Like the rest of the world, musicians have had to make major adjustments to their lives in the past year. For many, it has meant fewer gigs and more time at home learning new skills, such as starting a YouTube channel, creating a website, building up your home studio, or simply practicing your craft. This was me for much of 2020. I learned many new things and did a lot of practicing, a silver lining on a very dark cloud.
But, after spending hours doing these things — much of which, unfortunately, involved staring at a backlit screen — I’d fall into a fatigue where my hands, eyes, and ears were all overwhelmed and wanted nothing but rest and quiet. Of course, rest is healthy and necessary. But, sometimes, this feeling would linger into the next day or longer. I knew this was a sign of burnout.
In addition to reading and exercise, I found one form of practice that could keep me motivated even when my senses were tired. It’s something I’ve done my entire life, but living during those quieter months made me become more conscious of it and develop it further. I call it “mind practice” and find it immensely valuable. Here are a few exercises and ways you can expand them to make them your own.
1. Practice in Your Mind
Um, what? No, seriously, you can do it. Start by playing a single note or musical passage as a pitch reference. Let’s say you play a short passage on your keyboard. Let your mind remember it — hear the pitches, the rhythm, and the overall sound of it. Next, visualize a piano keyboard in your mind. Play that passage on your mind’s keyboard and try to actually hear the piece in your mind’s ear as you play it. You could also imagine the sensation of playing, the feeling of the keys, the individual movements of each hand/finger, or even imagine a metronome or drummer helping you keep time. You can do this for hours in complete silence while resting on the couch or while doing mundane things, such as cleaning the house. I guarantee that, when you get back to the keyboard, that passage will feel and sound different. For an extra challenge, try to sight-read a lead sheet of your favorite pop song on your mind’s keyboard and hear the tune as you play.
2. Ear Training in (Almost) Silence
“No way,” you say. I say, “Yes way!” You can also start this exercise by giving yourself a reference pitch. Let’s say it’s middle C. Play it on your mind’s keyboard and hear its pitch. Once you have it, try to hear the F above that. That’s the interval of a perfect fourth. If you can’t quite hear it, then play it on your keyboard until you have it. Now the fun part: get creative! Play C and F in various rhythms in your head; hear the same interval starting on another pitch; play those two notes together as a dyad; plane that interval up different scales/modes; etc. This can be expanded to full chords, scales, motifs/riffs/licks, or even improvising. I recommend starting with smaller intervals, such as seconds or thirds, and building your way up to hearing larger ones, such as sixths and sevenths.
3. Building Chords in Your Mind
This is an expansion of the previous exercise. I like visualizing a specific chord voicing and then playing and sustaining each note from low to high or from high to low. Start with basic triads and seventh chords and build up to more complex chords. For example, take an E major seventh chord. Visualize each note on the keyboard and then arpeggiate each one from low to high: E, G#, B, D#. You can try singing it for an extra challenge. You can also sit at the keyboard and go back and forth between hearing it in your mind and playing it. This is a great way to build your theory knowledge and train your ear at the same time. I also find that struggling to hear a voicing in my head will eventually motivate me to go play it. This can break you out of a practice slump; it’s more fun to approach the keyboard with the spirit of discovery than with the staleness of routine.
I hope you try incorporating these exercises into your practice routine to continue building your skills and keep yourself motivated and inspired. Good luck!