Spacing out to the music

Our minds space out all the time. We space out while driving, in yoga class and while talking to people. But have you ever spaced out while on a stage in front of 2,000 people. *Raises hand*

I started playing violin when I was 8, and having played pretty consistently since, I can tell you there's something to that muscle memory thing. During orchestra rehearsals and also sometimes in concert, I am capable of reading music, moving my bow and fingers and also spacing out so much that I have no memory of how I got through a page of music.

It's much worse in orchestra than it is when I play in small chamber groups. I have a really hard time shaking it when I'm playing relatively easy music. But my community orchestra has been working on a difficult Bartok piece, which we performed today. There was no spacing out during the "Concerto for Orchestra." Bartok is neither easy to play nor easy to listen to, and it was tough to get the challenging piece ready in just seven rehearsals.

Hi Maestro! I'm paying attention!

But in the same way that I love challenging yoga classes that are so tough it's impossible for my mind to focus on anything but the poses, I love complex music like Bartok that engages the mind and makes it difficult to go super spacey. Every time my mind wandered while rehearsing, I would get hopelessly lost. So instead, I paid attention. Yup, imagine that. During our performance today, I paid attention almost the whole time. It was a big day.