by Gerald Klickstein | May 8, 2010 | memorization, music practice, The Musician's Way
“I’m very mistrustful of tactile memory. I think it’s the first thing that goes.” –André Watts, pianist The Musician’s Way, p. 82 Have you ever been blindsided by a memory lapse? Maybe you felt secure in practice, but, during a performance, you blanked on a...
by Gerald Klickstein | Mar 28, 2010 | creative process, motivation, music practice
“Even the greatest virtuosos practice the fundamentals, because they are the basis of all playing.” –Wynton Marsalis Marsalis on Music, p. 124 Scales, arpeggios, exercises . . . boring stuff. Right? I don’t think so. In fact, I find the practicing of such basics to be...
by Gerald Klickstein | Jan 19, 2010 | injury prevention, music practice, stage presence, wellness
“The better you use yourself, the better you will play.” –Pedro de Alcantara The Musician’s Way, p. 257 Music making may be the most integrated of all human activities. It’s no exaggeration to say that either playing instruments or singing requires us to coordinate...
by Gerald Klickstein | Dec 19, 2009 | creative process, music practice, The Musician's Way
“If excellence is a habit (which it is), then students must consistently play in ways that are fundamentally excellent nearly all the time.” -Robert A. Duke Whether we’re practicing or performing, all of us musicians are striving for excellence. But do students really...
by Gerald Klickstein | Nov 13, 2009 | music education, music performance, music practice, performance anxiety, stage presence
We professional musicians love to share music with others. Whether we perform in concert halls, nightclubs, informal gatherings, or recording studios, our hard work is most rewarded when we connect with listeners. The majority of students, though, spend little time in...
by Gerald Klickstein | Nov 1, 2009 | creative process, motivation, music practice, The Musician's Way
It’s 10:00 a.m., and I’ve already practiced for a couple of hours. I practiced yesterday, too, and I’ll practice tomorrow. Like musicians everywhere, practice is central to the rhythm of my life. What keeps us musicians practicing? Self-motivation is a big part of it....
by Gerald Klickstein | Jul 22, 2009 | music education, MusiciansWay.com, The Musician's Way
Welcome to The Musician’s Way Blog. In this, my inaugural post, I want to explain in a few words my motivation for writing my book The Musician’s Way, creating MusiciansWay.com, and launching this blog. I took up the pen and carved out a corner of cyberspace to help...
