Part one:
Several musicians see practicing as a monotonous and excruciating activity. It involves being cloistered for hours in a small room, doing the same exercises or playing difficult passages over and over until the body is stiff and the mind is weary. Pleasure and confidence are rarely felt and public performances are frequently frustrating.
The art of practicing is a book that presents a ten-step approach to practicing through new techniques of moving, listening and relaxing developed by the author, Madeline Bruser. Ms. Bruser is an accomplished pianist. She has performed as soloist the San Francisco and Denver Symphony Orchestras. She has conducted seminars and workshops on the Art of Practicing at the Julliard School, the Manhattan
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In trying to meet deadlines, we usually practice in a joyless manner in order to gain technical security. We are hard on ourselves and this extinguishes inspiration and, mostly, spontaneity. By recognizing this gap between the joy of performing and the drudgery of practicing, Ms. Bruser developed the Art of Practicing. “The Art of Practicing is about art, about creating something fresh and genuine. In this approach, practicing is not so different from performing” (Bruser 11). The author tells the story when years ago, she was practicing for a long time and suddenly she started to focus on listening to the sound that was coming out of the piano rather than imagining what sound she wanted to hear. For the first time, she truly heard what she was playing. Ms. Bruser says that she felt free and spontaneous, just like if she were performing on a stage. We can all practice this sensation every day during our practice sections. Before learning an instrument, we are always attentive and curious about musical sounds. But as we start to learn an instrument, we focus much more on how to produce the sound rather than simply listen and enjoy what we are playing. Since the results do not come, we begin to force ourselves. Tension comes and musicality is
A man most people know for his incredible but challenging basketball career, Michael Jordan, once said when giving tips on how to be successful like himself, “You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way. Get the fundamentals down and the levels of everything you do will rise. I’m not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat.” Although some may disagree and say that quality practices do not go hand in hand with quantity practice for successful people, I disagree. Successful people practice with a purpose: to be successful. Bill Gates had intentions of becoming successful when spending endless hours in the computer lab. The Beatles always had it in their plans to become better each performance when they would play eight hours a day in Germany. Based on evidence, it seems to be a pattern that a successful individual does have both a practice of quality and quantity in their vocabulary to mean the same thing. These individuals have therefore taught themselves hard work, because this idea of 10,000 hours of practice has allowed them to learn how to work for what they
“In fact, by the age of twenty, the elite performers had each totaled ten thousand hours of practice. By contrast, the merely good students had totaled eight thousand hours, and the future music teachers had totaled just over four thousand hours.” The control we have over our lives is determined by our work ethic, willingness to achieve our goals, and to strive towards them. Gladwell provides a stronger case of evidence by using proven statistics. These statistics provide the evidence that practicing regularly, and for long amounts of time does pay off in the long
The musician Jordan’s practice approach is BEST described as repeating the same material for years until he has completely mastered it.
She expresses, "There is no doubt that deliberate practice is important, from both a statistical and a theoretical perspective. It is just less important than has been argued." Gladwell significantly exaggerated the importance of practice in his book “Outliers”, and in doing so makes his audience understand a false representation of how attain greatness. Without any outside context, his argument leads people to believe that without 10,000 hours of work, a high level of potential isn’t achievable; however, in Frans Johansson’s book “The Click Moment”, she disproves exactly that. Johansson recognizes how training and repetition will have a huge impact in stable fields, or activities that are always the same and look for a similar performance from everyone (sports, classical music, etc.); moreover, what she accounts for that Gladwell doesn’t is how practice aids in unstable fields, or activities that are constantly looking for new styles and interpretations to be the best (entrepreneurship, rock music, etc.) . Here creativity and originality shine, and the amount of work doesn’t have as big of an impact as the personal influence that comes more from the individual: not the individual’s custom of
Imagine a third grader, small and blonde, standing on a stage that practically swallows her. She gazes in awe at the bright lights that seem to tower miles above her head; likewise, she follows with a stare, fixating on the hundreds of darkened faces that remain directly in front of her. Unlike her classmates who fidget with nerves beside her, she feels a rush of adrenaline. What may have seemed to some an ordinary choir concert in a dull auditorium, was, to me, a life changing moment. Ever since this day, for 9 years now, I have had an unwavering passion for music and performing. As I aged, I found myself excitedly learning how to play 7 new instruments, but even considering the vast number of bands, orchestras, choirs, and instrumental lessons that I joined, I noticed myself
Early specialization is characterized by year-round training in a single activity, beginning at a young age, apart from other activities with the goal of developing expertise (Ericsson et al., 1993). Ericsson and his colleagues studied pianists and violinists of varying skill levels and discovered that the expert musicians typically began training between ages four and five while the non-experts started training later in life. Moreover, a pattern emerged indicating that the level of performance attained related to the amount of deliberate practice. By age 20 the best performers had spent over 10,000 hours, an intermediate group had put in 8,000 hours, and the least accomplished group only 5,000 hours. In their theory of deliberate practice, Ericsson et al. (1993) suggest that talent plays no role in the development of expertise, rather it is an effortful activity motivated by the goal of improving performance. Typically, deliberate practice requires a high amount of concentration and must be carried out over time. The obligation to significant amounts of deliberate practice in one sport from a young age has been demonstrated as one approach to developing elite athletes (Helsen et al., 1998).
In the first grade, I picked up a clarinet. It was my sister’s, collecting dust while waiting for me to play it. From the moment I produced my first sound, an ear-piercing squeal that frightened my dog, the path of my life took a turn for the better. I began teaching myself for the following three years, along with learning from my sister how to properly play the beautiful instrument. The music pushed me out of my comfort zone: concerts that forced me onstage, tests that made me play difficult songs, and teachers that pushed me to be an exceptional player. From the shy elementary school student I used to be to the outgoing band member I take joy in being today, music has shaped my everyday life.
Derek became an acclaimed concert pianist by the age of 10. His longtime piano teacher, Adam Ockelford, explains his student’s unique relationship to music. Adam encouraged his obvious musical interest and ability, although it was obviously natural. Adam gave him lesson as child understanding
After playing for more than ten years, piano has only meant more to me as I constantly learn new dimensions to musicality. Changing my approach over the past couple of years from trying to perfect every aspect of my technique to focusing on my fluidity and rhythm has drastically improved my musicality. I find that while playing piano at the senior center, I can translate the emotions running through my head as a play a piece and connect with them on a deeper level. This developed connection has showed me the limitless ways to bring people together through music and it’s something that I want to continue to explore.
Through weekly private lessons, chamber, wind, and orchestra ensemble playing, and assiduous independent practice, I have improved immensely as a trombonist and musician. My work paid off when I was accepted into Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute. At this nationally competitive program, I spent six weeks with talented, dedicated students while rubbing shoulders with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). I had never heard elite musicians live before the BSO. Their concerts brought tears to my eyes and my drive to make music at the highest level grew. After receiving instruction from these musicians and hearing their own performances, I refined my technique and made more tasteful musical decisions.
Music therapy comes in all sorts of different shapes and forms, with the therapist choosing which process should be used with the patient in order to maximise the session’s potential. These can range from the patient playing a previously learned piece on an instrument (if they already have a musical background), to
In order to become an expert performer Abbott and Collins (2004) suggest that talent development requires the possession of Psychological Characteristics for Developing Excellence (PCDE), which as the performer moves through the transition phases become further developed. PCDE’s are both trait characteristics and state related skills such as self-belief, dedication and discipline (Abbott and Collins, 2004). Another significant aspect of becoming an expert musician is deliberate practice. Deliberate practice requires determination with the correct motivation for the performer, and the necessary time and effort roughly equating to 10,000 hours (Ericsson et al., 1993). MacNamara, Holmes and Collins (2008) state that expert musicians require numerous aspects to reach the highest level; natural talent and/or deliberate practice combined with social context and significant others are needed to maintain performance at this high level. As talent is developed, the performer moves
I was still practicing other pieces that had my hands shifting ferociously on my cello. I stopped to look at her and she sat down near me, she started off by asking questions. “So how long have you played for?” I answered eight years. “How long did you practice to get this good?” “This was all from the intense training I got as a child. I had to practice about 3 hours a day!” Nam’s jaw dropped. “Oh wow! I don’t have enough time or concentration to practice three hours a day especially when I was a kid!” After a few more questions, she stated, “You know, you play so well! You make me think that I, myself, *pointing at self* am not good enough for this group, so I practice harder everyday at home to perfect little techniques. I hope one day I can play like you!” From here, I suggested many techniques Nam could use to improve and how to practice them. Some included placement of the bow, how high the instrument should be, playing with a more relaxed hand, and how all of these could affect how you play. Our little break ended and we resumed to practicing together. The instruments playing sounded as if they were having a conversation with each other. You can hear how all the different sounds produced from the violins, violas, cellos, and the bass become one sound. The melodies intertwine together to make the perfect pitches almost like angels singing. You could tell that Nam worked on what I advised during our short break to produce a fuller and broader sound. Although it was only one session of playing that improved her sound, how much more would she improve if she continued? Soon, a few months passed, and she played amazingly. Her hands were more relaxed than before, her posture was almost
A mastered art started with a desire to learn. The art of playing the piano has been around for years. Famous men, like Mozart and Beethoven, were born before the 1800’s, but still influence current generations to play their piano scripts. The original methods of playing may have changed, but piano is still a thriving art. It even has different genres, some coming from the Jazz Era while others originating from the Victorian Era. Learning the art may take time, but with a strong desire to learn, a method of practice and a dedication of time, the greatest pieces can be mastered.
The analyzation of deep practice is the main purpose of chapter 1 of “The Talent Code”.In particular, the author wants to explain that the deep practice is the best way to get skills. Deep practice is characterized by practicing more and more time the same exercise,making a lot of mistakes, until the individual can perform it properly without making any mistakes,saving the time.