by Gerald Klickstein | Dec 15, 2014 | creative process, music practice, The Musician's Way
“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...
by Gerald Klickstein | Nov 25, 2009 | music performance, music practice, performance anxiety, The Musician's Way
Many music students believe that if they can get through a piece in practice, they should necessarily be able to perform the piece on stage. Then, when they become undermined by nervousness, they conclude that their performance problems must be caused by psychological...
by Gerald Klickstein | Dec 21, 2016 | music performance, music practice, performance anxiety
“Deep practice entails achieving mastery, integration, and transcendence with everything that you play or sing.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 20 For budding and veteran performers alike, the fundamental source of confidence on stage is thorough preparation. And although...
by Gerald Klickstein | Aug 31, 2023 | music performance, music practice, The Musician's Way
“Deep practice integrates all that you are – your body, mind, and spirit.” The Musician’s Way, p. 20 Expert musicians possess numerous abilities that are apparent on stage – rich tone, fluent execution, dramatic interpretation, secure memory, and so forth....
by Gerald Klickstein | Dec 1, 2022 | memorization, music practice, The Musician's Way
“I suppose that when I play in public it looks easy, but before I ever came on the concert stage I worked very hard. And I do yet – but always putting the two things together, mental work and physical work.” -Jascha Heifetz, violinist (1901-1987) The Musician’s...
by Gerald Klickstein | May 6, 2021 | music education, music practice, The Musician's Way
“We get messed up because we don’t have a clear image . . . and therefore give ourselves too many conflicting messages about how to play.” -Eloise Ristad A Soprano On Her Head, p. 116-117 When we set out to learn a new piece, it can resemble a romance, and we’re...
by Gerald Klickstein | Nov 10, 2020 | collaboration, creative process, music practice
“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...
by Gerald Klickstein | May 15, 2018 | creative process, music practice, The Musician's Way
“Whatever music you play or sing, your aim is to express musical ideas, not spew out notes.” The Musician’s Way, p. 24 Many years ago I had lunch with two veteran music teachers who advocated what I call the “notes first” practice method. In their estimation, students...
by Gerald Klickstein | Dec 13, 2017 | creative process, music practice, The Musician's Way
“There can be so much to cover in a practice session that it can seem overwhelming.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 6 Even for professional musicians, it isn’t easy to manage large numbers of practice tasks. But whatever our level of musical development, all of our...
