How do you optimize staying "in the zone"?

[Adan]

My wife and I have had a long running debate ("debate" being code for her criticizing me and me putting up an ineffective defense) about why I practice in the times and places I do. She's a painter. We're similar as artists in that we're both hobbyists but nevertheless pretty good -- people appreciate our work. But as a painter she can pick up the brush after 6 months of not doing it and pick right up where she left off. I try to explain to her that being a musician is much more like being an athlete, in that if you don't have a routine your skills go downhill very quickly and getting them back is a process.

 

For all of you reading this that's sort of a "duh!" point, but I open with that to frame the more subtle question of this thread: is there one or a few key things you do to stay in your best shape for playing? Let's put aside the obvious point that the more you practice the better you'll be. I'm interested in more nuanced points that might be a bit different for each of us.

 

For me, I've found a huge benefit in going to the keyboard as the first thing I do when I wake up. Maybe it's the second thing, if we count emptying the bladder. But literally right after that, sit down and play for 10-15 minutes. My theory is that the mind is never more fresh and amenable to imprinting than at that moment. The proof is empirical and irrefutable. When I think of the periods where I've made the most progress in my playing, they correlate to wake and shake.

 

This was of course easier when I was single and living alone. With a wife 2 kids and a dog, the opportunity is harder to grasp. The dog in particular doesn't have much patience for it.

 

I'm also in the habit of playing just before bed, but my feeling is that's not nearly as effective. I like the feng shui of ending my day that way, but it doesn't do much to advance my playing.

 

Enough about me, let's hear about you. Maybe for you it's something completely different, like what you listen to, your diet, playing a non-keyboard instrument, etc.

[BbAltered]

There are three pillars to my practice: technical exercises, Bach and other classical piano music, and improv exercises. I work to do some of each every day.

 

The technical exercises are things like Hanon studies, scales and arpeggios, and those finger strengthening exercises by that Hungarian composer. I do some Bach every day and more recently I have been working on sonatinas by Clementi. Czeny's Op. 599 has become a favorite set of etudes - that book is wonderful to work on both technical and artistic playing. I do four different improv exercises: each is a song I play in all keys. The songs are blues (of course), major 2-5-1 (currently woodshedding Oleo), minor 2-5-1 (i.e. Softly As a Morning Sunrise), and rootless 2-5 vamps (currently woodshedding Cold Duck Time). The improv exercises give me an opportunity to practice things like playing a LH bass lines while playing a specific melody or scale in the RH - and then doing it in all keys. Booyakasha!!!!

 

It is my sense that all three pillars are important, and my piano day definitely feels deficient if I don't get to work on all three.

 

Like the OP, it is my opinion that playing the piano is a specialized athletic activity, and that regular physically training is absolutely required. At the same time, there is a mental/cognitive component that also needs exercise and training.

[KuruPrionz]

Over the years, I've found that the times I took a break from playing somehow resulted in me being more creative and having a better sense of what to do.

I agree that the physical aspect of operating the instrument takes a turn for the worse.

 

For me, that may not always be a bad thing. Re-assessing how I go about things, what goes where and when, creating tension and release - I've felt notable improvements in those areas after taking a break. It doesn't take long to catch back up on chops and often that improves once I get back into it.

 

Not recommending it, just noting that it has worked for me over the decades.

[timwat]

Amateurs rely on inspiration. Professionals go to work every day.

 

And if you're going to create something worth listening to, you have to have something to say. Having something to say means having a life outside of the practice studio.

[BenWaB3]

Over the years, I've found that the times I took a break from playing somehow resulted in me being more creative and having a better sense of what to do.

I agree that the physical aspect of operating the instrument takes a turn for the worse.

 

For me, that may not always be a bad thing. Re-assessing how I go about things, what goes where and when, creating tension and release - I've felt notable improvements in those areas after taking a break. It doesn't take long to catch back up on chops and often that improves once I get back into it.

 

Not recommending it, just noting that it has worked for me over the decades.

 

Yes, I've noticed that enigma too. I try to keep at least a modest practice routine at all times & go for some more serious training when possible, but have also found that when I'm in a situation of having to totally step away from it for few days, like going on vacation, when I come back things are much better from an improvisational perspective. I can come up with more creative lines rather than resorting to my own personal playing clichés. They will come back, of course, over the course of the next few days, but hopefully the newer stuff is retained as well. Granted, the more you practice the more tools you will add to your arsenal.

[Anderton]

I'm very fortunate, in the sense that I have to play almost every day as part of my gig. What I've found is that I usually don't start off "in the zone," because there's some specific reason why I'm playing (reviewing something, testing out a tip for web content, etc.). But if I keep playing, eventually the left brain stuff fades, the right brain takes over, and something like a song comes out of nowhere.

 

The corollary to this if I'm not feeling particularly inspired, my motto is "just play." Invariably, at some point, the corner gets turned and I'm back in the zone.

 

But, there was a very interesting study done at Harvard Medical School. I know people often don't click on links, but this link to the study is worth it! Here's one little nugget: "the region of motor cortex that controls the piano-playing fingers also expanded in the brains of volunteers who imagined playing the music--just as it had in those who actually played it."

 

So to loop back to the OP, maybe when your wife isn't painting, she's thinking about it - and that's why she can pick up where she left off.

[area51recording]

I play tenor sax, piano, as well as sing, on most of my gigs, and have to divide time that I have available between the 3. As such, there are days when I feel each of them gets the short shrift. For keys, I try to hit a little Hanon, maybe some scales, and then my focus is working on stuff to try and get some left hand independence, as right now that really sucks for me. I can walk a bass line OK, but I really struggle with repetitive patterns in a groove (stuff like Cantaloupe Island, etc). Some days I'll just put on a loop from something like Drum Genius and try to play the head and improv over the tune for a while. Other than that, I've been working on 2 Part Invention # 8 for what seems like forever (I'm no kind of classical guy) and finally have it to where I can play both hands around 60 bpm pretty well. Something else I play nearly every day is Linus and Lucy, mostly to try to get the left hand really solid on it, and also to keep it in some kind of shape, as I get more than a few requests for it on my piano bar gig, and I really hate it when I don't (can't) play it well......

 

Edit: To bring this "on topic", what I listed above is about the only way I can then walk into a gig and even have half a prayer of being in the flow of things. Any less than this and I really feel tight and unprepared, which decidedly keeps me out of "the zone".....

[CEB]

Bear with me ⦠or don"t. This is an old approach applied to numerous disciplines. Not sure how to approach a quick dirty explanation.

 

Self-concepts like 'the zone' are fictions. They are not real in the way a flower pot is real or a desk is. They are merely ways you have chosen to view yourself.

 

The mental state we wish for is called by some mushin no shin.

 

Mushin means "no-mindedness," or "without thought." It doesn't mean living and conducting business without thinking at all about what you're doing. That's not mushin, that is stupidity. Mushin means doing whatever you're doing without any thought about your "I ams," "I can'ts" and "I'm nots," or any concern about "what bad thing will happen if I start playing clams" or "what great thing will happen if I nail it' or the 'whys or theory of doing it'. It is being in the now and Doing It.

 

The dichotomy is that the only way to mushin is ushin. It"s the complete opposite. Systematic practice and thought concerning methods or the hows and whys. It is doing the work. Solo practice is work so I never approach it like a performance or a fight. It is why we learn music theory so we can forget it when it time to forget it. Do the piano until the piano does you.

 

This post problem looks ignorant.

[El Lobo]

My desire is to play the best I can in a live music/band context. To me, the way to get better at doing anything is to do that thing. That means to get better at playing in a live music/band context, I need to play in a live music/band context. Yes, I work out things at home to prepare for rehearsal, then the rehearsal with other players is a key to optimizing being in the zone when I play with a band in live performance.

[Anderton]

Self-concepts like 'the zone' are fictions. They are not real in the way a flower pot is real or a desk is. They are merely ways you have chosen to view yourself.

 

I'm not sure about that...there are definite changes in brain waves associated with different mental states. Those chemical realities influence behavior, and vice-versa.

 

Many years ago, I built a biofeedback machine to detect brainwaves. "Being in the zone" correlated pretty strongly to presence/generation of alpha waves. It's a subtle change, but when you're aware that it's happening, you learn to recognize it and eventually, you don't need the machine any more to recognize when it's happening.

 

So yes, it is a way you view yourself, but part (if not most) of that view is based on something physical (and even measurable) that occurs in your brain.

[GovernorSilver]

Flow, aka "being in the zone" does get treated as a serious topic of study by some folks, because there's been a lot of interest in why certain athletes excel at their sports

 

This is the best-known professor on this topic

 

https://www.cgu.edu/people/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/

 

A fair number of articles on flow in sports performance cite his book "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience"

[16251]

Life is too short. I do it the old fashion way.

[drawback]

I'm very fortunate, in the sense that I have to play almost every day as part of my gig. What I've found is that I usually don't start off "in the zone," because there's some specific reason why I'm playing (reviewing something, testing out a tip for web content, etc.). But if I keep playing, eventually the left brain stuff fades, the right brain takes over, and something like a song comes out of nowhere.

 

The corollary to this if I'm not feeling particularly inspired, my motto is "just play." Invariably, at some point, the corner gets turned and I'm back in the zone.

 

But, there was a very interesting study done at Harvard Medical School. I know people often don't click on links, but this link to the study is worth it! Here's one little nugget: "the region of motor cortex that controls the piano-playing fingers also expanded in the brains of volunteers who imagined playing the music--just as it had in those who actually played it."

 

So to loop back to the OP, maybe when your wife isn't painting, she's thinking about it - and that's why she can pick up where she left off.

 

This is closest to my experience. I never know what will happen from gig to gig, but it almost always does. The times it doesn't is a pulling-teeth kind of gig, but I've learned to shake it off and approach the next gig as an opportunity to find that zen state everyone's talking about, without really looking for it. That's were so many musicians who become substance-addicted have gone wrong, in my opinion. Once you stop looking for it, you find it.

[David Emm]

One method: buy a new synth. I comb through the library for a few weeks and take notes on the serious keepers. X number of those end up germinating and becoming new pieces. I over-write like mad, end up deleting the clogging elements and things tend to coalesce fairly well.

 

Its admittedly on the wasteful side, but its also proven to be a good Oblique Strategy. I've started with just guitar or a fascinating physical model, but reviewing synth patches can be relaxing, assuming you can create a space where the wife, kids or dog won't object.

 

I don't go there as much lately, because I'm settling in from a more productive conceptual angle: fewer instruments, more tweaking. I'm new to massaging a Memorymoog and the D-50's time-variant envelopes, but my time feels well spent so far. I often write melodically with piano or near-piano first, which establishes the zone for me. After that comes the synthesizer window-dressing. Its very basic, but it helps to keep me on track.

[Adan]

Interesting theme developing here of "the zone" being something that becomes elusive the more you strive to achieve it. I feel like I get that, and the whole zen thing, which is why I tend to focus not on results but on ritual. I think my first post is an example of that: the idea that I'm going to spend the first 15 minutes of my day playing and not worrying about what comes of that.

 

Also perhpas sort of an Eastern-Western philosophical contrast between disciplined Hannon exercises versus the idea mentioned by Anderton of allowing the imagination to work disconnected from physicality? Perhaps I am reading too much into that.

 

The Mushin idea is difficult to articulate but almost infinitely harder to put into practice. But speaking for myself it might be the most important thing I can do. Being "out of the zone" is practically synonymous with being overly conscious of myself as I am playing. By contrast being in the zone means freeing myself of self-imposed psychological limitations.

 

Many years ago I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, expecting some kind of breakthrough. I got nothing out of it in terns of personal growth. Some things can't be learned through reading?

[GovernorSilver]

This is one of a bunch of articles out there that attempt to summarize the content of the original Flow book. This is one of them

 

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-flow-2794768

 

Another one - pretty much says the same stuff, but with more words

 

https://medium.com/personal-growth-lab/how-to-reach-flow-state-using-10-flow-state-triggers-473aa28dc3e5

 

This one isn't as wordy, yet also says the same stuff

 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/flow-state-what-it-is-and_b_9607084

[Al Quinn]

For practice I usually start with 10-15 minutes of free playing. I'll purposely avoid playing things I've played before; so by definition it's exploratory. The goal is to get in touch with the piano, clear my mind, and connect my inner ear to the sound rather than to make some sort of special music; I believe it works. I think I learned about doing this type of thing from reading Kenny Werner's Effortless Mastery.

 

After that I work on whatever my current goals are. They're usually big goals (e.g., last year I focused on playing solo jazz piano for the first time) and then I move on to other goals (e.g., this year I've been working on playing equally well in all keys). The big goals are supported by a lot of focused objectives with big goals holding it all together. If I have a struggle technically I'll focus on that hurdle (e.g., worked on playing octaves better last year). The nice thing about having focused objectives is that I feel the progress which in encouraging. I've stopped practicing stuff I already know (like scales and chords) to practice stuff I wish I could play better (like different textures and better independence and interplay between the hands). None of this goes anywhere if I'm not completely immersed in what I'm doing. So, I have to self-police myself and call foul if I find myself just going through the motions. I can only do this kind of practice for about an hour before I'm exhausted and need to take a break. I'm happy if I get two one-hour sessions in per day.

 

Gigs are a completely different matter. I struggle to clear my mind so that I can play music without distraction. I've yet to figure out how to do this reliably. I usually struggle with distraction for the first set and then get in the zone for the sets that follow. If there's a soundcheck I usually do it with my distracted mind but feel in the zone for the first set. When I listen to recordings of my gigs the first sets don't sound bad but I hear more licks and pre-packaged stuff than in the later sets where there's more interesting/creative textures, rhythms, and melodies.

 

I've noticed some impact on the time of day I practice. A morning session and an afternoon session are ideal. A little unstructured free form at night is fun and maybe even helpful.

[KuruPrionz]

I will recommend "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" and "Drawing on the Artist Within", both by Betty Edwards, as a perspective on "the zone" or "mindlessness".

Much of what she states as scientific fact in these books has been proven to be different than what she describes. The fact remains that she documented people who came to her classes and could not draw with any level of sophistication who became capable of drawing very well in a short period of time using her techniques for pushing the verbal mind aside and exploring one's non-verbal state.

 

As a left handed soul who has mostly overcome autistic tendencies I prefer to call these states "verbal" and "non-verbal".

There are no words to accurately describe the non-verbal state, nor should there be.

 

I find it easy to go there, that there are no thoughts that could be written in a language does not mean that there is not intention, emotion, response to surroundings (not that these words can describe that which cannot be described).

 

Some of us go there easily, some never will. The books are worth a read either way. I have no affiliation and never met Betty Edwards. I learned a great deal reading them, valuable ideas.

[Piano-Pete]

I'm confused. 'In the zone' to me means a mental, maybe spiritual, state. It's mushin https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-japanese-state-of-mushin.html. Yet you are talking about practicing times and playings athletic physical aspects, which of course are critical too.

[CowboyNQ]

I try to explain to her that being a musician is much more like being an athlete, in that if you don't have a routine your skills go downhill very quickly and getting them back is a process.

 

I can only provide the evidence of my own experience, but I agree with this statement.

 

On practice routines:

 

I had a decent hiatus from playing music and when I was in a position to recommence, I had to very slowly and methodically build my skills back up, piece by piece, layer by layer. It was a slow, laborious and not entirely fun process, but certainly worth it in the end. I should add that I'm not over-endowed with natural talent so these things don't come as easily to me as they might to some others. Music for me requires full and conscious application of all my mental and physical resources to perform at an acceptable level. If I don't practice, my skills atrophy quickly.

 

I also was a sportsman in my younger days and these days am still a sports coach. My relationship to sport has been almost identical to that with music. I've never been a gifted athlete and any of my very moderate sporting achievements have come about as the result of consistently applied practice over a period of time. Ironically I find coaching much easier to pick up and put down than I ever did playing - communication is a skill that comes to me far more naturally than any athletic or musical pursuit I've attempted.

 

On "the zone":

 

I'm constantly asked about "the zone" by my athletes. As mentioned above, there are a multitude of studies and books one can read on this subject. My simple and uneducated experience and interpretation of it is much more rudimentary, but I discuss it often so thought it might be worth sharing here.

 

Firstly, one must have the technical facility to achieve this state. I won't stride onto the cricket field and make 100 runs against quality opposition if I've never held a bat in my life. Technical skill can only be acquired through practice. Different methods will suit different people and some people will require more practice than others, but the skills must be acquired first.

 

The interesting part of "the zone" is, of course, the mental aspect. I have always thought of this as the mind being 100% free of external noise and distraction, allowing it to apply its full power and presence to the task at hand. Some of that application exists at a very conscious level (I'm going to swing the bat NOW) and some at an unconscious level (my heart rate as the ball approaches) and some at the murky place in between (I always move my weight in this direction when faced with this type of delivery, so I will do it now more as a reaction than a choice).

 

All of these activities require mental resources - the clearer and freer our mind, the more effectively the activities will go ahead. 100% mental clarity = "the zone". When I've (very occasionally) achieved it, it feels like I'm not even thinking about anything, I'm just doing. But on reflection I've always realised there was plenty of thinking going on, but the thinking was "easy", almost without resistance. It felt like rolling downhill with the handbrake off, but still being consciously in control of the car.

 

I could provide hundreds of anecdotal stories where mental distraction has prevented an athlete or a musician from entering "the zone" or has rudely snapped them out of it, causing an error.

 

Interesting topic and discussion, thanks Adan.

[PianoMan51]

To optimize my zone time on gigs I take meticulous care to avoid things that can knock me out of the zone:

 

1. Make my physical setup exactly the same. Stage position, keyboard height, bench height, pedal position, monitor position, music stand position, mic position, etc. Any changes in these will distract me from my goal of ignoring them.

 

2. Don"t play with other musicians who constantly distract me from my goal. Too loud, changing time without musical reason, won"t share musical space, out of tune, etc. My bandmates don"t have to be great, but they have to give me a chance to be my best.

 

3. Respect, and perhaps love the music to be played. While playing, Build Me Up Buttercup deserves the same respect, empathy, effort, non-judgmental love as African Queen. This then trickles down to playing each note, chord, phrase, section, song, set, gig, tour, lifetime the best I can without questioning the value of doing so.

 

4. Be prepared. This means something different for each type of gig. Even for a cold reading gig, a certain type of mental and physical prep is needed. But what I really mean is being prepped enough to confidently stop the internal questioning and uncertainty that will sabotage whatever I play. For my personal psychology I know I like a few minutes of quiet time shake off the rest of the world"s concerns before the downbeat. Thinking about this, I realize that I have a long list of personal do"s and don"t"s relating to this. Give myself enough time to get to the gig and setup without feeling rushed. Don"t eat before a gig. Don"t discuss touchy issues before or during a gig. Have a drink. 'A" drink. Meet and greet my bandmates before playing. Look at the audience as people like myself and acknowledge to myself why I"m there. Dress well. (All these may seem like just being a pro or a human being, to me they are also foundational to getting in the zone.)

[BenWaB3]

We can always defer to the old masters too (I've seen various versions of this one): 'First you learn the instrument, then you learn the music, then you forget all that shit and just play.' Charlie Parker

[Adan]

I'm confused. 'In the zone' to me means a mental, maybe spiritual, state. It's mushin https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-japanese-state-of-mushin.html. Yet you are talking about practicing times and playings athletic physical aspects, which of course are critical too.

 

It was a pretty loosey goosey topic to begin with and then went in some unexpected (to me, at least) directions, so confusion is a fair and appropriate response. I guess I would ask you, are real world routines necessarily unrelated to mental or spiritual states? To me, the routines and physical practices are essential to create space for mental and spiritual exploration. You certainly can't only talk about the physical and stop there, but it is part of the conversation.

[MathOfInsects]

Without diving in too deep, I do have some things I do inside my head before jobs/performances to stay focused and go into "receiving" mode.

[Adan]

To optimize my zone time on gigs I take meticulous care to avoid things that can knock me out of the zone:

 

1. Make my physical setup exactly the same. Stage position, keyboard height, bench height, pedal position, monitor position, music stand position, mic position, etc. Any changes in these will distract me from my goal of ignoring them.

 

2. Don"t play with other musicians who constantly distract me from my goal. Too loud, changing time without musical reason, won"t share musical space, out of tune, etc. My bandmates don"t have to be great, but they have to give me a chance to be my best.

 

3. Respect, and perhaps love the music to be played. While playing, Build Me Up Buttercup deserves the same respect, empathy, effort, non-judgmental love as African Queen. This then trickles down to playing each note, chord, phrase, section, song, set, gig, tour, lifetime the best I can without questioning the value of doing so.

 

4. Be prepared. This means something different for each type of gig. Even for a cold reading gig, a certain type of mental and physical prep is needed. But what I really mean is being prepped enough to confidently stop the internal questioning and uncertainty that will sabotage whatever I play. For my personal psychology I know I like a few minutes of quiet time shake off the rest of the world"s concerns before the downbeat. Thinking about this, I realize that I have a long list of personal do"s and don"t"s relating to this. Give myself enough time to get to the gig and setup without feeling rushed. Don"t eat before a gig. Don"t discuss touchy issues before or during a gig. Have a drink. 'A" drink. Meet and greet my bandmates before playing. Look at the audience as people like myself and acknowledge to myself why I"m there. Dress well. (All these may seem like just being a pro or a human being, to me they are also foundational to getting in the zone.)

 

I was thinking of the zone as ideally a 24/7 thing, in the sense that the more time spent in it the better, and not in any way a zero sum game (e.g., being in the zone as a musician does not entail being out of the zone as a partner or parent).

 

But being in the zone for gigs specifically is also a great topic. The concept of eliminating distracting variables resonates strongly with me, mainly because I've screwed that up a thousand different ways. Case in point: buy some new gear, spend a couple hours working it into your rig in your home studio, go out on a gig with it all excited to hear this new shiny object but then find that your playing suffers because gear fussing took you out of the zone. You'd think if I'd made this mistake once or a few times I would have stopped. But no, I've made that mistake more times than I can count.

[jarrell]

I agree being prepared and eliminating distractions are both helpful strategies. But I think it helps to keep in mind that you also want to be able to perform your best when things are not under your control - when playing gear not your own, or a crappy piano, or with a bandleader or singer who doesn't give good (or any) cues, or sight-reading a difficult and poorly written chart, etc. etc. I don't have a magic bullet answer, but I think in addition to constantly working on improving your musicianship and knowledge of your gear (i.e. being prepared), exposing yourself to uncertain situations (learning how to deal with distractions) rather than avoid them allows you the opportunity to develop your focus and learn how to play your best in a difficult situation.

[16251]

I agree being prepared and eliminating distractions are both helpful strategies. But I think it helps to keep in mind that you also want to be able to perform your best when things are not under your control - when playing gear not your own, or a crappy piano, or with a bandleader or singer who doesn't give good (or any) cues, or sight-reading a difficult and poorly written chart, etc. etc. I don't have a magic bullet answer, but I think in addition to constantly working on improving your musicianship and knowledge of your gear (i.e. being prepared), exposing yourself to uncertain situations (learning how to deal with distractions) rather than avoid them allows you the opportunity to develop your focus and learn how to play your best in a difficult situation.

 

jarrell made me think of something I did years ago that does help keep me in the zone. That would be purchasing my Avantgrand N2 Since I have no room for a grand, I went through a number of uprights and almost purchased the first generation Grand Touch, but I didn't feel sample tech was good enough for the price tag. Having grand action was my objective but having an instrument always in tune is the real "zone optimizer." I don't have perfect pitch but a slightly out of tune upright was always distracting.

[Al Quinn]

The idea of being in the zone 24/7 doesn"t resonate with me. Perhaps it"s more a matter of having a different understand / definition than anything else. For me, being in the zone means the subconscious mind is running the show and the conscious mind is more of an observer that"s taking in the overall musical experience (equally observing what the others are playing). This is the ideal state for performance. Since I"m only playing material from my subconscious it"s stuff I know well.

 

On the other hand, when I practice my conscious mind is fully engaged in the details of what I"m trying to do. I"ll repeatedly search and explore, looking for new sounds and textures. Through repetition musical material gets ingrained in the subconscious and, hopefully, will show itself during performance. I believe this ideal state for growth.

 

There is a hybrid practice mode where one hand gets the full attention of the conscious mind and the other hand is left to do whatever it wants with no attention from the conscious mind. I find this to be a very effective way to improve hand independence.

[David R]

There's three things I use to warm up for a gig: The first 6 Hanon exercises, Bach Invention #1 in C major, and Hermeto Pascoal's "Chorinho pra ele." I know those things so well that however I play them tells me exactly where I'm at physically, mentally and emotionally that day. Are my arms tired? Did I brain fart? How is the piano responding to what I would expect â how much strength and effort do I need to put into the action and the keybed? These things help even more if it's a fly date or a gig out of town where I'm hitting soundcheck cold after four to six hours on the road.

 

Getting mentally in the zone is something else entirely. Lately I've been using livestream DJ sets as "ear training," switching my brain into the active listening mode instead of passive listening mode. If there's a lot of feedback in the soundcheck, or it was a stressful load in, or a long drive, I will leave the stage for 30 seconds (or more if I can), just to decompress and get away from the problems. I know that if I stay in that situation I will likely say something that will not help the results, so it's better for everyone involved if I just leave the stage, breathe, and come back. If I have time for coffee, a nap, and a meal between soundcheck and the gig, that is ideal for me to recharge and reset.

 

As PianoMan51 mentioned, what is the "zone" needed for the gig? Is it a more improvised situation where my ears need to be super sharp? Do I have a ton of patch changes or a lot of tunes to remember? Is the music technically or rhythmically challenging? All of the above? Each of those zones are a different type of mental acuity, I find.

[Theo Verelst]

This is the zone of Mr. Jones, would you please stand up, Mr. Jones...

 

T