“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...
“It’s your internal motivation that opens the creative spigot.” -The Musician’s Way, p. 105 Those of us who create day after day know that things don’t always go smoothly. Sometimes our work flows; other times difficulties slow us down. But...
“I don’t say that I never feel fear before a performance, but I have learned to channel it.” –Claudio Arrau, pianist The Musician’s Way, p. 162 Imagine that you’ve arrived at a venue 90 minutes before you’ll perform. You have to set up the stage, check the...
“You must start well, and you must end well. What is in the middle is not so important because no one is listening then.” –Maurice Chevalier, singer & actor The Musician’s Way, p. 180 I chuckle every time I read Chevalier’s words, but they...
“Display confident body language, come what may.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 194 Are you confident in your ability to deal with on-stage mistakes? I’ve found that rising musicians seldom practice handling errors, so they typically don’t manage them as gracefully as they...