The Musician's Way Blog

Time and again, when I hear students audition, some will attempt to perform music that’s beyond their capacities.

“This’ll be impressive,” they surmise, as they struggle through one phrase after another.

Such students seldom realize that their misguided choices of repertoire don’t just fail to impress but also hamper their progress:  Continue Reading

Have you ever performed a piece of music for a teacher or coach only to learn that the printed edition you’re using contains errors or odd editorial revisions?

This post describes the four main types of published music editions and suggests ways in which we can avoid the pitfalls of faulty publications. Continue Reading

In recent years, sources for free online classical music scores have blossomed on the Web.

Here are a six outstanding sites.

Additional websites offering free and low-cost downloadable sheet music can be accessed via MusiciansWay.com under Practice, Instrument-Specific Resources, and For Singers. Continue Reading

It’s 10:00 a.m. on a Sunday, and I’ve already practiced for a couple of hours. I practiced yesterday, too, and I’ll practice tomorrow.

In fact, I’ve been practicing almost daily since childhood. Like musicians everywhere, practice is fundamental to the rhythm of my life.

What keeps us musicians practicing? Self-motivation is a big part of it, as described on pages 105-109 of my book The Musician’s Way.

But underlying our devotion to daily work is our intention to achieve specific goals. And the more precise our objectives, the more energy and accomplishment we generate. Continue Reading