Practice with a Mirror

[jethromondawg]

I’m pretty sure this is NOT an original idea, but since I can’t remember it being shared here, I (somehow) quite belatedly realized that practicing in front of a mirror can result in at least two ways to improve your playing- not looking directly at your keyboard can free you up to be quite a bit more attentive and tuned in to other players-
Plus watching yourself not only gives you important feedback about your own posture, fretting positions, etc
( might as well remind you that your facial expression and your body position and movement are quite worth paying attention to and adding to your general practice regimen)-
Y’know?(I mean-if you want to be a Legend in Your Own Mind, at least try to Look the Part)😎

[Jill McAuley]

Yes, practicing in front of a mirror is a great way to see whether or not you're using good technique. Filming yourself playing is another great way to be able to go back over your playing, though the downside of that is if you're affected by "red light" syndrome then there may be an additional element of tension in your playing that is not normally present when you don't feel the pressure of being recorded.

[Bill McCall]

I use my web cam for this, basically FaceTime myself. Works great.

[Skip Kelley]

I used to do this all the time after getting this as a tip from a picker that I admired. Also, Larry Rice said he used to practice in the bathroom due to the acoustics. So, I incorporated both ideas and practiced in the bathroom looking in the mirror.

[Dan in NH]

I stare at the ceiling when I practice. Mary Spender talks about practicing in a dark room with the light off & door closed so she can't "cheat" and look at her hands.

[Jill McAuley]

I stare at the ceiling when I practice. Mary Spender talks about practicing in a dark room with the light off & door closed so she can't "cheat" and look at her hands.

I think that approach would be fine if the player is fairly confident that they've got a very good grasp of technique and the mechanics of playing and are more looking to learn to play fluently without relying on the need for any visual cues, but might backfire on a novice player who doesn't have optimal technique as they won't be able to see what they're left and right hand are doing, which in my opinion is something that needs to occur early on in your playing, otherwise you can end up picking up bad habits, such as lifting your fretting fingers too high off the fretboard between notes, which impedes speed and accuracy.

[tmsweeney]

I remember The late great John McGann talking about this and how he used mirror practicing to correct some physical issues (holding correctly, flying fingers) you of course have to realize if you are doing it wrong, so to Jim McAuley's s point, you should probably only do it if someone experienced can correct you rather than you correcting yourself.

[Jill McAuley]

I remember The late great John McGann talking about this and how he used mirror practicing to correct some physical issues (holding correctly, flying fingers) you of course have to realize if you are doing it wrong, so to Jim McAuley's s point, you should probably only do it if someone experienced can correct you rather than you correcting yourself.

Yes, great point that if you don't know what to look for then you won't see it - so let me add to my initial comment that once a player has had the benefit of someone with experienced eyes pointing out aspects of their right or left hand technique that need work, then it can be beneficial to practice in front of a mirror to monitor yourself and make sure you're not falling back into old habits.

Cheers,
Jill, not Jim

[Captain Kirk]

Yes, great point that if you don't know what to look for then you won't see it - so let me add to my initial comment that once a player has had the benefit of someone with experienced eyes pointing out aspects of their right or left hand technique that need work, then it can be beneficial to practice in front of a mirror to monitor yourself and make sure you're not falling back into old habits.

Cheers,
Jill, not Jim

[tmsweeney]

apologies Jill, in all honesty I have 8 brothers and sisters and don't always get the names correct.

[DPrager]

If you elect to practice with an external device, stick to a metronome. If you master that, nobody will care how you look.

[Bill Findley]

Bathroom, full-length mirror, fully clothed. Best acoustics and an audience. It’s an eye-opener.

[Jill McAuley]

If you elect to practice with an external device, stick to a metronome. If you master that, nobody will care how you look.

Practicing in front of a mirror has nowt to do with being concerned about "how you look" and everything to do with being able to see what your right and left hands are doing and ensure that you're using best practices as far as playing mechanics, economy of motion etc. goes. Many times when people complain about finding it difficult to develop speed in their playing they're advised to play along to a metronome but that advice neglects to also consider that poor playing technique, such as lifting fingers too high off the fretboard, holding the mandolin in a position that increases tension, or excessive pick travel when playing single notes, can all conspire to make a player stumble whenever they attempt to play faster.

[DPrager]

But the original poster said:

Plus watching yourself not only gives you important feedback about your own posture, fretting positions, etc
( might as well remind you that your facial expression and your body position and movement are quite worth paying attention to and adding to your general practice regimen)-

[Tjspahr1]

I’m pretty sure this is NOT an original idea, but since I can’t remember it being shared here, I (somehow) quite belatedly realized that practicing in front of a mirror can result in at least two ways to improve your playing- not looking directly at your keyboard can free you up to be quite a bit more attentive and tuned in to other players-
Plus watching yourself not only gives you important feedback about your own posture, fretting positions, etc
( might as well remind you that your facial expression and your body position and movement are quite worth paying attention to and adding to your general practice regimen)-
Y’know?(I mean-if you want to be a Legend in Your Own Mind, at least try to Look the Part)😎

But I'm so darned pretty, I'd only be looking at my face, not my fingers.

[Jill McAuley]

But the original poster said:

Plus watching yourself not only gives you important feedback about your own posture, fretting positions, etc
( might as well remind you that your facial expression and your body position and movement are quite worth paying attention to and adding to your general practice regimen)-

And? I reckon most people use a mirror to check on their playing technique, and a metronome won't show you aspects of your playing technique that need improvement - what the OP says in their statement doesn't somehow nullify that. If they're also using one to see how they look when playing sure they're not harming anyone.

[Simon DS]

Not such great technique ! but if you can find vids from this angle (no mirroring) then it can help.

https://youtu.be/Z9wjV07Z2kc

[journeybear]

I've tried this just a few times, but found it rather disconcerting. Then I taped a photo of Sam Bush's head on the mirror at my head's level, and my enjoyment of the experience improved immensely.

[Ed McGarrigle]

Regarding Jill’s earlier point about “red light syndrome”: being a beginner with the only exposure to an audience of any kind being my teacher during on line lessons, I have found video recording of my practice has helped to tone down the bit of performance anxiety I still get before a lesson. It’s a kind of exposure therapy.

[jethromondawg]

One short addition: playing while not looking at the keyboard gives one the experience of listening exclusively to the quality of the sound you’re producing- so you might get something useful and meaningful from How It Sounds without the distraction of How It Looks -Maddie Witler (Lonely Heartstrings mandolinist) presented this in a workshop at Joe Val a few years ago

[musicofanatic]

In thew 1970s I was trying to get into a hot band as a mandolin/guitar player. All members were multi-instrumentalists and all played bass. I was asked, "You play upright bass?", to which I lied, "Of course I do!". I borrowed a bass and bought a cheap full-length mirror. Then I went out and studied other bass players, noting the physical attitude of the best sounding players, went home and got in the mirror with the bass and replicated the physicality. That plus the sub-rudimental workings of the bass I possessed got me the gig...and learned how to really play on the gig...