13 hours agoTracking Your ProgressAs a self-taught musician, one of my biggest breakthroughs happened when I started taking notes of what I was practicing. One day I just opened a blank notebook and wrote down the tunes I had played. It was the start of something huge. It helped me stop marking time with…Music Practice8 min readMusic Practice8 min read
Sep 21How to PracticeLast night I gave a workshop to a local choral group. We did some fun exercises, including walking around in a big circle, waving our arms and counting really loud from deep in our bellies! After I got home, I thought a bit about what we do when we sit…5 min read5 min read
Aug 10Staying Fresh and BuoyantThere is a story about the famed violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler. After months of performing and traveling, he would return to Vienna, place his violin in its case and not touch it for weeks. After this, he would retrieve it and slowly begin to practice the basics and remembered…Music Practice3 min readMusic Practice3 min read
Feb 2What Should I Focus On?I received this comment in response to an earlier post: “If I had a better idea of what to focus on as I practice, I might be able to focus better.” Let’s take a look and see if this idea can help us practice more effectively. Focusing Isn’t Easy Could you focus better…Music Practice3 min readMusic Practice3 min read
Jan 30Consider Your AudienceLong before I called myself a “writer,” I wrote an article for an aikido newsletter. I asked another aikidoka who worked in publishing to check it over. She told me I needed to consider my audience. “Ask yourself with every sentence: Is this necessary? Is it written just for me…3 min read3 min read
Jan 12Accepting CriticismHow to have a more useful response to critiques of your playing — A friend of mine is a concertina teacher. He was approached by a potential student who asked, “Will you critique my playing?” My friend answered, yes, among other things, he would listen and point out areas for the student to work on. The student replied, “That might be hard for…Music Practice5 min readMusic Practice5 min read
Jan 5Paying AttentionI’ve written before about the power of our attention when we practice, and that practicing in a focused and mindful way yields more, and faster, rewards than practicing long hours.¹ Learning to be more attentive, or mindful, when we practice and play is one of the most valuable things we…Music4 min readMusic4 min read
Dec 30, 2022What Can You Let Go Of?As I write, the new year is two days away. Some of us use the date 1/1 as a starting point to set goals, intentions, or resolutions. At this time of year I often recall a concept I read a while back: Instead of listing what I want or plan…2 min read2 min read
Dec 16, 2022The Joy of Playing a Supporting RoleA few days ago I was chatting with a violinist friend. He expressed his opinion that violinists who play first violin in orchestras have a more “attention-seeking” or “look-at-me!” way of playing in general. Second violinists, according to my friend, are happy to play the supporting role, playing harmony notes…Music5 min readMusic5 min read
Dec 8, 2022In Praise of Simple TunesWhen we practice, we mostly work on things that are hard to do. I might work on unisons on the fiddle, or fingering triplets on the accordion, or just practice a tune I love that has a hard passage or is in a weird key. …Music4 min readMusic4 min read
