“Wise artists seek out critical evaluations.” -The Musician’s Way, p. 297 Musical collaborators come together out of a shared passion for music. And intense feelings about art can stir up ardent criticisms. How can we harmonize the critical give-and-take that’s...
“To escalate the tempo of newly learned material, you first have to reduce the effort required to play or sing it at your initial tempo.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 73 Some of the thorniest challenges we encounter in practice surround increasing the tempos of newly...
“We first make our habits and then our habits make us.” –John Dryden, poet The Musician’s Way, p. 20 When you practice, are you consistently focused and productive? If not, the reason may be due to chronic habits that undermine your attention and creativity. Here are...
“Throw yourself into life as someone who makes a difference.” –Benjamin Zander, conductor The Musician’s Way, p. 305 One of the most powerful ways that we can make a difference in life is to do creative work. Still, unless we choose our aims wisely, we can...
“The purpose of technique is to free the unconscious.” –David Mamet, playwright & director On Directing Film, p. 6 When we acquire robust technical skills, barriers to musical expression drop away. We internally “hear” musical gestures, and then we...
“The real essence of art turned out to be not something high up and far off – it was right inside my ordinary daily self.” –Shinichi Suzuki, violinist, author & teacher The Musician’s Way, p. 109 I’m always surprised when I hear people attribute creativity to...
“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” –Erich Fromm, psychologist and author Is there a state of mind more adverse to creativity than rigid certainty? I doubt it. To create, we have to generate ideas that take us beyond the familiar confines of...
“The route to becoming an accomplished musician is seldom smooth and trouble free.” -The Musician’s Way, p. 202 We musicians may dream of performing brilliantly at every show or audition, but, in reality, things don’t always go as well as we’d like. Especially for...
“At each concert, music is created anew, according to a performer’s imagination.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 112 Whenever we perform, we aim for that “in-the-moment” feeling. We strive to immerse ourselves and our listeners in the emotion of the music. Yet although...
