“Like sensuous opening ceremonies, warm-ups prepare the body, mind, and spirit for making music.” – The Musician’s Way, p. 37 I always take pleasure in my daily warm-ups. As I open my guitar case, tune, and play my first notes, I feel inspired and...
“In order to be creative you have to know how to prepare to be creative.” -Twyla Tharp, choreographer (The Creative Habit, p. 9) Even though musical expertise results from persistent practice, it can be tough for us musicians to stick to our practice schedules...
“If you start with something that’s fake, you’re always covering your tracks.” –Paul Simon, singer-songwriter Is there really a fast track to mastering an unfamiliar composition? I’m convinced that there is. And its use can not only speed up the learning process but...
“The better you use yourself, the better you will play.” –Pedro de Alcantara The Musician’s Way, p. 257 Music making may be the most integrated of all human activities. It’s no exaggeration to say that either playing instruments or singing requires us to coordinate...
“If excellence is a habit (which it is), then students must consistently play in ways that are fundamentally excellent nearly all the time.” -Robert A. Duke Whether we’re practicing or performing, all of us musicians are striving for excellence. But do students really...
“When we practice deeply, we can trust ourselves and execute without forcing.” When you confront a technical challenge in your music making, does a voice within you ever say, “Try harder”? I get the impression that many rising musicians believe that trying...
Many music students believe that if they can get through a piece in practice, they should necessarily be able to perform the piece on stage. Then, when they become undermined by nervousness, they conclude that their performance problems must be caused by psychological...
Let’s say that you’re about to practice a new piece of music: What’s your typical plan of attack? Researchers have observed that expert and student musicians display profound differences in their approaches to learning new material, and those differences lead to huge...
It’s 10:00 a.m., and I’ve already practiced for a couple of hours. I practiced yesterday, too, and I’ll practice tomorrow. Like musicians everywhere, practice is central to the rhythm of my life. What keeps us musicians practicing? Self-motivation is a big part of it....
