visualisation of music, what happens mentally as you play

[adam0408]

This will be long. I hope you read through and stick it out to the end, because I need some help figuring this out because of my personal curiosity.

This is a topic that has been kicking around in my head for a while, especially since I've been playing a lot more electric bass lately. It is a complex set of ideas which I hope I can communicate easily, especially since I have a very foggy idea of what is going on myself. I'm looking for help in understanding this phenomena and what it means.

The base of it is that I perceive music differently when I have a different instrument in my hands. It started from the realization that I have been playing bass for a long time, and I can read notes with a reasonable amount of proficiency, but I have never been able to sightread even close to well on that instrument. On tuba, I am a pretty good sight reader. Unless the page is pretty black, I can make a confident facsimile of what will eventually come out, given adequate rehearsal. On bass, I'm pretty much useless, even though I have a lot of experience reading, and the notes and register are the same as tuba. (even though reading an octave apart can be a bit of a head trip at times.)

It started out as frustration because I can't read worth a darn on bass and don't seem to be improving. What I theorize is that there is some underlying mental process at work that makes the perception of the instruments different. It is apparently separated completely from the sound, register, and role of tuba and bass, since they are so similar.

So to get to the meat of the idea, let me examine how I play basslines on tuba:

I think very much in a scalar fashion when I'm making up basslines. I think "this chord is F major. These are the notes I need to play, the one, the three, the five, maybe stick in a seven just for fun sometimes. Oh, and play a bit of other scale notes to make things interesting." The idea of it is very scalar and key based. I think in a very auditory and conceptually scalar manner. Things in my mind happen based on sound and scale degree. I don't necessarily "see" the notes on paper as I play, but it is a very linear way of thinking about what I'm playing. Furthermore, I think it extends to how I read music on tuba because it is an instrument where if I press a certain combination of buttons, maybe one note will come out, but perhaps another may come out accidentally. It is a complex process of making sure the proper note comes out, so I have made the process automatic. I want an E, and there's probably three ways to play that note (or more) properly, but the way I play it here is the best, so I do it that way.

On bass, it is completely different. The layout of the fretboard is much more mathematical and geometrical for lack of better terms. I think much more in the way of "if I put my fingers here, in relation to the scale shape, the fifth will be here, the third will be here, and so on." The playing is much more related to shape and position rather than a linear and sound based way of thinking. The instrument is further complicated because there are so many ways to play something. There are several ways to play the same major scale, dictated simply by where you want to play it and what finger you'd like to start with. The problem I have is that this way of thinking does not translate very well to the written language of music.

A third way of thinking is evident in keyboard playing, where it all comes together in a different fashion. It is almost the visual equivalent of how I think on tuba, but with a little twist. I can see everything happening in front of me in a theory sense. It is strange. It sounds right, and there is visual reinforcement of what I'm hearing.

ANYWAY... I had a very fine bass player, (a former teacher of mine) explain the way he looks at bass. He said he sees, and hears, dominant sevenths as triangles. It makes total sense if you know how that lies on the fretboard. I know it, and it sounds and looks right on the bass, but I cannot relate that to tuba. I have to go through other mental gymnastics to arrive there.

I guess the crux of it is that I see notes much more individually on tuba, whereas on bass, they are related more to shapes and relationships to other chord tones. But why would that difference in thinking impact reading? How can I explain this more effectively? There are people who see sounds as colors. Could that be related?

[Michael Bush]

I have no real wisdom or lore other than the merely autobiographical comment that I also think of bass and guitar playing in the kind of geometric patterns you describe. Rightly or wrongly I have long thought that if I could break out of that habit of mind, I would be a better, more musical player of those instruments. If you come up with a solution, I'd love to hear about it!

[UDELBR]

Believe it or not, this is similar to what's going on in my mind when I play, both in jazz and classical genres: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpLs6zez7MII

[FarahShazam]

I sing and blend with my neighbor for tuning purposes.

[PaulMaybery]

Another great thought provoking topic.
I suppose in a way, I could refer to it as "visualization" and then again, for me, it is really about sound and having an aural perception of what I am seeing. How to I convert a visual image into a sound image, with all the artsy elements of style, all organized into a profound arrangement. Most certainly, familiarity with the instrument is critical. The instrument almost needs to disappear and the sound idea that you create simply is projected to the listener. Of course the tuba is there, but the idea is, created all of it, behind the mouthipiece. I think this requires that the player already has a large glossary of tuba ideas in his quiver, and when it its time to shoot out a lick, the elements of slyle and technic are already mastered and it is as simply as drawing an arrow, placing it on the bow and letting it fly. The more the brain has to work to figure things out, the less "musicality" gets to make it to the listener. I believe it is truly a matter of mastering a large number of skill sets, any one of which can be immediately called into play. Those who practice the skills that they need and master them, will become great players. I realize it is not all that simple, but when you ask the great players, they will usually let you know that they did work hard developing their art.

[MaryAnn]

Since I read and play by pitch, my competence on any instrument has to do only with how well I can get what I'm hearing in my head out on to the instrument (physical competence.) That includes reading, sight reading, and improvising.

I'd say that on tuba you have "memorized" what you have to do to get that E out, and with bass, you haven't really thoroughly memorized all the possibilities, so you go at it left-brained by pattern instead of right-brained by intuition. It seems that a lot more time with the bass with that in mind might get you where you want to be. As first a violinist, there were always patterns and for me that kind of instrument does involve some calculation of how what I'm going to do lies on the fingerboard, but I'd say it is "intuitive calculation," kind of like hopping rocks across a stream. With brass, it is quite a bit more like singing with less calculation and more instinct, but with the both of them it is the series of pitches I'm after that is on top.

[toakstertuba]

So it seems tuba players in general play a lot more "on the page" than off compared to bass players (and many instruments). So as far as reading practice goes you probably have much more of it on tuba (whether you thought of it as such or not). As one reads more and more, not only do fingerings become automatic, but you start reading music instead of just notes. I'll find myself at times reading an entire measure or more ahead of where I'm playing, even in sight reading. I suggest pulling out a book of moderate etudes (Bordogni comes to mind) and just read through them on bass from front to back in different octaves. It's amazing how quickly one can develop his /her reading skills once they actually practice reading.
Side note:
Getting really good at sight reading early on in my training was nice but actually got me in trouble once my teachers caught on that I wasn't actually practicing the pieces they assigned. Oh to do it all over again... oh that's right I'm going to!