303-903-8360
The mental angle of making music is critical for developing mastery. If you ignore this you can become technically proficient, but devoid of passion and meaning and you can struggle to develop your ear fully. What I’ve noticed is that the best musicians hear the best; which is to say they their mental processing of pitch, tone, and rhythm is superb. This is the secret behind our favorite composers, songwriters, film composers, and lyricists. They are able to process sound internally, i.e. mentally, in a way that vastly exceeds the normal person.
When I was studying at Berklee College of Music the mental aspect of making music was never brought up in any of my classes, ensembles, or private lessons. Perhaps it’s because this seems esoteric, but it’s just as likely that many don’t actually understand fully how their own minds work. People have vague ideas of being a “visual learner” or someone that has to write things down to learn, but these are shadows of what is at the center of one’s intellectual processing and ideation.
The term “visual learner” is a type of colloquial devolution of the term visual-spatial learner coined by Dr. Linda Silverman in her wonderful book Upside-down Brilliance: The Visual-Spatial Learner. In this book she describes the distinct learning style of this type of person including:
•Thinks Primarily in Images
•Relates Well to Space
•Is a Whole Part Learner
•Learns by Seeing Relationships
This is in contrast to what Dr. Silverman calls the auditory-sequential learner:
•Thinks Primarily in Words
•Relates Well to (Clock) Time
•Is a Step-by-Step Learner
•Excels at Rote Memorization
The mind is a sound and image generator and we can work with this design to learn significantly better or against it to our detriment. In music we have to be able to use our auditory self in order to hear rhythms and pitches internally. However, we also need to be able to use our minds to visualize music. The issue however is that visualizing music notation is very troublesome for most people!
When Guido d’Arrezo developed music notation in the 11th century he did so in order to help people read music. Besides showing pitches on the staff he created solfeggio in order to give names to the pitches. Solfeggio is a very effective way of hearing pitch mentally. Rhythm wasn’t added to music notation until hundreds of years later. Unlike notes on the staff which have the counterpart of letters or solfège and chords to describe meanings and relationships – rhythms have not been well understood and there are thousands of rhythms that have remained nameless which is a total contrast to our thorough knowledge of harmony.
The Rhythm Compass™ is a new way of seeing rhythm that helps people to conceptualize a vast number of rhythms, describe them aptly, and easily see their many relationships the way we do with harmony. It is part of an entire theory of rhythm contained within the Sound Formation Method™. It allows visual-spatial learners an intuitive way of seeing the massive numbers of relationships between seemingly disparate rhythms. It gives concise descriptors to otherwise nameless rhythmic patterns of which there are thousands. It also allows musicians a systematic way of thinking about rhythm that facilitates mental practice or developing one’s ear.
To summarize:
#1 The Rhythm Compass™ Allows You to See Rhythms in Your Head When Hearing a Piece of Music
This is akin to people with perfect pitch who automatically know the notes being played. The same can be developed through practicing the Sound Formation Method™ as has been proven by many aspiring and professional musicians alike.
#2 Use Solfège to Hear Pitches Mentally
Solfège is a great tool to notice the different characteristics of pitches and intervals. If you want to know how good your ear really is and what will take you to the next level in BOTH rhythm and harmony, take our proprietary ear training assessment.
#3 Perform and Sing Simultaneously
The voice is extremely helpful for internalizing pitch. By singing the notes you’re playing on your instrument while performing at the same time, you can check yourself on if you’re really hearing what you’re playing fully. You can then alternate between first singing a short melodic phrase (aware of the notes you’re singing), then copying that phrase on your instrument to check yourself.
I hope this article was helpful to you in better understanding how to engage your mind when studying music. If you’re interested in diving into learning the Sound Formation Method™ for yourself please reach out to us here or check out these pages for more information:
•Bring the SFM to Your Institute of Higher Education
The rhythmic shapes are extremely straight forward. I studied them to increase my rhythmic vocabulary, the same way I studied licks to increase my melodic vocabulary. Now when I see notes in standard notation I can visualize the shapes. -Adrian Garay, Professional Guitarist, CU Denver Graduate
