Using Focus To Stay In Your Ideal Performance State
In today’s lesson, we covered how Letting Go is what allows you to get into your IPS in the first place. And how the right sort of focus allows you to stay there.
Here are few more nuggets about focus:
Getting this side of your mental game sorted has benefits beyond just playing your best. When you’re properly focused on the music you’ll find this also automatically blocks any nerves. When you’re fully absorbed in what you’re playing, there’s simply no space for anxiety to creep in.
As mentioned already, you’ll need to experiment and see what target for your focus works best for you as an individual. Here’s a longer list of suggestions than in the main lesson (and feel free to add your own ideas too):
- Listen intently to one specific aspect of the music. E.g. could be the snare drum, timbre, volume, rhythm, etc
- Really listen to your own playing. No judgement – just notice all the details of your sound
- Focus intently on one non-musical aspect of your playing. E.g. what your hand looks like, or what the physical sensations feel like as it moves.
- Hear what you’re playing slightly before you play it
Just be aware that you mustn’t split your focus.
You may well discover that several different focus choices produce good results for you. And that can lead to the temptation use all of them together for even better results…
Don’t! You must only choose one focal point at a time — so you’ll have to make a choice.
Once you’ve chosen a focal point to work with, you need to maintain that focus while you play. As with just about everything else we’ve talked about so far, this is something you can strengthen with deliberate practice.
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