“You adapt yourself to the contents of the paintbox.” —Paul Klee, painter The Musician’s Way, p. 121 Like a painter dipping into a limited palette, a musician practicing an isolated part has to adapt to material that’s incomplete. A part played or sung out of context...
“To get to authenticity, you really keep going down to the bone, to the honesty and the inevitability of something.” –Meredith Monk, singer & composer The Musician’s Way, p. 19 Although we musicians practice in personalized ways, there are three fundamental...
“Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” –Jonathan Swift The Musician’s Way, p. 310 We all know that musical excellence results from smart, steady practice over a span of years. Still, it isn’t always easy for us to practice deliberately day after day....
“Repetition inevitably begets habits.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 52 Over the course of our lives, we musicians do a lot of repeating. There’s standard repertoire that we perform for years, and we revisit exercises to keep our technical abilities strong. On top of...
“My biggest kick in music – playing or writing – is when I have a problem. Without a problem to solve, how much interest do you take in anything?” –Duke Ellington The Musician’s Way, p. 54 No matter how musically advanced we become, we encounter passages...
“Nothing motivates better than success.” The Musician’s Way, p. 107 Do you typically finish practice sessions feeling that you’ve achieved meaningful goals? If not, these tips can help you invigorate your practice with clarity and accomplishment. See...
“Gauge your sound and internal experience against the benchmarks of excellence.” -The Musician’s Way, p. 58 How can we master unfamiliar music in ways that are both soulful and efficient? In a few words, we have to be proficient with what I call the 3 components of...
“We’re smart enough and clever enough to give each other room to live in, to have respect for each other’s personalities.” -John Lewis, pianist, Modern Jazz Quartet The Musician’s Way, p.120 Unlike when we play or sing in conductor-led ensembles,...
“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” -Charles Mingus, bassist The Musician’s Way, p. 55 Musical problem-solving requires creative thinking, yet the style of thinking that’s commonly...
