[kalekalegood-com]

Yes, I think the research you mention is the article I posted above.

Best,
Kale

[kalekalegood-com]

tried this with my wife’s iPhone 5S (my phone is too cheap to support this). It sorta works; it’s hard to play ’cause I can’t see my hands easily. However, with the “Google Cardboard” holder I got, my peripheral vision on the guitar is pretty good. The biggest problem is probably that it’s a little out-of-focus and, more problematically, it gets blurry if I move my head quickly. A newer phone would likely solve this problem. I could get used to vision-restriction, though (of course, looking “outside” of the virtual experience and directly at my hands reduces the immersion effect, which is pretty important, per that paper).

The good news is that, even with all these sort-comings, I did experience a weird sort of nervousness that I don’t usually get in any at-home simulations (however, I didn’t experience that every time I “played” in the VR. But it was often enough that I think it will be useful). (similarly, I don’t get nerves/performance anxiety every time I play (although I used to)).

[kalekalegood-com]

My instructor in college (reluctantly) admitted to us that he would occasionally watch golf while practicing. He made sure to mention that he thought golf was good for this since almost nothing happens (you can zoom in and focus on a particular problem without missing much “action” during the broadcast).

I’ve spent a lot of time running through scale passages/doing technical work while I practice (leading up to my senior recital, I watched all 6 seasons of “Lost” in <6 months: 2 episodes a day during my 2 hours of technical work (scales, arpeggios, etc)).

I recently started this up again and admitted it to a friend over coffee. He instantly picked up a book he was reading and found a passage in it where Liszt recommends reading a book to “dull the boredom of practice” (or something to that effect).

I’ve since stopped watching tv while practicing. After all, I didn’t see any substantial technical gains after watching all of “Lost” while practicing way back then. I still feel that my technical chops are inadequate.

And, if there’s anything that early recordings teach us, it’s that performance standards have risen quite a bit over the past 100+ years. Liszt’s skill level would likely be unremarkable today. And, clearly, his advice on practice is not informed by any scientific research.

But, yeah, I’m with Noa. If it gets you practicing, go for it.

Keep in mind that many of my students (and this is generally true elsewhere) that the biggest difficulty is starting. If they say “I will practice for only 5 minutes, even though I don’t feel like it”, they’ll practice. And at the end of the 5 mins, they’ll be motivated to keep going.

Perhaps you could use tv in this same way. Say “I’ll only watch the first 10 minutes of this show”, then see if you’re motivated to turn it off and do deliberate practice for the rest of your practice session.

Eventually, you may be able to cut out the tv entirely.

[kalekalegood-com]

Probably best to let the child make the story (so, ignoring phrasing for the time being); from my other readings on memory, it’s more likely to stick that way. Probably better to wait until she’s a bit more advanced (and more comfortable with this memory technique) to bring phrasing into the picture.

I also share the worry about creating a contentious relationship with her father. He comes to recitals, so there is some support there, it seems.

I actually tried this one day just because I was at a loss; I had her give the notes Human Names; the next week, she remembered the names and some of the song. Unfortunately, I hadn’t thought to use names starting with the appropriate note-name letter (ABCDEFG), so we may need to reboot that a little bit.

I think I’m going to print out pictures of famous people with their names underneath (and first initial in bold). I think this will also help with note reading, i.e. Who is on the third floor of your house? Benedict (Cumberbatch).

(although this may also create some issues, because we would need some clarity on spaces and lines. Maybe spaces could be on the stairs).