Research Proposal

When you see a master musician performing they are onstage, sure, but where are they really? Where is their mind? Is it just a process of vibrations in the air and muscle memory or are they in what appears to be another dimension? Is it both? How can this process, this other dimension, this “space between” be understood, used and controlled? How does the player harness this energy while utilizing virtuoso techniques and, as the audience says, “makes it look easy?” What happens in our minds when we do things and, like the masters, can we control it while we play a violin concerto or even while we walk the dog, cut vegetables or type on the keyboard?

These are some of the questions that I am drawing from in the book I have been working on and the ideas that formulated this research proposal. The proposal goes into my experience with Focal Dystonia as well and how this retraining process improves upon some ideas that have been presented in practices like The Alexander Technique. I have chosen to incorporate this proposal because my book is my main project currently and working on creating a formal proposal for it was a new experience for me. It allowed me to look at my own content and ideas from a research perspective.