Close. Your. Eyes.

Hi I’m Vi Wickam, and this is another [my] Talent Forge Quick Practice Tip for you!

Play with your eyes closed.

Now we’ve all seen Mr. Holland’s Opus, and if you haven’t, it’s a pretty touching kind of movie.

There a scene in there where he has the student play with her eyes closed, and imagine a sunset. And all of a sudden her horrible playing becomes beautiful.

Now I don’t promise that kind of transformation by closing your eyes, but I can tell you transformation happens when you’re eyes are closed and you’re really listening to the music coming out of your instrument.

And it doesn’t matter what instrument you play- having your eyes closed cuts out all of those sensory distractions that we see with our eyes and gives us the ability to really focus on listening.

Listening is the key to creating beautiful music.

So, in addition to having your eyes closed, you can create something to think about.

You can create a sad moment if you want to really create sad emotional music… or a happy moment if you want it to be happy.

But close your eyes, and really let your ears become your primary sense.

Close your eyes.

That’s your Quick Tip this week. See you next time!