TOPIC: Getting in the "Zone"

When I was a runner it took about 2 1/2 miles to get in the zone, where everything felt good and I was really having fun. I felt bad for beginning runners who didn't run enough to get the runner's high which came to me at 2 1/2 miles. Maybe endorphin, I don't know really.

So, on Sunday I was playing along and I got in the zone on the mandolin. After listening to the folk show on WLRN, I started playing and I had been playing for over a hour when things started clicking. I put on a record and figured out the key of each song without any real effort and played along with some of the lead. I just "knew" what key it was and I just "knew" about where the lead notes would be. I stayed in the zone for about 15 minutes and then went off to do something else but it sure was fun while it lasted. I've been in the zone before but it always takes at least 1/2 hour of warmup and a good attitude. Sometimes we get going pretty good in the pre-class jams but it usually doesn't last long enough to get really zoned out.

Oh Boy....I see where I'm going to be in trouble...I too was an avid (obsessed) runner....but it always took me at least 7 miles to get "in the zone", this wasn't too hard as I was always training for marathons...so 7 miles wasn't much.....but how does this convert to my music playing????..Jerry = 2 1/2 miles running = 30 minutes to get into zone....me 7 miles runing....perhaps a day to get in the zone???? Don't think my fingers will last!

Playing the banjo and getting in the zone is not as frequent as I'd like, but an hour or so of playing in the zone teaches me more than any ~five hours of non-zone practice. It is at this time that a technique or song all of a sudden just comes together and sounds like you want it to. This is when it all registers and some of the more creative ideas come to the surface......like "hearing", then playing a new roll that better brings out the melody of the song,a better back-up lick, or a new ending that's a little more saucy. I wish there was a "zone switch" we could buy, and turn it on every time we want to play because that's what makes me wish I was practicing/learning. I think the biggest contributor to my getting in the zone is the banjo being set up with my favorite strings that have about two hours on them, in perfect tune, and the banjo head tuned to 'A'.......that's the sound I like and the Scruggs style I try to mimic seems to come to me then. I've been known to lie in bed late at night and play in the zone for 2-3 hours!
(My zone does not recognize the word "running"......)

I really haven't gotten into the 'zone' yet, musically.....maybe I just haven't sat with it long enough. I tend to practice for shorter periods, several times a day.
I sure do look forward to being in the 'zone' someday, though.
I have found that using the sound files is helping me with timing and practicing the rhythm, rather than focusing so much on the leads. Even though I've had the cd's with some of the songs for a long time, I feel like I'm in a better place to use them now than in the past. I'm better (for me) at the leads and more comfortable with the chord changes. So using the sound files now can really help me with keeping time and going in and out of the lead. So it's kind of cool:cheer:

Stay your course Gogogal, you will get "in the zone" one day and you will recognize and enjoy it; but it may take a longer practice period. The "play with" approach was the best for me as I found it easier to get the song structure learned and could better hear the melody line as the song is being played, such that I was able to learn a solo much sooner.......this is helping you possibly more than you may realize. Not only are you getting better acquainted with the specific song, learning the rhythm and how the lead should sound, but you are honing your skills in anticipating chord changes and what the next chord is likely to be as you execute the chord transitions, and timing precision. Call it experience and becoming more proficient on your instrument of choice. I hope you will share with us your first zone experience and how you enjoyed it. It just may be one of the most unrealized motivations for practicing and reaching a higher level!