“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...
“When you’re thoroughly prepared for a concert, you’ve taken charge of the personal, task-oriented and situational components of performing.” The Musician’s Way, p. 155 The Winter 2020 issue of The Musician’s Way Newsletter is now available....
“It’s better to do 30 minutes of high-quality work than to spin your wheels for hours.” The Musician’s Way, p. 312 Although we musicians strive to maintain regular practice schedules, we all confront periodic obstacles that prevent us from working as...
“You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there.” -The Musician’s Way, p. 196 In Chapter 10 of The Musician’s Way, I emphasize that musicians should view errors not as shameful failures but as neutral information. Having such a healthy...
“Provides a wealth of information that would otherwise take years to accrue.” Excerpt from a review of The Musician’s Way, British Journal of Music Education (Vol. 28, no. 1) The Summer 2018 issue The Musician’s Way Newsletter has arrived in...
“Ten dubious repetitions plus a single accurate one don’t equal security.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 52 Naïve practicers might repeat a passage profusely and make error after error. Then, on the eleventh try, when it finally comes out right, they say, “There, I’ve got...
“It was when I found out I could make mistakes that I knew I was on to something.” -Ornette Coleman, saxophonist & composer The Musician’s Way, p. 190 In the discovery phase of practice, all of us make errors as we try out interpretive and technical...
“Only after I have become familiar with the style and character of the work can I start shaping an interpretation.” Yo-Yo Ma The Musician’s Way, p. 24 On a primary level, musical interpretation conveys fluctuations in emotional intensity. And one of the best ways to...
