As artists,
we are constantly trying to get better at our art.
That's what we do.
And as musicians, we spend the bulk of our lives
in the practice room by ourselves
trying to play our instruments better and to make
the music come alive.
Our brains are what enable us to do that.
From my perspective, if you don't understand
how your brain works and how it learns optimally,
you're going to waste a lot of time in the practice room.
There is something about music.
The physicality of playing is very appealing to me.
And that's part of what makes it challenging.
Both hands are constantly moving around.
Your brain has to physically change,
which means reconstructing itself.
New neurons have to communicate, or neurons
that were communicating before have to communicate
in a kind of new way.
And that is the first step
in getting better at something.
I'm Dr. Molly Gebrian
I am the viola professor at the University of Arizona,
and I also have a background in neuroscience.
I had sort of been doing this
intersection between music and neuroscience,
and I started to realize that what I was learning
in my neuroscience and psychology classes about
learning and memory in general were applicable to practicing.
You know, I would learn things about good study
habits, for instance, and I would realize,
wait a minute, I wonder if this applies to music.
One of the things I talk about a lot is the way
in which we should schedule and order our practice
in terms of taking strategic breaks,
but also in terms of mixing things up.
It's what's known as interleaved or random practice.
I do a lot of talking about mental practice
and the benefits of mental practice,
and then also just sort of learning and memory in general.
How how do we learn things optimally?
How do we memorize things?
How do we commit things to memory?
One of the really unique things about me as a teacher
is I combine these things and bring it to my students.
That's something that I would say no other teachers do
in the way that I can because I have the science background.
Hey, Gabby, we're in here today.
I got a bigger room for us.
So we've talked about working memory before, right?
I'm sure we have. Right.
So that's a place like you just have to rely on muscle memory.
(Gabby) Ok, yeah.
(Molly) How did that feel?
(Gabby) It felt okay.
(Molly) I mean, whenever you learn anything new,
you're not very good at it at first, right?
You feel clumsy, you feel awkward.
It doesn't work very well.
For instruments, it doesn't sound very good.
And that's because the neurons
in your brain aren't communicating well.
And so when we practice, we are creating new pathways.
And that was awesome.
That was awesome.
So, you know, you can play that.
Can we actually...
Can you can we do those mental practicing?
Can you do 84 in your head first?
Mental practice in a nutshell for musicians
is hearing and feeling inside your head
without actually doing something
everything you have to hear and feel
when you play the instruments.
It works
because when you mental practice,
you're using the same parts of the brain
as when you actually physically practice.
How'd that feel?
(Gabby) It feel good.
I got a little mixed up, but...
(Molly) A tiny bit,
But that, like, that was hands down the most solid
I've heard that section.
Nice.
Applying the neuroscience knowledge is a way to be
a better, more impactful, more consistent performer.
I have my first solo recital since before the pandemic.
This was a project that was supposed to happen
in 2020, so it's been a long time coming.
I'm really excited about it.
I'm going to be playing three late romantic era cello sonatas
that were written by women composers.
(Pianist) This is happening no matter what, right?
(Molly) Yeah.
This program is tiring. Okay.
We're ready?
My overriding goal in life
is to share
my knowledge of learning and memory with musicians, to
allow musicians to practice and perform the way they want to.
The skills that I try to
teach my students, they apply to everything in life.
The way you get better at an instrument,
the way you manage your time
so you make sure you
that you're practicing in. The way you break down
a very difficult piece into small, manageable goals.
All of those things apply to all of life,
and learning and growing can be frustrating, right?
It doesn't feel good all the time,
but that is the feeling of learning.
That's
one of the biggest things is not to fear that feeling
and not to run away
from that feeling, but to stay with that feeling.
Just really different this time.
Yeah, I took a little more time
the first time that I don't normally do that.
Can we do it again? Yes.