The Accademia di Musica will hold a workshop on Mental Practice and Effective Memorization Strategies for String Players by Enrico Elisi on the 13rd December 2023 from 9.30 a.m. to 06:00 p.m at Accademia di Musica.
This engaging workshop, centred around effective memorization techniques through mental practice, delves into methods that empower musicians to create mental blueprints of musical ideas and actions, ultimately elevating their craft. By fostering heightened concentration and focus, string players will experiment with mentally studying musical scores and cultivate diverse practice habits by introducing innovative approaches to learning and memorizing music. By incorporating mental rehearsal techniques alongside traditional practice methods, attendees can unlock new dimensions in their musical journey.
Fundamental techniques explored in this workshop include:
- Motor Imagery (Concurrent Coordination of the Hands): String players always coordinate both hands simultaneously. Through visualization, they can seamlessly integrate left-hand finger placements with right-hand bow movements, ensuring precise and expressive performance. (Some research suggests the impulses that occur in the brain during actual movement also happen to a minor degree when the same actions are imagined. Images allow for the simultaneous processing of vast amounts of information, just like skilled motions. If musicians can form a picture of the movement, they will directly experience the action or perception accompanying it.)
- Visualizing Left-Hand Movements: While long-lasting results derive from rehearsing both hands together, string players can also benefit from mentally revisiting finger placements on the fingerboard, shifts, and finger patterns for scales and passages. Visualization of left-hand movements enhances muscle memory and intonation accuracy.
- Imagining Right-Hand Bow Movements: Visualizing techniques related to the right hand, including bow strokes, pressure, and string contact, allows string players to refine control and tone production.
- Musical Decisions:Beyond technical aspects, participants can explore the art of shaping the music. Visualization can refine phrasing, dynamics, and emotional expression.
- Analyzing Textual Groupings:Employ formal, melodic, and rhythmic analysis to organize musical elements and manage the study of a musical score. (Unlike imagery, conscious analytic thought involves processing information sequentially, one piece at a time.)
- Singing and Exploring an Awareness of Intervallic Relationships: Enhancing understanding of pitch relationships through vocalization.
- Scene Memory: Utilizing rapid eye movements to identify the next position on the fingerboard.
- Pattern Adaptation (Switches): Navigating subtle pattern variations that can help prevent memory lapses.
These invaluable tools serve as mental rehearsal aids, enhancing your memorization abilities. While they complement traditional practice at your instrument, they are indispensable for refining your mental acuity as a string player.
Deadline for sending inscriptions to the masterclass is 4th December 2023.
How to apply
Please, send an e-mail to segreteria@accademiadimusica.it with your personal data and the request to participate to the workshop, and annex the receipt of payment of the attendance fee.
– Attendance fee: € 70,00
– Accademia students: € 50,00
– Conservatorio students: € 60,00
Payment of the enrolment fee must be made when you send your application to attend the Masterclass, by means of a bank draft or postal order made payable to ‘Accademia di Musica’, or by bank transfer to the account c/c IBAN IT71X0306909606100000101696 BIC (SWIFT) BCITITMM
If the student withdraws from the Masterclass, there will be NO refund of the enrolment fee.
