Back in July of 2019 I answered a question from Glen Browning in which I said: “When I'm playing (performing), I try not to think about anything. I try to just clear my mind and let go.” I would like to amend that bit of advice...
Recently, I've hand a mini-breakthrough when it comes to performing (or practicing performing since the Coronavirus has temporarily shut most things down). I've discovered when I'm performing that I actually get better, more consistent results when I focus intently on every note/chord I play. I focus on seeing, feeling, playing and hearing every note/chord. By doing this my mind remains completely in the moment, hyper-focused on the job at hand - making music. There just isn't any time to get distracted with useless mind chatter. No time to get distracted by thoughts like: “Oh no, here comes that difficult spot.” “Hey, is that Jimmy Joe in the audience?” “Hmmm, what should I have for lunch?”
However, even though I'm hyper-focused in the moment, I still use time honored approaches like anticipation to assure a positive, technical result. For example, when a difficult shift is coming I see in my “mind's eye” the destination for the shift a fraction of a second before actually shifting. I realize that, strictly speaking, when someone anticipates something they are no longer “in the moment.” However, in this instance, when the goal is an efficient technical shift, the “moment” must temporarily shift.
I would like to reiterate another point that I made in QUESTION #8 in which I said: “While it is possible to do more than one thing at a time, it is impossible to think or focus on more than one thing at a time.” I believe this statement still holds true. Even though in my updated performing approach my hyper-focus on each note/chord may only last a fraction of a second, I'm still only focusing on one thing at a time.
So when I practice, I still think about music theory, technique, expression and trying to remain as comfortable as possible. But now when I perform, instead of trying not to think about anything, I focus on everything, even if it is for only a millisecond.
(One last thing, try this “in the moment” approach when recording to minimize multiple takes.)
