Stage Music Center In Acton and Winchester MA

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How Learning a Musical Instrument and Acting Connect

You might be thinking that music has little or nothing in common with acting, but many people agree that there is a strong connection between learning musical instruments and acting.

For an actor, the ability to act is an instrument, but do you know learning a musical instrument can improve your acting skills?

When a musician has more than music skills, it can overjoy the audience. Playing an instrument and acting at the same time can be a delightful experience. We have seen that most people who can play musical instruments turn out to be good actors.

How musicians assimilate musical skills with acting?

Most people who can play musical instruments are also good at acting.

Being a musician and working on your acting skills can be done in different ways. The same holds for being an actor and learning a musical instrument. The good news is that learning a musical instrument can effectively improve your acting skills.

Some very prominent musicians were not born with acting skills. They had to use the skills gained during musical training to hone their acting abilities. When you learn music, the instrument becomes second nature. What really counts is achieving coordination between the brain, eyes, and hands.  The same applies to acting. Acting is not just about speech. It involves body movements, cognitive efforts, hand movements, and coordination.

Learning to play an instrument also involves self-control and the use of your skills to deliver better performance. But how does playing an instrument exactly improve your acting skills? Or what is the practical connection between learning to play an instrument and acting?

Learning a musical instrument and acting

Music and acting training involve the use of affective memory and sensory memories. During our music classes, the students are encouraged to practice and use their memory to the extent that using your memory becomes second nature during a performance. When it comes to acting, a sharp memory helps you remember dialogues and show real emotions.

As an actor, you also need to have analytical skills, so you can analyze and understand the scripts. To be a good actor, you can get hold of the analytical component if you think of yourself as a musician who knows how to read music.

Good actors never get their personal habits, stress, and anxieties to affect the character they are supposed to portray.  To overcome their personal tensions, the actors are told to move around. Movements help relax a person. It frees the body and mind and opens you up to ideas and direction.

The same holds true when it comes to learning music. To learn music quickly and perform better, you need to do away with your anxieties, fear, and tensions. You can do exercises and walk more so that your mind and body are relaxed.

Social conditioning and expression of emotions

From a young age, society conditions us to hide our feelings most of the time. We are taught to avoid being too happy or too upset because that is seen as being bothersome or attention-seeking.  As such, we are habituated to hide our emotions or restrain our feelings from fitting in.  

Acting and playing musical instruments engage your emotions, mind, and body parts.

On the other hand, acting requires free expression of feelings and emotions. But it is not easy to free ourselves from the deep-seated social standards to which we have been conditioned from a young age.

The good news is that during music classes, the participants are trained to liberate themselves from this social conditioning. They are encouraged to express and demonstrate their feelings and emotions through music.

Our music classes are designed to remove the fear and social conditioning of the students. The students are trained to skillfully control just what level of emotions to display in a certain scenario.

One of the techniques used to achieve this goal is called private moment exercise, which is also a key component of training for acting. This exercise involves practicing in private and then performing in public or on stage. The participants are trained to perform in public as if no one is watching. In other words, the students are taught to perform without worrying about being judged.

Both acting and learning a musical instrument require your physical, mental, and emotional sides to work in rhythm and coordination. Playing an instrument and acting both require you to hone in and tune your skills to get the best notes.

Memory and movements in acting and music

Learning a musical instrument and acting involve training of your memory to recall the notes and dialogues respectively. As a result, your memory improves and works more vividly.

Music and acting training involve the use of affective memory and sensory memories. During our music classes, the students are encouraged to practice and use their memory to the extent that using your memory becomes second nature during a performance. When it comes to acting, a sharp memory helps you remember dialogues and show real emotions.

As an actor, you also need to have analytical skills, so you can analyze and understand the scripts. To be a good actor, you can get hold of the analytical component if you think of yourself as a musician who knows how to read music.

Good actors never get their personal habits, stress, and anxieties to affect the character they are supposed to portray.  To overcome their personal tensions, the actors are told to move around. Movements help relax a person. It frees the body and mind and opens you up to ideas and direction.

The same is true when it comes to learning music. To learn music quickly and perform better, you need to do away with your anxieties, fear, and tensions. You can do exercises and walk more so that your mind and body are relaxed.

Final thoughts

Learning a musical instrument and acting have many things in common. Both involve a high level of training. Being trained in playing musical instruments can make it easy to learn acting and vice versa.  

If you are interested in making your music dream come true or want to be an actor-musician, then stop waiting. Apply for our music class now and master the art of musical instruments, which can help improve your acting skills.

To confirm your day and time or get more details, call us at 781-570-2556 or send us a message.

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