The Effect of Mental Imagery in Daily Practice

Annoes van der Zande

This research is about how mental imagery exercises can be included in daily practice and what the effects are. The main question in this research is: How can mental training help me to practice more economically? Previous research showed different potential benefits of imagery exercises. The aim of this research is to collect and categorize different imagery exercises and to indicate if the exercises help to practice more economically.

Mental Imagery Excercises

This subchapter includes an exact description of the exercises that will be used for this research. The first of them are based on Johnson (2003). They are suited for this research since Johnson recommended them as suitable for organ players. This makes them especially suited for the harp since there is also attention for the aspect where the musician has to do different things with hand and feet. The other set of exercises are from Williamon (2004) from the book “Musical Excellence”. Finally, some of the exercises are taken from Adolphe (2013) “The mind’s ear”.

Mental imagery exercises can be categorized in the following categories:

· Relaxation

· Skills development

· Performance preparation

· Building confidence

· Memorization exercises