“Your artistic evolution is best served by steady, judicious practice.” -The Musician’s Way, p. 11 Consistent practice empowers us to become the artists we aspire to be. But skillful practice doesn’t just happen – we have to learn how to...
“I think it’s beautiful to practice. I LOVE to practice.” -Claudio Arrau, pianist* To be a musician is to be someone who practices. Day after day, we musicians work in solitude to learn new repertoire, refine old repertoire, and polish our skills....
“The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.” -Duke Ellington The Musician’s Way, p. 14 We veteran musicians know that our creativity blossoms when we perform music that fits our style and technique. Students, though, often attempt to...
“Nearly all musicians’ injuries are preventable.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 230 Whenever school years or music festivals begin, music students dive into intense practice schedules. But those fresh starts come with high risks of injury. The Dangers of Overuse...
“To escalate the tempo of newly learned material, you first have to reduce the effort required to play or sing it at your initial tempo.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 73 Some of the thorniest challenges we encounter in practice surround increasing the tempos of newly...
“We first make our habits and then our habits make us.” –John Dryden, poet The Musician’s Way, p. 20 When you practice, are you consistently focused and productive? If not, the reason may be due to chronic habits that undermine your attention and creativity. Here are...
“Practice holds a place of honor in the life of a musician.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 4 All of us veteran musicians share the same twin aims when we practice: to polish our skills and prepare music for performances. We also know how to accomplish our goals efficiently....
“Wherever you hope to travel on your musical journey, practice is the only route to getting there.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 3 Although deep practice is essential to musical excellence, in my experience, only a minority of rising musicians practice...
“The purpose of technique is to free the unconscious.” –David Mamet, playwright & director On Directing Film, p. 6 When we acquire robust technical skills, barriers to musical expression drop away. We internally “hear” musical gestures, and then we...
