Practicing "blind" playing

[NeverTooLate]

Hi! I just registered after watching the interesting discussions on this forum for a while. I'm not a beginner (nor a pro), but most of my experience comes from playing around on my own without sheet music. Although in general my skills are sufficient for the bands I currently play in, I feel I need to get rid of my habit of looking at the keys all the time, which I developed because I never felt a reason to look anywhere else.

 

When playing in a band, most of the time it's not that bad any more, in part due to having to communicate, or sometimes singing backing vocals. But I still have a lot of trouble with it during solos, especially improvised ones. Which, of course, is the only time anyone might actually be looking at me. ;-)

 

So at first I tried to practice with completely covered keys for a while, but wasn't able to play well at all this way, and didn't seem to make any progress either. Now I've found that I can play just fine if I can only see the very end of the keys but not my fingers. But if allow myself to do that, I usually forget to take my eyes off the keys after having to take a brief look.

 

I guess I would like to do something that forces me to look up from time to time. Playing some sheet music might work, but that feels like work instead of fun. Just now I had the idea of setting up some sort of visual metronome. I think I will try that, but I'm looking for more (maybe totally crazy) suggestions. And I'd especially like to know if anyone has been in a similar situation before, and how you solved it. Thanks!

[marino]

Usually, "playing without looking" just gets better with experience, but here are a few considerations anyway:

 

- Start practicing something simple, like intervals, without looking at the keys. Practice each hand separately.

 

- Play a piece or part that you know well already. Slow it down a bit, and strive to play it without mistakes.

 

- For improvised solos, if you want to avoid the "motionless keyboardist" syndrome, practice some stage gesture (like raising your left arm, printed/fixed grin on your face, etc. ), but DON'T look away from the keyboard. All the gestures in the world are worth nothing if you play a wrong note at the peak of your solo!

 

My 2 cents

 

 

[cleomenesII]

I never play as well if I can't look at the keys at least quite a lot of the time, at least out of the corner of my eye..

 

This gentleman is for me the king of 'blind' playing - he often gives the impression that he has forgotten that he is in front of a piano, and his hands are playing by themselves. What a star player. (Guess who I mean before looking...)

 

[Synthoid]

Welcome to the forum, NeverTooLate. I'm sure you'll receive some interesting replies.

 

 

[opdigits]

Familiarity is what helped me the absolute most when learning how to play without looking directly at the keys. Scales, chord progressions/inversions, all the techniques that make us better players.

 

Watching your band mates, or the audience, or that hot chick dancing in the red tube top, rather than watching the keys.

 

Mental playing, rather than visual playing.

 

Take some pieces you are infinitely familiar with and play them eyes closed until you get them perfect.

[marino]

A couple of additional considerations:

 

- I have a (now ex-)student who's blind. Since I'm used to base some of my teaching on visual techniques (e.g. looking at the target key before a big jump, etc.), I had to adapt a bit to his blindness. He's capable of quite 'large' gestures on the keyboard, without the aid of sight. He does make mistakes sometimes though, and that made me think about how sight is important on the keyboard at any level.

(also, why so many blind musicians choose the piano, when a wind instrument would be so much easier for them....)

 

- Once at a jazz gig, I got a bit inspired and played a somewhat intense solo. After the gig, a friend came to say how much he liked it, and also said "even more than the music itself, I was impressed by the fact that you have not opened your eyes once during the whole solo!" I hadn't even realized that I was playing with my eyes closed! It was just a natural thing at that moment - it came with the flow. I never thought about the risk of hitting wrong notes (and fortunately, I didn't); I just followed my instinct.

 

Just food for thought.

 

 

[Brettymike]

I have always been amazed how Billy Joel hardly ever looks at the keys > http://youtu.be/eYkjzEc6IJc

 

But Elton has always been my teacher >

 

I love watching Elton play , giving it 110% effort , and now and then he looks up with that "you guys still there?" look (connecting with the audience).

 

Brett.

[Brettymike]

My 2 favourite piano masters in the world hardly take their eyes off the keys much at all.

Arcadi Volodos , playing the most beautiful Concerto ever , on a very Awesome sounding Steinway >

 

And the lady genius Valentina Lisitsa >

- the most beautiful hands on keys today IMO.

 

Brett.

[Outkaster]

This is a matter of time, practice and just gaining confidence. I dont have to be able to play the instrument to see how the musician and instrument are one. I can tell all the time when if someone is confident or not because they have watch the keys, constantly look at the fret-board, or just the way someone holds a pair drumsticks behind a drum kit. Its real easy to see and usually is telling of the skill level 90% of the time. Good musicians dont have to think a lot of things through, they just play. If you know the keyboard you will know where to go. Thats where scales, arpeggios and other things come into play because the kind of Zen concept concerning this is that all that you learn to play directly or indirectly influences your output as a musician. The more you do it the more confident you will be. There are no short cuts and too many musicians think there are.

[Bridog6996]

There's nothing inherently "wrong" with watching your hands as you play, of course, but being able to feel your way around the instrument is an important skill. In order to be a halfway decent sight reader, for example, you need to be able to keep your eyes on the music. I agree also with what others have said that I often feel more connected to what I'm playing if I'm not wrapped up in watching my hands. I think it's a matter of instinct taking over, whereas if I'm looking at the keys my brain starts mapping out what to play next and I'm thinking too much.

 

I suppose the easiest way to practice this is just to play familiar pieces with your eyes closed. I used to turn off the lights in the practice room and play in the dark.

[Moonglow]

Mental playing, rather than visual playing....

I will often slowly "play" a difficult lick I am trying to learn when I am away from the keyboard (on a table top, arm chair, my own leg), thinking about each note, and not looking at my fingers. This can be done while watching TV, attending a boring meeting, etc. Seems to facilitate the mental connection and muscle memory.

[Phred]

I struggle with looking away from my hands too. Some things I can play without looking, especially if I know it well. But soloing is another animal. If I am attempting something new and made up, I need to see the keys. Not sure why, but maybe I am using my eyes to create the solo.

[NeverTooLate]

Oh wow... Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

 

It seems there are two different things I need to practice:

 

1. Hitting the right keys without looking at them. I just quickly tried some intervals, and the results were quite revealing. While I never have problems as long as at least one finger stays on a key (even with things like fast scales), as soon as I need to "jump" even a bit, it becomes hit and miss. Even if I just play an octave with something other than my thumb and little finger. I'll definitely practice this. And also pieces I know well, etc.

 

2. Not looking at the keys unless I really have to. Or, as some of you suggested, looking at the keys anyway but doing something to compensate for it. That's actually a really good point because I know I need to work on my stage presence.

 

I guess I'm especially looking for a way to practice 2 at home without having to completely master 1 first. I briefly tested the metronome idea I had while writing my post, and it did the job to some degree, but it won't work whenever I play along to something. Maybe I need a mirror behind my keyboard...

[iLaw]

Build two skills at once; get some printed music that plays at an easy comfort level for you (I often recommend church hymnals; the pieces are short, they're easy, and if you get any good at them you can actually get paid to play!). Then use them to practice your sight-reading. Keep your eyes on the page!

 

Larry.

 

[GovernorSilver]

In order to be a halfway decent sight reader, for example, you need to be able to keep your eyes on the music.

 

It's certainly true for me.

 

For the OP, I think the trick is to find the sheet music for music to which he feels a good emotional connection - then it won't feel so much like "work".

[wmp]

I learned how to play without looking in a serious hurry the first time I got lit up with a strobe light.

 

Better not look down.

[spazzkey]

I got into practicing scales and finger exercises with eyes closed when I got bored with them - a fresh challenge - getting comfortable playing them eyes closed then made it easier for me not to be looking at the keys/my hands as much in other playing... definitely also helpful in feeling the music and the keys...

[Michael Wright]

I have made up a cardboard shield for practicing sight reading and not looking at the keys in the past. Nearly drove me crazy, but found it to be a big help. When I decide to put it back in my routine, I have to keep in mind how hard it really is and to relax, think and be patient with myself. And not to overdo it!

[opdigits]

Playing multiple keyboards is another thing that helped me a lot. You simply can't concentrate on one or the other board as you would playing just a single board. It also helps with hand independence.

 

I find that playing a LOT is what helps the most. Your hands and fingers just seem to know where they are, and where they need to go just by what you hear in your head (if that makes sense).

[Michael Wright]

I find that playing a LOT is what helps the most. Your hands and fingers just seem to know where they are, and where they need to go just by what you hear in your head (if that makes sense).

It does.

[RandyFF]

Playing multiple keyboards is another thing that helped me a lot. You simply can't concentrate on one or the other board as you would playing just a single board. It also helps with hand independence.

 

I find that playing a LOT is what helps the most. Your hands and fingers just seem to know where they are, and where they need to go just by what you hear in your head (if that makes sense).

 

Alot of great suggestions. Here's one from out in left field- forgot where I saw it (HC Keys or this forum), there was a post about a guy who had some brain developmental damage (sight, some degree of autism?), and he was a complete "idiot"-savant- could hear nearly anything and reproduce it, which he did with a very fluid and unusual finger technique.

 

Which makes me think that in the case of genius level capability (which to my mind is often high skill level that comes nearly effortlessly and often without training), that his ability to play so well, jumping around the keyboard with no visual aids, has everything to do with his perfect pitch.

 

I know very few people have perfect pitch, but all musicians have some degree of it, and being that sight is the predominate sense, I think there's something most of us are missing out by being so reliant on sight, and that other capabilities come to the fore when we are sight deprived and must create an internal map and auditory map to compensate for the obviously useful but over used visual sense (esp. since music is auditory!). Imagine being blind, how rich music must sound- we all need stimulation! Rather like the difference between reading a book (leaving much to your imagination), and a movie, where the visuals are the predominate storyteller, very little imagination required.

 

Unfortunately I've never heard of a teaching method that uses this insight!

[b3maniac]

Time and experience make a lot of difference in your focus. In my case, 7 nights a week in lots of places with hot chicks on the dance floor was a great incentive to not watch my hands! On the other hand, having a great ear to hand connection, a consistent manner of hand positioning, and developed confidence over time in my ability are the primary reasons I don't have to watch the hands. I think I probably did watch my hands a lot in the past, much of that being because I was shy and had not developed enough confidence. Now I try to become part of the music, relax, and let myself just enjoy it. Don

[NeverTooLate]

I really appreciate all of your replies. Playing two keyboards simultaneously is a good idea, especially because I already have a two-tier setup at home (weighted and semi-weighted). Now it's time to order a music sheet holder. Either for actual sheet music, or maybe just for a picture of hot chicks on the dance floor. ;-)

 

(Yes, it's that bad; I don't even have a place to put sheet music I want to play, other than my top-tier keyboard.)