By Aditya Shukla, psychologist and guitarist
By Aditya Shukla, Guitarist & Psychologist
The guitar is laid out "spatially" as a layout of notes. Finger muscles get aligned to those. By not looking while playing, you maximize understanding the layout at a physical level.
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Any melody can be reduced to a bassline and it has an advantage: It helps you get the timing right because we process time better at lower frequencies.
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When you play something very fast, MORE information fits into your ongoing attention & working memory. This helps you see the bigger picture.
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When you play something very fast, LESS information fits into your ongoing attention & working memory. This helps you see the minute details.
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The brain learns incrementally. Instead of learning complex bits of a complex song one by one, first learn the simplified version that matches your ability. And then "fill-in" the complexities.
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When you purposefully analyze, you undergo "elaborative rehearsal". This strengthens the depth of memory of your learning by strengthening the neural connections.
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The human voice has a deeply embedded sense of timing and pitch. When trying to master pitch & timing, hum what you are trying to achieve.
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Try to give every concept you learn a name, either from music theory, or your own. By giving it a name, you add a layer to the concept itself, and that layer strengthens learning that concept.
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