GET IN THE ‘FLOW’ & HOW HABITS WORk
Practice makes perfect, right? What exactly is successful practice and how do you ensure that you get into a 'flow'? In this article I will tell you more about this.
To explain this topic, let's look at it from two different angles: the neurological and the psychological angle.
Practice makes perfect.
What is ‘Myeline’?
Picture this: You are standing on a field and someone throws a ball at you.
What is your first reaction then?
Instinctively you immediately go for it as you have probably done this many times before. So you don't have to think about it anymore, but this is something you just do. This is also known as a learned response. Your brain has automatically linked a ball that flies at you to catching the ball.
To explain this, it is useful to imagine that your brain consists of behavioral neurons and sensorineural neurons.
So when your brain processes a new situation, a new pattern must always be created for the action and the reaction. The more often you end up in such a situation, the stronger this neurological pattern can become.
So practice. This process is also known as myelination. This is the formation of a fatty substance (myelin) around the nerve fibers, which ensures that electrical impulses in the nerve cells are processed faster and more efficiently.
However, myelination is not always positive. It happens with good and bad habits.
When you rush things, myelination can reinforce faulty neurological patterns. This is how bad habits are created.
To avoid this, it is important to take it easy and not make hasty mistakes.
This is especially difficult when practising music making because you always want to go as fast as possible so that you can play what you have in mind. However, like any type of growth, learning to make music is a gradual process.
So make sure you keep all this in mind so you can practice with more precision and grow your myelin in the right places!
What is ‘FLOW’?
Everyone has experienced it at some point: you are in a 'flow'.
A flow can occur during activities such as reading, exercising, writing, making music or learning. In the book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (1990), Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi explains that people are happiest when they are in a flow. A flow is also a state of concentration or complete focus with the activity or situation that you are doing at that moment.
When you are in a flow there is less brain activity because we are more focused. The interesting thing about this model is that this flow is different for everyone. Every person has a unique balance of ability and challenge as every person is different.
Here you see a diagram. When your ability and the challenge are exactly the same, you are in a flow (white line). When something is too challenging you get frustrated. When something isn't challenging at all, boredom sets in.
Practicing, challenging yourself and not wanting to go too fast ensures that you are in a 'flow' more often.
Practicing making music is therefore a constant balance between forming the right neurological patterns and finding your flow. So that you can continue to practice successfully and thoughtfully and thus take your musicality to a higher level.
Sources:
https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/science-practice-new-ways-develop-your-musical-skills/
https://www.encyclo.nl/begrip/myelinisatie
https://mktgsensei.com/AMAE/Consumer%20Behavior/flow_the_psychology_of_optimal_experience.pdf