“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...
“Practice holds a place of honor in the life of a musician.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 4 All of us veteran musicians share the same twin aims when we practice: to polish our skills and prepare music for performances. We also know how to accomplish our goals efficiently....
“I continued to play with a sore arm with the rationalization that I could play through the pain and that the discomfort would just miraculously go away as I got into better shape as a cellist. But the pain didn’t go away. It got worse.” –Janet Horvath, cellist The...
“A concert may end when the applause fades, but your artistic work and your responsibilities as a performer are far from complete.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 196 As you exit the stage at the end of a performance, how do you typically feel? Then, when you interact with...
“One should hunger after the whole concept, the whole mood, what the music stands for.” –William Pleeth, cellist The Musician’s Way, p. 71 When we approach an unfamiliar composition, I recommend that we map out a preliminary interpretation before we deal with...
“You must start well, and you must end well. What is in the middle is not so important because no one is listening then.” –Maurice Chevalier, singer & actor The Musician’s Way, p. 180 I chuckle every time I read Chevalier’s words, but they...
“The beauty in playing the instrument is not to be better than the next person but to stay true to oneself, to set one’s own standards and keep to them.” –Andrés Cárdenes, violinist The Musician’s Way, p. 305 In many ways, we succeed or flounder as...
“Display confident body language, come what may.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 194 Are you confident in your ability to deal with on-stage mistakes? I’ve found that rising musicians seldom practice handling errors, so they typically don’t manage them as gracefully as they...
“People have often said to me, ‘You’re so relaxed when you play.’ Relaxed my elbow. It’s practice.” –Benny Goodman, clarinetist The Musician’s Way, p. 199 It may seem that elite musicians like Benny Goodman excel on stage because...
