ARTICLE WRITTEN BY
John M StGeorge
A priori cognition is a concept derived from philosophy, meaning pure understanding, that is, something that is known to be valid in advance of experience. This concept was postulated by the renowned German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), the first of the academic philosophers.
This essay seeks to synthesise one aspect of the writings of this great thinker with the practice of instrumental music in the 21st century.
Pure understanding, a priori, secures valid messages which are relayed to the fingers. The instrument is the recipient of these internal messages, gained from pure understanding, and is the demonstrator of their fluency and quality.
A priori cognition guarantees the validity of the messages, prior to performance. Each note, passage and piece is captured in the understanding prior to the physical activity. The accuracy which is demonstrated by the instrument is a posteriori, which is something whose validity can be determined only by experience, that is, after a priori.
High achievers have secured the messages a priori, before the physical activity takes place. That is the listener is hearing the outcome of pure understanding, a posteriori.
A large measure of preparation in music practice seems to be attempted with the fingers. Practising with the fingers is so common as to be endemic among students, leading to frequent error, boredom and discontinuation.
The concept of practising with the instrument is flawed by the constricts of the instrument itself. Practice time will be more effectively used in gathering and practising the messages, not the instrument. Musical instruments of all sorts are not learning devices, and have little to contribute to the learning curve in the building of a secure technique.
Neither the fingers or the instrument have the capacity to gather the vital messages for presentation in sound. Both the fingers and the instrument can become impediments to a successful outcome when used in an inappropriate context.
The process then is pure understanding – a priori cognition – preceding messages to the fingers. The outcome is demonstrated by the instrument in space and time. Space and time being the rhythm and its derivative, rhythm patterns. The outcome of this process for each and every note is indubitable. That is, beyond doubt.
Essential is the need for the practitioner to be cognisant with the knowledge of the fundamentals of music making. Pure understanding requires the player to ‘think’ each note prior to the use of the fingers. A dubious or confused knowledge of the prescribed sequential order of the notes is particularly evident in the performance of scales. No amount of repetitious practice will change the outcome and may produce the onset of boredom and total failure in presentation.
A priori cognition shifts the emphasis from practising the instrument to the somewhat revolutionary concept of practising the messages. Message gathering is a fine way to avoid boredom and failure. The instrument is always the vehicle by which the messages are presented to the listener. The quality of the presentation discloses the state of mind of the performer. Whether it is acknowledged or not, before or during practice, the player is simply sending a stream of messages for representation by the fingers on their chosen instrument.
To reduce a priori cognition to a working knowledge, ‘think’ each note before the physical activity takes place. ‘Thinking’ can be originated by both visual and aural cognition.
Message gathering can be accomplished with or without the instrument. It may be less structured to gather the messages whilst practising, acknowledging that errors are the result of incorrect messages, or, none at all. The absence of a message results from practising with the fingers and is easily corrected by securing the absent message.
Most debilitating to the process of a priori cognition is the ‘too fast, too soon’ routine. The speed is already with the practitioner and requires no further learning. Combining the speed with accuracy is the much sought after outcome at the advanced and professional level of performance.
Physical activity derives from internal messages preceding such activity. Be it a racquet, bat, ball or club, each object is a demonstrator of the quality and effectiveness of such messages.
The performance of music is an extremely demanding activity where you get ‘one bite of the cherry’ in performance. Exams and concerts can and do provide a high degree of anxiety. The anxiety is about the success of the outcome of the performance.
Therefore, perhaps it makes sense to practise the messages rather than the instrument. Knowledge is power. Confidence in the outcome of one’s actions is a sublime working partner.