Art and Practice

I write about art, but according to the title of my blog, I'm allowed to write about other topics.  I put that in there just in case I ran out of things to say about art.   But I'm trying to stay on the subject of art for the time being.
I was driving from Vermont down toward New York City with my wife, and it suddenly came to me what I would write about next.  When we arrived at our destination, I remembered with pleasure that I had stumbled on a writing topic, but, then, I couldn't remember what it was.


Which reminds me of a joke told to me by my good friend Andrew. 


- As I get older, I find I'm thinking more and more about the hereafter.   I walk into a room and ask myself, "What am I here after?"........   


So I'll just babble until it what it was comes to me.  
Here are some thoughts about the learning process.   These ideas arrived in my brain in the context of learning to play a musical instrument.  They might even apply to drawing and other arts as well, but today's subject targets music.


But first, let's talk about sports. 


Sports are a big part of our culture.  Both in adulthood and in growing up.  I was an artsy kind of child, but I did participate in some sports while in school.   So I can confidently say I am an authority in anything having to do with art and sports.  For example, I know how many halves a football game has and can name the three primary colors.


What I do remember about sports practice was the constant repetition in drills.  In lacrosse, it was:    pick up the ball, pick up the ball, pick up the ball,  or:   pass the ball, pass the ball, pass the ball.  These kinds of drills are key in developing the skills needed to play well in the game.   It is the potentially monotonous repetition of specific movements that develops the ability to be consistent (and not to rely on dumb luck - "oh, good, when I threw the ball, it actually went in the right direction this time!").


In addition to finding the right approach, by making adjustments, etc., it is the fixing of those successful combinations of muscle movements through repetition that occurs.  This is referred to as developing muscle memory. 


What is happening, according to what I've read on recent neuroscience and brain research (my bedtime reading), is that
new neuro-pathways in the brain are being grown and strengthened through use.  These strengthened networks of nerves, used repeatedly to make an accurate foul shot in basketball, are what constitute muscle memory.  


 It used to be thought that the brain develops up to a certain age and then is fixed in all its functions, with specific regions assigned specific roles.   However, it has been found that there is more plasticity in brain development than had been previously understood.  Yes, there are regions of the brain that govern specific tasks, but, the brain can grow new neurons and rewire old ones based on use.


An interesting illustration of this is the finding that, in many stroke victims, when irreversible damage occurs to a part of the brain that, for example, controls movement in the right arm,  the slow rehabilitation process of physical therapy results in the "colonizing" of an adjacent area of healthy neurons by new networks that can begin to direct movement in the paralyzed arm.   Same thing can happen when sight is lost through damage to the eyes - if the vision area of the brain is undamaged, it might be colonized by a network of nerves that work for the hearing function - which can explain why blind folks often have a more acute sense of  hearing than others.


Back to Art.  And Music, in particular.   When I have shown both young people and adults how to form various chords on the guitar, their struggle and awkwardness at getting the fingers in the right positions reminds me of when I first started playing.  It seems impossible to believe that you will ever be able to almost instantly form one chord, then rapidly switch to another chord, and then another, fast enough to actually play a complete 3 minute song in less than a hour.   It feels clumsy.  It feels impossible. 


But it is possible, and the analogy to sports practice is something many people can grasp.  Just about everyone, child and grownup, have played some form of catch and gotten more accurate with repetition.  Many have participated in organized sports and know well the role of repetition in practice drills.  There is something mesmerizing, almost meditative about tossing a baseball back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.  In other words, it isn't necessarily boring, even though it is repetitive.   And you get better.


So, with the guitar, you keep at it, and just like your hand/eye coordination gets better with catching all those pop flies, gradually, your fingers begin to know where to go, without mental and physical struggle.  You strengthen new neuronal networks that guide the hand muscles in guitar chord formation.  You develop muscle memory.  And soon you can play a 3 minute song in 4 minutes, and then in 3 minutes.


For the young, music practice seems to be just another one of those demands that adults are always making, whether it be your parents or your teachers.    For adult learners, the assigned task  may seem futile.  Can you really teach an old dog new tricks?  (Yes, of course.) 
 
So, I think that explaining the value of repetition and practice by relating it to the more familiar territory of sports experience can help the beginner visualize the end result, to imagine that it is possible to achieve.   This can make the notion of "practicing"
more attractive and even enjoyable!  Gosh darn it!

Now...    Does any of this apply to drawing?  Or other arts?

I have some thoughts on this, but I'll leave it hanging in the air for the time being.   My dog is calling, says he wants to water the lawn.


For those interested in brain science reading material,  I recommend this book:
Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain,  by Sharon Begley

The title and cover makes it look like one of the many self-help books out there (I suspect a deliberate marketing decision).  It is one, I guess.  But I view it more as a fascinating look at modern neuroscience with interesting parallels to elements of Tibetan Buddhist practice as well - written by Sharon Begley, science columnist for the Wall St. Journal.  Highly recommended.