“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” –Ella Fitzgerald, singer When we marvel at the feats of musicians like Ella Fitzgerald, it’s easy for us to overlook the hurdles they...
“You’ve got to think about ‘big things’ while you’re doing small things so that all the small things go in the right direction.” –Alvin Toffler, author When we veteran performers practice, we begin with objectives and learning methods in mind. If we’re preparing a new...
“You must play for the love of music. Perfect technique is not as important as making music from the heart.” –Mstislav Rostropovich, cellist/conductor The Musician’s Way, p. 133 To practice music is to pursue perfection – or so we often hear. What nonsense. Rather, we...
“I ignored all my body’s warning signals in the name of ‘dedication’ to what I was doing. I had absolutely no idea that this little problem would in fact threaten my career.” –Christine Harrison, violinist The Musician’s Way, p. 238 We may not like to admit it, but we...
“Even the greatest virtuosos practice the fundamentals, because they are the basis of all playing.” –Wynton Marsalis Marsalis on Music, p. 124 Scales, arpeggios, exercises . . . boring stuff. Right? I don’t think so. In fact, I find the practicing of such basics to be...
