Name
Training Musical Attention: Practical Insights from 20 Countries
Date & Time
Thursday, July 30, 2026, 12:20 PM - 12:50 PM
Description
Pianist and psychologist Dr László Stachó’s Practice Methodology embodies a pioneering, all-inclusive attention training for music performers. It aims to boost vital musical attention skills to achieve full expressiveness and precision with efficiency, security, and ease. The uniquely powerful mental ‘toolkit’ provided by the training can be used with considerable success by instrumentalists, singers, chamber groups, choirs, and orchestras alike - from the most basic to the most advanced levels of music education. By nurturing the musician’s ability to mentally ‘navigate’ the musical process with security and ease, it allows for total immersion in the performance. Through this, the trainee quickly and easily achieves deep emotional engagement with the music, full concentration, the freedom to take expressive risks and to handle mistakes effectively during performance, as well as effortless, precise, and comfortable timekeeping. Among the most important further benefits of the training are the following: it enables a considerable reduction of practice time and an appreciable decrease in stage fright, and it opens the way to the performer’s feeling of authenticity, freedom, and ‘ownership’ over the music. One of the most intriguing results of training musical attention skills through Practice Methodology is that it efficiently leads to overcoming technical constraints, thus undermining the traditional boundary between ‘technical’ and ‘musical’ study. Working with chamber groups or orchestras, the training significantly enhances ensemble playing by improving musicians’ ability to attentively listen and respond to one another. It creates efficient practice and rehearsal strategies that can dramatically reduce practice time while delivering far superior results compared to traditional methods. Ultimately, the training enables the production of a nuanced, distinctive, and characteristic instrumental and vocal timbre - including a characteristically high-quality piano tone and a soft, malleable string and wind sound - quickly and effectively. The training has so far been successful in 20 countries across three continents, benefiting musicians of all types - including pianists, string and wind players, percussionists, and singers. In my talk, I will guide the audience through the key concepts and a range of transformative techniques of this training.
Location Name
510C
Full Address
Palais des Congres - Montréal Convention Centre
1001, Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle
Montreal QC H2Z 1H2
Canada
1001, Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle
Montreal QC H2Z 1H2
Canada
Session Type
Paper Presentation
Presenting Author(s)
László Stachó