The Musician's Way Blog

“When you project a centered presence from the stage,
your audience becomes attentive and relaxed.”
–The Musician’s Way, p. 180

To make our best music, we performers need to be mentally, physically, and emotionally in sync. In a word: centered.

Then, assuming that we’ve learned our material deeply and have built up performance skills, we can trust in our preparation and truly connect with our audiences.

In fact, centered musicians often captivate their listeners from the moment they step on stage because their powerful demeanor generates an expectant energy. Continue Reading

“The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.”
–Francis Bacon, painter

We musicians have much to master along the road to acquiring expertise. And the demands of practice can sometimes be daunting.

But as we build up our skills, we need to remember that, in the process of assembling technical know-how, we also must grow our powers as creative artists.

How do we do that? How do we ‘deepen the mystery’ when practicing the likes of scales, etudes, ensemble parts, and orchestral excerpts? Continue Reading

“The details are not the details. They make the design.”
–Charles Eames, designer

For musicians and designers alike, our approach to detail largely determines whether our work soars or flops.

Compare, for instance, these two performers:

• Musician 1 performs with passion along with polished rhythm, tone, and intonation.
• Musician 2 is no less fervent, but heedlessly lets her timing drift and her accuracy falter.

Who would you rather listen to? Continue Reading

Louis Armstrong

“What we play is life.”
–Louis Armstrong, trumpeter and composer

Would many musicians dispute Louis Armstrong’s words? I doubt it.

With each turn of a phrase, we performers spin out some of the essence of being alive, and we relish every moment.

But we don’t create music for ourselves alone. Music is a social art that peaks in the interaction between performers and listeners.

And through our relationship with the public, we achieve both artistic and financial success. Continue Reading

Branford Marsalis

“We have something that is unique. We have our craft. We have our art. We have our desire.”
–Branford Marsalis, saxophonist

Craft, art, desire. Add persistent hard work, and what do you get? Artistic and professional success.

Why is it, then, that some students who are passionate about making music and have opportunities to refine their skills will practice intently yet others won’t?

There can be many reasons, but Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, offers one compelling explanation.  Continue Reading

“A concentrated mind is not an attentive mind, but a mind that is in the state of awareness can concentrate. Awareness is never exclusive, it includes everything.”
–Bruce Lee, martial artist

One of the most common questions I receive from music students is, ”How can I perform at the consistently high level that I hear from professionals?”

My short answer is that they’ll achieve the results they seek when:

1. They become fluent with practice and performance skills
2. They learn to use their minds like pros

In this post, I look at three aspects of our mental landscape: awareness, focus, and concentration. Continue Reading

“To rely on muscular habit, which so many do in technique, is indeed fatal.
A little nervousness, a muscle bewildered and unable to direct itself, and where are you? For technique is truly a matter of the brain.”
–Fritz Kreisler, violinist

When Kreisler said that technique was ‘of the brain,’ I assume that he was referring to the diverse mental processes through which we musicians direct our execution.

And I think that he wasn’t merely speaking about mechanics but rather pointing to the inclusive artistic and physical aspects of music making. Continue Reading

Michael Giacchino

“If you want to be creative, get out there and do it.”
–Michael Giacchino, composer

Almost all of the ambitious music students I meet share two common concerns.

They wonder, “Do I have what it takes?” And, ”Will I be able to earn a living in music?”

I propose that, for the students I encounter, the answer to both questions is yes. Continue Reading

“For you to perform with native inflection, you have to listen and listen until you break through to the soul of a style.”
–The Musician’s Way, p. 98

We all enjoy listening to music. But there’s a level of musical perception that transcends ordinary hearing.

Deep listening, as I call it, pierces the essence of a composition and the way in which it’s performed.

I’ve learned, however, that many aspiring musicians aren’t in the habit of listening deeply, even though keen listening skills are essential to musical development. Continue Reading

“Of all my skills, none is more important
than the ability to organize my time.”
–Twyla Tharp, choreographer (The Creative Habit, p. 178)

Whether you’re a mature musician or a rising one, your creative output will hinge on your knack for carving out practice time and using it productively.

Here is a septet of strategies that will help you make the most of your practice. Continue Reading

Luciano Pavarotti

“People think I am disciplined. It is not discipline, it is devotion. There is a great difference.”
–Luciano Pavarotti, singer

What empowers some musicians to keep growing while others fizzle? I’m convinced that, above all, it’s self-motivation.

Self-motivated musicians overflow with enthusiasm. Whether they attain international status or just perform locally, they’re devoted to their art and their listeners. They perpetually work on projects that excite them.

I believe that we all have the potential to spur ourselves to ever-greater heights of creativity. But, to do so, we need an arsenal of self-motivating strategies. Continue Reading

Itzhak Perlman

“The single most important goal for performing artists
is to see how they are doing.”
–Itzhak Perlman, violinist (The Musician’s Way, p. 202)

Suppose that you’re practicing a new piece. How do you know that one portion is learned securely enough for you to tackle another?

Later on, how do you determine that the music is concert-ready?

Then, following a performance, what enables you to pinpoint the aspects of your execution that need polishing? Continue Reading

Ella Fitzgerald

“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”
–Ella Fitzgerald, singer

When we marvel at the feats of eminent musicians like Ella Fitzgerald, it’s easy for us to overlook the hurdles they’ve surmounted.

But the route to artistic and career success rarely proceeds along a smooth track, even for those who reach the top.

How can we stay the course through the many challenges of a life in music? Continue Reading

“You’ve got to think about ‘big things’ while you’re doing small things
so that all the small things go in the right direction.”
–Alvin Toffler, author

When we veteran musicians practice, we begin with objectives and learning methods in mind.

If we’re preparing a new composition for a concert, let’s say, we first get an overview of the music; then we carve it into sections, identify trouble spots, knit sections together, gradually step up the tempo, and so on. We progressively assemble the composition into concert-ready form.

Are students typically practicing in ways that result in similar steady accomplishment? Continue Reading

Mstislav Rostropovich

“You must play for the love of music. Perfect technique is not as important as making music from the heart.”
–Mstislav Rostropovich, cellist/conductor (The Musician’s Way, p. 133)

To practice music is to pursue perfection – or so we often hear.

What nonsense.

Rather, we musicians practice to grow as artists, to achieve excellence, and to share heartfelt music with our listeners.

Sure, public performance obliges us to be accurate. But there’s a big difference between precision and perfection. Continue Reading