I'm going to be taking the next couple of weeks off from posting here. I'll be taking it easy, doing some reading, and spending some time with family. Even though I won't be posting here, I will still be posting on twitter. Feel free to follow along over there.
For now, I'll leave you with the most popular posts from 2013 (in no particular order).
- Essential Opera - Reading Together - Part 1
- Essential Opera - Reading Together - Part 19
- Essential Opera - Reading Together - Part 21
- Sheet Music - Rainy Day
- Music as a Language - Reading Together - The Sol-Fa Method
- Music as a Language - Reading Together - The Teaching of Time and Rhythm
- Music as a Language - Reading Together - The Teaching of Elementary Composition
Until January 7th! Merry Christmas and happy New Year, dear readers!
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Friday, December 20, 2013
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
The Art of Practicing - Reading Together - Struggle and Freedom
Learning to play an instrument is work. At times it feels as if there is more struggle than musicianship. Bruser makes some helpful remarks on the subject of struggle and freedom.
"We lose touch with this heart when we become overly ambitious. Ambition is healthy, but it becomes destructive when we drive ourselves too hard." (loc: 265)
"A pianist who looks as though he is slaving over a hot keyboard, hunching over and working very hard, creates a sense of claustrophobia. You can’t breathe easily because he’s so worked up. But a performer who walks calmly onto a stage, takes his time sitting down, and welcomes the opportunity to perform with relaxation makes you feel relaxed." (loc: 269)
"Practicing exercises you don’t enjoy is confining and saps your energy, whereas practicing a difficult but beautiful piece of music gives you energy." (loc: 321)
"All of these ways of practicing indicate lack of trust in our ability. We are afraid that if we just relax and let ourselves work naturally and comfortably, we won’t be good enough." (loc: 336)
note: I'm reading this book from through my Kindle app, so quotations are shown by the location in the Kindle document.
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"We lose touch with this heart when we become overly ambitious. Ambition is healthy, but it becomes destructive when we drive ourselves too hard." (loc: 265)
"A pianist who looks as though he is slaving over a hot keyboard, hunching over and working very hard, creates a sense of claustrophobia. You can’t breathe easily because he’s so worked up. But a performer who walks calmly onto a stage, takes his time sitting down, and welcomes the opportunity to perform with relaxation makes you feel relaxed." (loc: 269)
"Practicing exercises you don’t enjoy is confining and saps your energy, whereas practicing a difficult but beautiful piece of music gives you energy." (loc: 321)
"All of these ways of practicing indicate lack of trust in our ability. We are afraid that if we just relax and let ourselves work naturally and comfortably, we won’t be good enough." (loc: 336)
note: I'm reading this book from through my Kindle app, so quotations are shown by the location in the Kindle document.
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Tuesday, December 10, 2013
The Art of Practicing - Reading Together - Meeting Yourself
Bruser begins her book by expressing that the key to why musicians pursue music is because it already is a part of us. It is part of our identity, part of our internal being.
Two quotes from this chapter stood out to me.
"When we go to a teacher we hope that he or she will appreciate our sincerity of heart, and that the discipline we learn will enable us to express ourselves from the heart." (loc: 200)
We recognize this as musicians, but as teachers we also need to be aware of this as we interact with our students and attempt to further their abilities.
"Each person’s talent is unique, and some are more gifted than others, but an intense desire to play well indicates that music is already inside the person, pressing toward the surface and needing to come out. Know this, and take heart from it as you make your particular journey with music." (loc: 214)
Our students need to understand this. We need to help them to see this. We need them to remember this as they struggle in their learning.
note: I'm reading this book from through my Kindle app, so quotations are shown by the location in the Kindle document.
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You just finished reading The Art of Practicing - Reading Together - Meeting Yourself.
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Two quotes from this chapter stood out to me.
"When we go to a teacher we hope that he or she will appreciate our sincerity of heart, and that the discipline we learn will enable us to express ourselves from the heart." (loc: 200)
We recognize this as musicians, but as teachers we also need to be aware of this as we interact with our students and attempt to further their abilities.
"Each person’s talent is unique, and some are more gifted than others, but an intense desire to play well indicates that music is already inside the person, pressing toward the surface and needing to come out. Know this, and take heart from it as you make your particular journey with music." (loc: 214)
Our students need to understand this. We need to help them to see this. We need them to remember this as they struggle in their learning.
note: I'm reading this book from through my Kindle app, so quotations are shown by the location in the Kindle document.
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Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Sheet Music - Christmas Lights
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| from George Deputee (flickr) |
It includes some hand position moving for the right hand and an Alberti bass pattern for the left hand.
To order, click here.
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