It was mainly about the music and just wanting to get it right. ~ Bobby Broom ~ I’ve done a lot of interviews with stellar musicians like Bobby Broom about music practice, but this was one of the coolest, not only because I’m a big fan of his, and not because he speaks so eloquently and…
Want to Practice Better? Forget About “Natural” Ability.
One of the most important chapters in The Practice of Practice–chapter 6–has nothing to do with practice directly, it has to do with what you think about musical talent. Is musical ability “natural,” a gift of genetics? Is it something you’re born with? Something you either have or you don’t? Or is musical talent earned through exposure and effort? Your answer will have a profound impact on your practice: your motivation to practice, how you approach practice, whether you persist in the face of challenges, and how deeply you learn when you do practice.
Erin McKeown Talks Practice
Erin McKeown first opened my eyes about how practice can be very different depending on the kind of music you’re making. The kind of creative approach Erin uses to get better is covered in more detail in Chapters 26 and 38 of “The Practice of Practice,” available on Amazon. Below is a recording of my 2011 interview with Erin, talking about how she gets better.
Moanin’ at Montreux: The Fruits of Practice
Tasty! This is what lots of practice sounds like. Moanin’ by Bobby Timmons (lyrics by Joe Hendricks). Here’s the album on Amazon.
Go Go Gadget Practice
Bach once said of his prodigious keyboard skills something like, “There’s nothing to it; you just push the right key at the right time and the instrument plays itself.”
Do you think somebody who merely pushes a button to make music a musician? See the hilarious video below for a negative example, and the following one for a wonderfully positive example.
The important thing with gadgetry is the willful interaction with sound, not the motor ability. Yes, there are varied levels of physical engagement with the sound-producing device, but again, that’s not the point.
Goals as Fractals and Guerrilla Practice
Hans Jørgen Jensen is an affable cello teacher from whose studio have come cello players who win in international cello competitions and garner spots in top orchestras around the world. He’s a wonderful teacher and an interesting, busy man. There were many gems to admire when he spoke with me about practice, but the one that sticks in my mind, the one that was powerful enough to make it a chapter in The Practice of Practice was the power of goals. Another chapter covers what I’ve called Guerrilla Practice: snatching a tiny fragment of practice when you can, either once a day or, ideally, throughout the day. Both are covered briefly below.
Plays Well With Others: Group Practice
All of last week I was immersed in practice in all its various guises and all but 30 minutes of it was in group practice. Here are a few suggestions from my latest book, “The Practice of Practice,” to keep in mind when you’re practicing with somebody else. They’re either questions you can ask directly, if it’s appropriate (often it’s not), or questions to keep in mind as you’re listening to those you’re practicing with.
The Practice of Practice is Published
The Practice of Practice is now available: U.S., U.K., Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and India 277 pages 44 Chapters Illustrations Extras (learn more) E-book edition is also available in: Canada, Japan, Australia, & Brazil Hardcover will be available July 15 (US only). Talent means nothing when it comes to getting better. Practice is everything. But exactly what is good…
Feeling Stuck in Your Practice (and Getting Unstuck)
Sting talks below about overcoming writer’s block. When we see these luminaries of music, it often appears they have no struggles, that music simply flows from them. But that’s not the case, most of the time. Music is work. A labor of love, to be sure, but still, a labor. A labor fraught with error and the necessary correction; a labor fraught with being (or feeling) “stuck.” Listening to Sting talking about being “stuck,” I thought of the Beethoven’s Opus 69 manuscript below and what every professional musician I’ve interviewed has said about being stuck…
Compose Yourself: Songwriting & Composition as Practice
Songwriting as a means of practice is a great idea! The engagement with the sound you’re making goes deeper than when you practice scales, or other techniques, because you own (on many levels) the sounds you’re creating. And you don’t have to have special skills to do it, just dive in and start figuring it out.
The Real Deal-With-The-Devil at the Crossroads: Tackling the Monster (Marsalis and Ma)
There is no deal with the Prince of Darkness at the crossroads, but what a great myth. The crossroads is inside the ‘shed, and the devil you’re dealing with is practice. Check out what Yo-Yo Ma and Wynton Marsalis have to say about practice. In these 3 videos, you’ll hear Wynton expound on his 12 rules of practice.
“There is No Magic Trick, You Just Have to Do It” (Stephane Wrembel on Practice)
Stephane Wrembel was one of 20 stellar professional musicians who shared his take on practice with me, and one thing he said sticks out more than anything else. He stressed that there is no magic trick, no gimmick, no special technique to practice. He said, “You just have to do it.” Even after talking to so many people about practice, it’s not clear to me whether learning to practice can be taught. Everybody I spoke with said that, for the most part, they just had to figure out how to practice. It’s an intensely personal exploration. Still, I do believe that the more information you have while you’re learning, the better.
The Practice of Practice 