One
of the studies presented at the 2011
International Symposium on Performance Science was conducted by the
Department of Music at the University of Edinburgh in collaboration with the
University of Oldenburg’s Department of Psychology, and used fMRI to
investigate the ways mental imagery may improve performance. Study of elite
musicians has demonstrated the efficacy of “mental practice”, and other
research has established that many of the same neural regions are employed
during both imagery of musical performance and actual performance. Research has also shown that there are,
however, a number of differences in the functionality of the brain during
imagery and performance. In this study,
both advanced piano performance students and professional piano performers were
asked to memorize a new portion of piano music for a single hand using both
mental imagery and physical practice on a keyboard. The musical excerpt used in the experiment
was designed to be easy to memorize while still challenging the pianists’ motor
coordination.
Subsequently, the pianists were
scanned with an fMRI, during which they were asked to imagine the music and how
it would feel to perform it. During the next scan, participants were asked to
imagine the music while physically moving their fingers as if playing the
selection on a real piano. The two scans
were then compared, revealing interesting similarities. During both mental and simulated performance,
similar motor regions and regions in the inferior parietal lobe were
activated. As expected, the primary
motor cortex was only activated during simulated performance. Interestingly, during
imagined performance the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) was activated bilaterally,
whereas during simulated performance it was only activated on the left
side. This difference was interpreted as
representing a shift in level of certain cognitive processes in mental practice
versus performance. This led to the
hypothesis that the middle frontal gyrus is the location where the brain
processes musical imagery, and could be monitored to measure the efficacy of
mental practice.
The findings of this study were
presented at the 2011 symposium at the University of Toronto in addition to the
findings of various other studies under the theme of “Imagery and
Performance”. Another study, led by
Philip Fine at the University of Buckingham’s Department of Psychology,
endeavored to understand what musicians understand the terms “mental practice”
and “score analysis” to mean. The study
surveyed sixty-five performing instrumentalists in Europe and explored
professional musicians’ use of the score throughout the stages of learning and
practicing. Responses were extremely varied, however several themes were
present in the respondents’ answers. While respondents agreed that detailed
score analysis was helpful in understanding the direction of and composer’s
intentions for a given piece, they tended to agree that score analysis was less
practical than mental practice. The majority of the respondents preferred
mental practice away from the score using “inner hearing” and visualization of
movements when preparing for a performance.
Response:
As a classical vocalist, I find the
idea that mental practice could be as effective as physical practice particularly
intriguing. The voice has a limited amount singing it can sustain each day
without injury or deterioration, even with the best technique. Compared to
instrumentalists who able to practice ceaselessly for hours on end, a singers’ capacity
to physically practice is quite limited.
For this reason, if mental practice proves to be nearly as effective as
physical practice, the practice time available to singers during each day will
be greatly increased. Many vocal teachers and coaches are already proponents of
using mental practice for text memorization and character preparation for
performance. Perhaps the use of mental practice could be expanded to include
practicing technical vocal skills as well.
As
this fMRI study demonstrated, mental and physical practice causes the brain to
react in a similar fashion. If, as the study’s conclusion posited, the middle
frontal gyrus is a neural substrate for musical imagery, then future studies
could monitor activity in that area to determine the most effective modes of
mental practice. In combination with the
research conducted at the University of Buckingham’s psychology department,
which seeks to define mental practice according to musicians, this could lead
to new understandings of the most efficient and effective methods with which to
prepare for performance.
This
research would be extremely useful in the field of vocal pedagogy, as
instructors strive to teach their students the best use of their physical and
mental practice time. Perhaps future
research will show that technical vocal skills can be improved through focused
imaginary practice. This way, vocalists may be able to increase the number of
times per day they are able to “sing” particular vocalises or pieces, and thus
turn new skills into new habits in fewer days.
Having reviewed these studies in
light of their potential implications for the field of vocal pedagogy, I would
like to know how other musicians see this research affecting their process of
learning and practicing for performance. Are there techniques which
instrumentalists could learn more efficiently using mental imagery? Could
mentally “playing” a piece in a focused manner help musicians memorize their
music more effectively?
Bibliography:
Davidson-Kelly,
Kirsteen, Sujin Hong, Janani Dhinakaran, Joseph M. Sanders, and Calcum Gray.
"An fMRI study of expert musical imagery: To what extent do imagined and
executed performance share the same neural substrate." Proceedings of
the International Symposium on Performance Science 2011. Ed. Aaron
Williamson, Darryl Edwards, and Lee Bartel. Utrecht, The Netherlands:
Association Européenne des Conservatoires,
Academi, 2011. Print.
Fine, Philip and
Anabela Bravo. “Rehearsal away from the
instrument: What expert musicians understand by the terms ‘mental practice’ and
“score analysis’.” Proceedings of the International Symposium on Performance
Science 2011. Ed. Aaron Williamson, Darryl Edwards, and Lee Bartel.
Utrecht, The Netherlands: Association Européenne
des Conservatoires, Academi, 2011. Print.
