An Artist's Perspective

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about the differences between right-brain dominance and left-brain dominance.   I asked our 17-year-old daughter, Jessica, to write about her experiences using art and color schemes to help her retain information, especially with her music.  She explains here:

 

Last summer, as I was practicing my piano arrangement for church the next day, I was already dreading it.  As I sat there reviewing my past episodes of messing up songs in front of the whole church, I began to get frustrated.  It didn’t make any sense to me:  I could play the song perfectly the night before, only to bomb it during church.  Of course, there was the explanation of nerves, but I knew that it wasn’t just that.  I had been calm the last time I played, only to watch the song slip through my fingers.  And then there was the explanation of not practicing enough.  But I knew my song and could play it perfectly the night before.  I know I’m not a Mozart.  Music isn’t one of my passions, and I’m not one of the more gifted musicians in my family. 

 

But as I sat on the piano bench, I was mad at myself for messing up and was more determined than ever to get it right this time.   It was then, as I stared at my music, I saw something that I had always seen but never realized.  I knew that my brain saw all the notes on the piano and on the page in colors.  “C” was always yellow; “A” was always red; “D” was always teal, and so on.  Since the notes were colors, the chords were a combination of colors.  And since letters are colors in my brain also, the song’s title gave the song an overall “color” as well. 

 

But as I looked at my music this time, I realized my brain was seeing something more.  The notes on the page had become a type of “timeline” that consisted of pictures, different colors than the usual note colors, and feelings that held the song together in my memory.  When I played in front of people, though, the timeline disappeared.  I had to fight to almost sight-read most of the notes as if I had only seen the song a couple of times. 

 

Now that I know my memory works this way, I can play better in front of people.  I just have to work the colors and pictures into my mind and remember things like, “It goes purple down here . . .”, or “It turns gold on this part . . .”   My brain goes through the door of color in its way of memorization and music.

 

 

Pretty amazing!!  God, Who created our minds with such creativity and detail, is not boring or redundant!  I appreciated Jessica taking time to let us peek into her mind for a minute.   Maybe Jessica’s understanding of how her creative, artistic mind works will help someone else to understand their own learning style and find success!