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

“Playfulness and creativity go together like music and dance -
one sets the other in motion.”
-The Musician’s Way, p. 312

I just sent out the August 2010 issue of The Musician’s Way Newsletter.

My most extensive issue to date, it highlights online and technology resources for musicians and introduces a cutting-edge way that rising performers can get their music played on Internet radio alongside the tracks of established artists. Continue Reading

Gerald Klickstein

“Amassing the know-how of a professional musician takes time and diligence, but the personal investments you make will bring rewards beyond measure.”
–The Musician’s Way, p. 314

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of MusiciansWay.com and The Musician’s Way Blog. My book The Musician’s Way debuted in August of 2009.

I invite you to join me as I commemorate these occasions.

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

“Confident performance isn’t an elusive feat but involves knowledge and skills that any musician can learn.”
–The Musician’s Way, p. 133

When I talk to musicians who wrestle with stage nerves, I find that many hold a common belief.

They think that they lack a trait that confident performers possess. So they worry that they might never break free from their anxieties.

Fortunately, their dilemmas don’t stem from a lack of talent but from a correctable deficit of skill. 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

“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

Wynton Marsalis

“Even the greatest virtuosos practice the fundamentals,
because they are the basis of all playing.”
–Wynton Marsalis (Marsalis on Music, p. 124)

Scales, arpeggios, exercises . . . boring stuff. Right?

I don’t think so. In fact, I find practicing basics to be endlessly fascinating.

Students, however, often view working on fundamentals as drudgery. What are such students missing? Continue Reading

“In order to be creative
you have to know how to prepare to be creative.”
-Twyla Tharp, choreographer (The Creative Habit, p. 9)

Even though musical expertise results from persistent practice, it can be tough for us musicians to stick to our practice schedules over the span of months and years.

What’s more, when we arrive at the practice studio, it isn’t always easy for us to make inspired music.

Nonetheless, I believe that all of us can be consistently and deeply creative. But the key to our doing so lies in our ability to plan and otherwise prepare our practice sessions. Continue Reading

“The better you use yourself, the better you will play.”
–Pedro de Alcantara, cellist, author, and Alexander technique teacher (The Musician’s Way, p. 257)

Music making may be the most integrated of all human activities. It’s no exaggeration to say that singing or playing requires us to coordinate everything that we are – our bodies, minds, and spirits.

Often, however, the rigors of practice and performance cause us to use ourselves in ways that are less than optimal. Continue Reading

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
–Thomas Edison, inventor

Parts I and II of this post show that we musicians need inclusive abilities and solid work ethics if we’re to seize opportunities in the new economy. In this final part, I look at strategies that expand our skills, multiply our career prospects, and ignite our dedication to creative work. Overalls optional. Continue Reading

If you’re a rising musician, you’ll probably have opportunities to perform in competitions.

This post will help you decide whether a particular contest is right for you. Continue Reading