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Musical Riyaaz, 2.0

Riyaaz is the Art of Practice and the Practice of Art. Practicing any form of art involves discipline, hard work, concentration, regularity and dedication. The art of practice is finding creative ways to make the practice itself fun day after day, achieving new levels of perfection in each repetition, making mistakes bravely and stretching yourself as well as the art in ways unique to you. Riyaaz constitutes a body-mind-soul relationship with the art-form.

As a singer, musician and researcher, I continually try to evolve and fine-tune my riyaaz. I have evolved and modified the system of riyaaz taught to me by my teachers by incorporating ideas from diverse areas. I have drawn inspiration from mathematics, cognitive neuropsychology, computer science, symmetry, acoustics, physics of resonance, elements of composition and design, anatomy, biochemistry, etc.

As a teacher, I try to fine tune aspects of riyaaz for every individual student according to his/her unique needs. The price of admission is dedication and commitment to music and its study.

A session of the Riyaaz I do daily, can be abstracted out as:

• A heavy dose of Pranayama (Breathing exercises),
• Vocal cord exercises (strength and flexibility),
• Complex pattern generation and recognition,
• Exercises in spontaneity, creativity and abstract thinking,
• Abstract, spatial and temporal reasoning of phrases and rhythms,
• Retention and accessing previously created patterns,
• Neurobics,
• Meditation.

These are numerous benefits of riyaaz apart from honing musical talent, stage performance skills. Diligent students will often see results in just a few months.

Energizing the Body

• Increased lung capacity and deeper breathing,
• Improved articulation and noticeable reduction in stammering,
• Better vocal expressiveness for singing and speech,
• Increased stamina for physical exertion.

Sharpening the Mind

• Better concentration, focus and grasping of temporal, spatial and complex abstract concepts,
• Heightened pattern recognition in all walks of life,
• Increased stamina for mental exertion,
• Enhanced memory function,
• Clarity in thinking.

Rejuvenating the Soul

• Increased serenity and stability,
• Improved intuition,
• Better confidence,
• Improved personal expression and empathy.

All the benefits listed above are derived from the following known facts:

• Neural growth is possible in the adult brain. [1]
• Music influences rewiring of the brain and cognitive function related to memory, attention. [2]
• Intelligence is strongly co-related with pattern recognition. [3]
• Musical study boosts spatial reasoning (Mozart Effect). [4]
• Patterns are pervasive in the universe, Evolutionary processes value pattern recognition abilities. [5]
• Neurobics are shown to kick start areas of the brain into neural activity and thus growth. Elements of riyaaz are closely related with Neurobics. [6]
• Subconscious mind and Intuition operate based on associative memory and the memory accesses are based on pattern recognition and association. [7]
• Self esteem and confidence are boosted by musical performance, practice. [8]
• Pranayama benefits lung capacity, stamina, articulation, endocrine health and respiratory health. [9]

[1] Picower researcher finds neuron growth in adult brain [via MIT news office]

[2] First Evidence That Musical Training Affects Brain Development In Young Children [via science daily news]

[3] Pattern Recognition and IQ [via intelligencetest.com]

[4] Music and Spatial Task Performance [via Nature]

[5] I sing the Body's Pattern Recognition Machine By Diane Ackerman [via NYTimes]

[6] Brain Exercise: Which ones are Neurobic? [via neurobics.com]

[7] Intuition and Pattern Recognition by Paul Budnik (full book) [via mountain math software]

[8] Does Music Have an Impact on Students' Development? by Tony Mickela [via childrenmusicworkshop]

[9] Benefits of Pranayama [via wikipedia]