“I took lessons as a kid, but it was mostly just practicing scales, and it seemed more like homework… I gave piano lessons three attempts – the first time when I was a kid… Then, when I was sixteen… but it was still the same scales…...
“We get messed up because we don’t have a clear image . . . and therefore give ourselves too many conflicting messages about how to play.” -Eloise Ristad A Soprano On Her Head, p. 116-117 When we set out to learn a new piece, it can resemble a romance, and we’re...
“All musicians can sift through their performance issues and come out the better for it – if they choose to do the work.” The Musician’s Way, p. 146 For music students to excel as performers, they need abundant opportunities to rehearse performance skills. And...
“When I sit in Paris in a café, surrounded by people, I don’t sit casually – I go over a certain sonata in my head and discover new things all the time.” —Arthur Rubinstein, pianist The Musician’s Way, p. 34 Like Arthur Rubinstein, countless expert musicians use...
“Meaning, not originality, is what matters most in your day-to-day practice.” -The Musician’s Way, p. 312 Psychologist and author Eric Maisel writes about three types of meaning that people experience in life. One is received meaning, the kind that’s...
“The Musician’s Way is unique in that it articulates the universal elements of the musician’s creative process.” I’m pleased to share with The Musician’s Way community the text of an interview I did with the noted website, BandDirector.com. In...