Ear training can enhance consistency and reduce repetitive overuse injuries.(Forum Focus: Wellness)

Problem: your student is inconsistent in performance. One solution: have them practice less. What is the logic here? Repetitive practice may not necessarily improve things. Sometimes it produces the opposite--less consistency. The question is, why?

Findings from neuroscience studies can provide an answer. Brain mapping studies that demonstrate motor preparation activity in the cortex confirm that images run the show. "If your golf swing isn't improving," these studies tell us, "stop swinging and start imagining it better." Swinging it wrong, each time a bit differently, actually deteriorates a golfer's image of a correct swing.

The counterpart to visualizing in athletics is auditory "envisioning" for musicians--hearing the score accurately. But lacking good ear-training and sight-singing skills, many students find it easier to use repetitive practicing to learn a piece. Two problems: first, practicing passages sometimes right and sometimes wrong means mixed images are being stored in the memory banks, which interferes with developing the essential muscle memory we learn to rely on. Second, as they practice even more, there is increased risk for cumulative overuse pain and injury, and the weaker their ability to hear the music, the more repetitions needed and so on.

Will superb hearing guarantee perfect consistency? Of course students will miss notes anyway, but imperfect hearing doesn't help matters. Under the pressure of live performance, confidence erodes, and with rising uncertainty different performing images flash up. Then anything can happen, producing those unwelcome surprises we call inconsistency.

I certainly agree there is a vital role for spontaneity in performance: when suddenly a wonderful insight flashes into a performer's mind or a risk is worth taking that just lifts the music to another level. But confidently knowing how a piece sounds does not necessarily rule out spontaneity. I believe accurate mental preparation can in fact liberate a performer to be more likely to experience those precious flashes of artistic insight.

Just how strongly do our mental images direct behavior? A study by three psychologists' provides a vivid example of the effect of rehearsed images on performance. Here is a summary of that report:

"An investigation was carried out on the effect of imagery instructions on a simple motor skill accuracy task (putting a golf ball). Thirty college students were assessed and sorted into equivalent groups for skill in putting ability, then randomly assigned ...