Singing Teachers TalkEp.165 Music and the Brain: The Science of Learning & Practice with Dr Molly Gebrian Part Two
The wonderful Dr Molly Gebrian is sticking around for part two of her chat with Alexa on the science of learning and practising, this week telling us all about practice habits, the memory, mental practice and much more. She highlights the importance of mental practice, shares resources, and talks about her upcoming book and career transition to focus on research translation for musicians. Tune in for valuable insights on optimising practice habits.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Students can improve practice by focusing on quality over quantity. Molly advises against ineffective methods like the "treasure hunt" and "start over and try again" approaches, which reinforce mistakes. Instead, students should use mental practice, understand brain processes, and take breaks. Teachers should model effective techniques and help students set small, achievable goals.
- Incorporating mental practice with physical practice yields better results than either alone. Mental practice involves vividly imagining a task, enhancing understanding and skill execution. It helps develop detailed mental representations, improving brain efficiency and physical performance. Effective mental practice should focus on aspects like rhythm, pitch, and sensations, engaging the same brain areas as physical practice.
- Teachers can enhance learning for musicians by accommodating individual differences in learning styles and practice habits. Molly advises modelling effective techniques and explaining brain processes to avoid ineffective methods. Teachers should help students set specific, achievable goals, break tasks into manageable parts, and incorporate mental practice.
- Flexibility and personalised feedback are crucial to support students' unique needs and foster effective practice habits.
BEST MOMENTS
"Telling students to practise more is not helpful because it doesn't tell you what to do."
"Your brain doesn't know right from wrong. It doesn't know if you did it well or you didn't do well. It just knows which pathways are being used."
"Taking breaks will actually make me more efficient at something"
EPISODE RESOURCES
Guest Website:
Social Media:
Relevant Links & Mentions:
- (Podcast) Singing Teachers Talk: Ep. 164 Music and the Brain: The Science of Learning & Practice with Dr Molly Gebrian Part One
- (Book) Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults by Dr Jenevora Williams
- (Book) Learn Faster, Perform Better: A Musician’s Guide to the Neuroscience of Practicing by Dr Molly Gebrian
- Noa Kageyama’s Bulletproof Musician: https://bulletproofmusician.com/
- Sarah Niblack’s Spark Practice: https://www.sparkpractice.com/
- (Book) Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
ABOUT THE GUEST
Dr. Molly Gebrian is a professional violist and scholar with a background in cognitive neuroscience. Her area of expertise is applying the research on learning and memory to practicing and performing music. She also investigates the intersections between music and language. As a performer, she prioritizes the works of living composers and those who have traditionally been excluded from the culture of classical music. She holds degrees in both music and neuroscience from Oberlin College and Conservatory, New England Conservatory of Music, and Rice University. Previously, she was the viola professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the University of Arizona. After a decade of teaching viola at the collegiate level, she will join the faculty at New England Conservatory of Music in Fall 2024 to teach courses on the science of practicing.
ABOUT THE PODCAST
BAST Training is here to help singers gain the knowledge, skills and understanding required to be a great singing teacher. We can help you whether you are getting started or just have some knowledge gaps to fill through our courses and educational events.
