So many times we set goals for ourselves. We work hard to achieve those goals.
One thing I’ve noticed a lot recently is the tendency to come up with reasons not to follow through.
It feels so great to push yourself to do things you never believed possible.
The feeling of accomplishing something you didn’t believe possible is an amazing feeling.
I have started jogging recently. I have done 2 5ks, and the second time I didn’t have to stop to walk. It felt wonderful to train and achieve my goal. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll be able to run a marathon.
As a freelancer, my schedule changes every day. My book has become my Bible. Every morning I look at it to see where I am supposed to go that day.
Last week I gave I don’t know how many lectures about carefully watching your schedule.
I keep a copy of my schedule on the fridge. I made the mistake of trying to guess what had changed for Monday. I was off by 1/2 hour and missed half of a lesson.
Fortunately my student was very forgiving. I won’t trust my memory again, that’s for sure!
February 24th,2010
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We performed Nielsen’s second symphony in Melbourne with the Brevard Symphony Orchestra. I had never played the piece before then. I have to say it’s very nice, but there is too much tremelo in the viola part. He could have been a little more creative with the writing.
It was a lot of fun, though. We also played Cantus Arcticus (concerto for Birds and Orchestra) by Einojuhani Rautavaara.
Sibelius violin concerto in the middle rounds out the program..
It was a great experience to present music to the audience they had never heard. It made our jobs a lot of fun to find out how much they enjoyed the pieces.
February 19th,2010
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My practice room. Now the floors are tile and my viola is VERY happy!!!
Guest/Mike’s office.
Master suite and new vanity.
Now our house is officially finished! Now I have to go practice!
February 18th,2010
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We played a wedding on the top of the Plaza in downtown Orlando. This is from the 16th floor! Amazing view that made it very fun to play!
I love my job!
November 29th,2009
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We just returned from a couple of days at Ft. Wilderness. The weather was beautiful! That’s a first for us. Usually we camp, it rains, and rains, and rains. This was a nice change. (Although we finally got rid of the pesky rook leaks.)
I didn’t take may pictures, because we were having a lovely time, but here are the couple I did take.
Our campsite.
Mike and Rocky share a beer.
Rocky relaxes.
Hobo waits for Mike to get back in the camper and take her to the dog park.
Right now it seems that the world has gone crazy (or at least the US).
People don’t seem to have any sense of decorum or manners. Why did the President have to make a comment about a singer? (It was derogatory.) Even if those actions were reprehensible, the President should not be commenting about private citizens publicly, in my humble opinion.
It isn’t even a political issue. I feel like everywhere I go, there are people misbehaving. My husband and I were driving down the road going the speed limit, and a truck behind us started tailgating us, and yelling words I will not repeat here out of the window. Was he really in that much of a hurry to get somewhere so important that we were just objects in his way? Why can’t people share the planet?
Now I come to my point. Music and fine art are what keep us away from our primitive base self, and gets us towards higher thinking. We need it to calm our souls. It awakens our mind and takes us on journeys we wouldn’t have otherwise imagined.
Please if you are reading this remember to calm down. Listen to some nice music and stay in a good place in your mind.
Let’s try and stop these people from being the majority and restore reason into our lives.
A very smart person once told me that “Practice does not make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect.”
The point is that if you repeatedly play the wrong thing, then you have practiced but not perfectly.
So what is perfect practice?
Perfect practice is deliberate, thoughtful, and careful. Each mistake has to be fixed. Then you need to play the corrected passage more times than it was played incorrectly. (Hopefully it was never played incorrectly, but we are human…)
Practicing should not look like a performance…unless you are practicing the performance, which we’ll talk about in a little bit. Slowly and carefully work through the piece so that you can play through slowly and accurately.
Next, you want to bring up the tempo, little by little.
Soon you will have the passage at full tempo. Work in tiny bite-sized pieces of the work, so you don’t get overwhelmed.
When the entire piece is learned, it’s a good idea to practice the performance. In solo works, you have to have played through many times before the actual performance. This will help you to have a better understanding of how the real performance will feel, and you will have the endurance to get through.
When playing a solo competition, play for as many people as you can to make sure you don’t have nerve issues. Get very comfortable with the piece.
Follow these guidelines and you will always have perfect practice.
September 7th,2009
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Hobo and Rocky’s best friend, Mimi came over last night for a play date. (Along with Mimi’s parents, Joe and Anita)
They did a great job doing surgery on a few stuffed animals. There was carnage everywhere!
It starts innocently enough, just 3 friends playing…
A little tug of war…
Hobo joins in the fun!
Kung Fu Panda must die!
Oh, the horror!
It’s time for everyone to clean out the cobwebs in the brain from summer fun, and get to work!
I love the week before school. The frantic…”Oh no! I haven’t practiced all summer and school is starting soon! YIPES!” that everyone seems to be feeling.
Although, in my mind, summer is when you get to practice more. There are no distractions. You can give your full focus and attention to your work.
I am an idealist. I am hoping that everyone blows me away when they come back to lessons. One can dream….
August 15th,2009
Teaching |
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