Have you ever been confounded by a thorny passage that wouldn’t come together? You know, the sort of material where even after days of working on the music, you notice no real improvement. Probably every musician encounters such problem spots from time to time....
Suppose that you’re preparing to play or sing in public. How do you bridge the gulf between personal practice and public performance? I’ve observed that many rising musicians underperform because they omit a crucial element from their preparatory routines: practice...
“There is nothing more fatal for our musical sense, than to allow ourselves – by the hour – to hear musical sounds without really listening to them”-Tobias MatthayThe Musician’s Way, p. 16 Imagine that you’re watching an artist paint in her studio: She spreads color...
To make music in groups, we require more than interpretive and technical know-how; we also need specific skills if we’re to work together harmoniously. Given that aspiring performers spend so much time practicing alone, are most acquiring expert collaborative skills?...