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Hi Luis,
Great questions. Here are some thoughts:
1. I don’t know of many resources in this area, but one way to experiment with subdividing is to play a passage you know well, subdividing it in your head with some sort of verbal representation of pulse (e.g. la, bum, da, ta, etc.), using the fastest note value that you play (e.g. 16ths). Then play the same passage subdividing in 8ths, then quarters, then halves, then whole notes, then maybe even over 2 bars. Each time feeling free to take liberties and not try to play in a metronomic, rigid way at all, but using the subdivisions to keep everything connected. Each one will probably feel different. And then, you can mix and match spontaneously as you play, switching back and forth between whatever subdivision units helps you the most.
2. Yes, that’s exactly it. Couldn’t have said it better!
3. I don’t know that it’s based on science per se, but I think the classic book in this area is Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway, by Susan Jeffers. I read it a number of years ago, and found it helpful, and lots of others have too. Even though it can be a little self-help-y in the way you describe. =)
4. Yes – ultimately, the goal is to focus on the musical intention, and trust the body. Which of course is the opposite of what we do in effective practice, and must also. be practiced, and trust cultivated well in advance. But yep, that’s the goal – to get into and stay in the optimal place for performing effectively!
Noa