We kick off a series of posts related to playing taiko under quarantine/shelter in place with a guest post from Kristin Block, Musician/Space Scientist Extraordinaire. She also happens to be my business and life partner. Enjoy!
You're sidelined, away from your instrument, just too tired to play, or can't play because of other reasons. But you still want to practice. Now what? Enter motor imagery practice (MIP), or "mental practice!" MIP is the repeated mental simulation of an action to improve performance. In other words, drumming in your head. It's actually helpful in reinforcing and improving skills- really! (Science backs this up, see citations below.)
It takes a small bit of effort to make a mental practice session successful:
1) Your mental practice should be vivid, and engage as many of your senses as possible. What does that good, solid don sound like? How do the bachi feel in your hands? Can you invoke the feel of the air against your arms as strike the drum? Think of all of that (and more!) to create a realistic simulation in your head.
2) Focus on you! Your mental practice should be first-person, not from an external viewpoint. For mental practice to be effective, imagine your view of the drum and your stance, from your body.
3) Reinforce success. We've all played a wonky don or missed a ka. But you want to envision ideal strikes- the ones that hit solid, feel good, and make a great sound.
4) If possible, alternate your mental practice with physical practice. In a time of shelter-in-place, this might look like playing with bachi and good form on a makeshift practice pad during daylight hours, then mental practice at night.
5) Keep your mental practice sessions brief. Twenty minutes is a great length.
Mental practice not only helps keep your skills up, it induces neural plasticity (your brain's very amazing ability to reshape itself). There's lots of information out there on mental practice and motor imagery- for a bit more, see:
https://effectiviology.com/the-power-of-mental-practice/
Driskell, J. E., Copper, C., & Moran, A. (1994). Does mental practice enhance performance? Journal of Applied Psychology, 79(4), 481–492. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.79.4.481
Lotze, M., & Halsband, U. (2006). Motor imagery. Journal of Physiology-Paris, 99(4–6), 386–395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphysparis.2006.03.012
Happy practicing!