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Day 357: options
A student’s father, a musician himself, approached me today between lessons. He was complaining that lately he feels thoroughly discouraged about his practice. He has all but given up, and said with...
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Day 358: fundamentals
It’s easy to get swept up in the pyrotechnics of music. As players and listeners, we can get lost in the super-quick notes and the craziest-bounciest-bows and the biggest most dramatic moments. But no...
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Day 359: do less. do it well.
Time is too fleeting and work too abundant. We all have obligations before us, probably more than we can manage. We can put off our work and feel guilty about it, or we can face it head on. Since time...
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Day 360: giving
Recently I’ve been noticing that we all have a tendency to give people what we want rather than what they need. We all do it, every last one of us, and we need to knock it the hell off. We need to...
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Day 361: random reminders
Today, a few random reminders. Remember to… -keep the instrument at its best. I know I am guilty of keeping my Obligatos on a bit too long and scheduling my bow rehairs too far apart, and it helps...
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Day 362: one daily accomplishment
We strive for productivity every single day. We hope to be constantly chipping away at goals and making good progress. Very many days we can accomplish this, but not every day. It just isn’t possible....
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Day 363: COMMIT
I think we all decided long ago to commit ourselves to music. For most of us it didn’t feel like a decision; it just sort of was. I know it was that way for me; I’ve always just felt impelled to be a...
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Day 364: endings
We tend to begin with beginnings. We listen to music from the beginning, we often learn it from the beginning, and when we hum something for somebody else, it’s always the beginning that comes to mind…...
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Flesch project, day 365
This is my Flesch scale system chart that I started on Day 39. I finished it today, just barely, and I’m exhausted. I feel sick of stopped octaves and inordinately angry at Carl Flesch. Even though...
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Day 365: Always end on a positive note.
I try to end every single practice session on a positive note. I want to go to my other tasks without excess tension and worry, and I want to foster a positive relationship with the work in general. If...
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