert.

 

Anyone else ever notice this?

Edited September 21, 2005 by Jeff Stallard

[Ashkettle]

The last few months, I've been playing mostly classical, so a few nights ago I thought I'd start focusing more on playing by ear (it's cyclic with me).  It was late, but I felt like playing.  I decided on Off She Goes, and well...off I went.  It was slow at first, just trying to make my fingers remember where to go.  Well after 5 or 10 minutes, I found myself nodding off, but I pushed on for maybe another 10 minutes.  During that time, I don't remember any coherent melody.

 

The next morning, I tried playing it, and I had improved greatly!  I still had some trouble remembering the B part, but I was much better than I had been the previous night.  So maybe I've found the secret: practice when you're half asleep.  I'm half-way kidding of course, but I'm wondering if we use a different part of my brain when we're really tired than when our brains are awake and alert.

 

Anyone else ever notice this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I'm not certain it was because you were half asleep so much as that you practiced right before bed. I always studied / reviewed notes right before bed on the night before a test. For some reason, when I did this, everything stayed where I could recall it easily.

 

Now, I'm by no means an authority on such things (I'm a Software Engineer, not a Head Shrinker), but I do know that your brain works on catagorizing your memories when you are sleeping. Perhaps since it was the most recent, it's the one most on your mind. Maybe your "inner librarian" assumes that it's more important and places it in a spot easily gotten to.

 

Note that when I studied this way, it was mostly gone within a week. That could have something to do with 25 cent draft night though.

[David Barnert]

...So maybe I've found the secret: practice when you're half asleep.  I'm half-way kidding of course, but I'm wondering if we use a different part of my brain when we're really tired than when our brains are awake and alert.

 

Anyone else ever notice this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm not certain it was because you were half asleep so much as that you practiced right before bed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I once played cello in an orchestra and heard the conductor (the day before a concert) tell the whole 2nd violin section to sleep with the music under their pillows.

[RatFace]

I'm not certain it was because you were half asleep so much as that you practiced right before bed.

 

Or that you compared your playing when fully awake to your playing when half-asleep...

[Animaterra]

Often the only time in the day I can find to practice is just before bed. I'm usually fully relaxed, if a bit fumbly, and tunes often flow slowly but smoothly. And it does seem true that whatever I accomplish at that time of night sticks with me into the next day.

 

When I direct school plays I advise the students to read their lines just before bedtime and review them at breakfast- every year they seem to memorize really quickly that way!

[pauline de snoo]

Having read many books on learning last year for my dissertation, of which several by psychologists, it is clear that anything that you want to remember very well can best be done as the last thing you do before going to sleep. So this method seems scientifically supported.

Pauline