Taken from M. A. Chekhov's essay “Stanislavksi's Method of Acting”
in Toby Cole’s Acting: A Handbook of the Stanislavski Method, New York City: Crown Publishers, 1955.

This exercise is used in European “gymnasia” for music composition students. Have students pick any one of the following activities:

• Study a wallpaper pattern and then describe it accurately.

• Listen to a sound and describe it.

• Do a difficult arithmetic problem mentally.

• Note, in as few seconds as possible, as many details as possible of someone's clothing.

• Complete a simple math problem while other people badger you.

• Master the contents of a short essay while other people talk, laugh, and try to distract you.

• Sing a song while another piece of music is playing simultaneously.