Stay between the lines!

I was driving down the highway the other day.  I was going about 1000 miles, so on one particularly long, straight stretch, I started remembering when I learned to drive.   

For me, one of the hardest things to learn was staying in the middle of the lane.  When you start to drive, you know you need to stay in the lane – and between the lines.  The lane is defined by the lines, so I looked at the lines - constantly.  But you know how that goes – the more you look at the lines, the farther you are from your desired position – in the middle of the lane.  The best advice (or training) I got was to look down the road – look way down the road.  After I (finally) learned that, staying in the lane was so easy.  Now, as an experienced driver, I don't even see the lines close to me and keeping the vehicle in the middle of the lane is something I take for granted.  It seems that I just go where I meant to be.   

The reality is, no matter how good a driver you are, you will never stay in your lane to get where you’re going if you don’t look ahead.  So, what does that have to do with playing the harp?  Everything!

When you’re learning a new tune – what do you do?  I don’t know about you, but when I’m having trouble getting a tune into my head, I naturally narrow my thinking down to just what comes next - what’s the next note.  But this doesn’t actually help me learn the tune.  It just frustrates me (thus drawing my focus away from what I’m trying to do – learn the tune).  If I lift my head and keep my focus “down the road”, then I can think of the phrases (as phrases, not as a trickle of sounds).  When I can hear the tune in my head, the notes that come next become so much easier to remember.

When you’re reading music, the notation (the lines and everything else) are helpful – but can be distracting.  Again, sometimes just having all that ink only serves to draw your attention to the individual blops – and you lose track of where you are on the page, in the phrase, in the music.  When you lose your place, your hands may not end up in the right place, or they might be going the wrong direction or be overstretched!  Keeping the long view will allow you to read the music rather than focusing on the ink and better allow you to be more able to play.

When you’re playing, you have learned the tune or become familiar with the dots on the sheet.  When you’re playing, you want to be “in the moment” – and that is important.  But remember that music isn’t static or fixed.  Music is serial, it comes out over time - like the road!  It can’t come out all at once (although there are some composers who clearly do not agree with me on that!).  So being in the moment has to include the plans for this moment, and then for the next moment, and then the following moment, and on and on until the end of the piece - as a flow.  This is not contradictory, rather, you need to hold the music in your head as a piece rather than as a set of notes.  Looking at the whole of the music, rather than on just it’s representation (that you learned or are reading), will help keep you on track.

When you’re performing, you really are taking all that you have learned and putting it out there in the world to share.  This is more than just playing in that now.  Because now, in addition to being in the moment with the music, you must also be present with the listeners.  Whether there are 2 or 200 or 2000 in the audience, your focus has to be “farther down the road” to include not only the music but also the hearers and what your message to them/with them is.  Here, your long view includes them, the music, and the presentation.  Keeping an eye on where you want to take them with the music, what it is you want to share, and how you mean to do that will help give you a smooth ride.

Of course, this is a simple analogy.  There are many things on the road that require attention (like stop signs, traffic, pedestrians, etc.).  And just like that, music (written or aural, practice or performance) has details (like dynamics, tempo, timbre, etc.) which enrich the ride and improve the experience.  But, just as staying between the lines becomes second nature, learning, reading, playing and performing can also become second nature so that your music grows, flourishes, and delights.  And just like any journey, when staying between the lines comes naturally and effortlessly, you can enjoy the journey so much more easily.  What are the lines you have a hard time not looking at?  How do you stay in the lane? When you look down the road – what do you see?  Leave me a comment and share how you do it!

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