“To get to authenticity, you really keep going down to the bone, to the honesty and the inevitability of something.” –Meredith Monk, singer and composer The Musician’s Way, p. 19 A music student performs a new piece, but numerous things go awry – technical glitches,...
“To make the most of a performance, the key is to be open to your experience and to discover new things in both the music and yourself.” The Musician’s Way, p. 208 The April/May edition of The Musician’s Way Newsletter looks into career-building strategies, new...
“Creative activity could be described as a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.” –Arthur Koestler, author (Drinkers of Infinity, p. 235) The tricky passage that finally rings true, the ‘aha’ moment, the transcendent...
“The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.” –Carl Jung, psychologist Psychological Types, p. 123 Can deliberate practice be both productive and playful? That is, can we zero in on specific tasks in practice, work intensely, and feel exuberant at...
“All the inspiration I ever needed was a phone call from a producer.” –Cole Porter, composer The Musician’s Way, p. 108 Many musicians mistakenly deem career-building tasks to be anti-creative. For them, career development equates with writing newsletters, updating...
“Slow practice can establish habits that are completely unrelated to the coordination demanded for speed.” –Abby Whiteside, pianist The Musician’s Way, p. 48 All of us acknowledge the value of slow practice: by working at deliberate tempos, we cultivate the ease that...
“As a member of a quartet, you come to realize that you’re responsible for other people’s reputations and livelihoods as well as your own.” –Michael Tree, violist The Musician’s Way, p. 115 Few things in life bring as much joy as collaborative music making. When we...
“How you shape your practice schedule will in many ways determine the course of your creative life.” -The Musician’s Way, p. 11 The February/March edition of The Musician’s Way Newsletter has landed in subscribers’ inboxes and is being forwarded widely. As...
“Routine drill is a poor substitute for the fun of utilizing ears and rhythm for making music.” –Abby Whiteside, pianist Abby Whiteside on Piano Playing, p. 5 “Tick, tick, tick,” drones the metronome. “Plunk, plunk, plunk,” goes the music student. What’s wrong with...
