tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5244433167140958422.post5434329133895876232..comments2023-06-30T08:11:21.391-04:00Comments on Treehugging Physicist: Nerves and Muscle Memorywritelhdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03717311559866135208noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5244433167140958422.post-38039626576041372122010-05-04T09:51:13.595-04:002010-05-04T09:51:13.595-04:00There is such a thing as over-practicing, as well....There is such a thing as over-practicing, as well. It needs to flow naturally, not be a nerve-wracking intense process.writelhdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03717311559866135208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5244433167140958422.post-35503811922057010042010-04-09T14:09:31.095-04:002010-04-09T14:09:31.095-04:00I have some experience with this myself. I took a ...I have some experience with this myself. I took a piano class my last semester and we had to play in front of the class every week. I didn't realize that shaking, nervous thing was going to happen until the first week I played. I hadn't been particularly worried about it or the class as I was just taking it for fun, but as soon as I started to play it was like nothing worked right anymore and I couldn't think straight. My hands shook uncontrollably. I've done all kinds of stuff in front of much larger audiences, but I don't think my hands have ever shaken as much as they did that first day. So I, like you, made a goal for myself. My goal was to know the song to be played soooo well that that wouldn't happen again. I would practice songs so much that I could play them blind folded, but the shaking never stopped. Each and every week my hands shook without fail. I talked to Alex about it and asked him if his hands ever shook. He told me that they don't anymore, but they used to shake really badly. I asked him how he made it stop and he told me it just took several months of playing in front of large audiences. <br /><br />Just as an aside, we were at home a couple of days ago when he got a phone call at 10 minutes to eight asking him to play piano for a big band at a concert they were having at a local restaurant at 8. Their original piano player's car broke down and they desperately needed him to fill in. He knew the band director, but he didn't know anyone in the band and he had never played with them before. What's more, he had never played any of the music before. In spite of that, he was able to walk into the restaurant, sit down, and calmly play. Of course his hands didn't shake. I've seen him do things like this before many times, but it never ceases to amaze me. <br /><br />I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it seems that piano is a different kind of experience. I think even the most confident people would have shaky hands the first few times they play piano in front of any audience.Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06992782796019207997noreply@blogger.com