The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times… The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is this something we make happen. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Sinicki, 2019)
Outline of the Project On the 2nd year of my studies in Krakow Poland at the Academy of Music in Krakow, I found it interesting to write my thesis about finger ratio. Since then I went through many books, scientific reports and other publications that helped me to understand what I am really looking for in my research. I knew or rather felt that practising is not everything I should do to master my violin studies. I didn't have an idea how simple (but complex to understand) it can be to get the most from my music education. It is simple if there is someone who can explain it and help to understand. Difficult if we are left without a guidance on this well known for some humans way of achieving things.
As a violinist and teaching artist, even with a solid 19-year professional education, I was initially not aware how important the Continuous Flow Technique is. I could not find much about the FLOW in any one place to understand it properly. I believe that to understand the real meaning of the FLOW, the researcher should start going through the aspects of musical education, the science of FLOW in order to discover what FLOW in music really is.
This is the reason I decided to research about the FLOW. Flow might be a way we are taught by others and at some point, once we are becoming teachers to ourselves, flow is the way we perceive and do things.
• Research Methods Overview: To understand how to use FLOW I will compare and discuss the Continuous Flow Technique with famous and well-known classical musicians and will find some scientific revelations and publications to give a possibility to explain the method to the reader.
• Conclusion: Musicians and students can improve and use practice time much more effectively by consciously practising Flow Thinking. There is no known limit of human brain development. What is “flow”? This word is used to describe a state of mind and body that could help to control difficult and simultaneous reactions in time.
There is also financial flow or audience flow. Everywhere, flow is rather a positive phenomenon. (Dictionary.cambridge.org, 2019) Flow - a relaxing and unbelievably rewarding state of the brain and body, an investigation into how musicians could achieve this state in practice and performance and why they would want to keep it going. The answers depend on their limits of dedication.
The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times… The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is this something we make happen. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Sinicki, 2019)